We Could all Use a Little Time to Read and Ponder — at a Leisurely Pace
Recently, my friend Larry James (CEO of Central Dallas Ministries) left his cell phone at home, and lived to tell about it. (Read his account here). He discovered that he went from cluelessness (he didn’t realize it), to panic (oh, my…), to a strange sense of calm. He had a quiet day, for a change. And it was almost…restful.
I’ve sort of had a week like that. First, we are still settling in to our new house. Boxes are disappearing, and it is feeling like home. And, by the way, we threw away a lot — I mean a whole lot — of “stuff.” In the move, I disposed of many, many boxes, and I am feeling less cluttered and much less claustrophobic. I like it!
We still have no land-line phone service. It’s complicated – we could not predict our exact moving date, and then the holidays hit, and we are awaiting a quick drive to Austin for the birth of our first grandchild. So – the land-lines, with fax, are not yet in. Next week, we think – if we are not in Austin. So, far fewer phone calls ringing have allowed for a quieter environment.
I have had only one appointment this week (a current events presentation at an area retirement community). Practically no phone calls, no meetings, no deadlines except self-imposed ones. I have leisurely read the two books I am presenting next week, with time to read and ponder. I think I may have learned more than usual.
And I have blogged quite a bit.
Next week, I return to “normal” (actually above normal – we still await that call from Austin). But I’m trying to figure out how to slow things down a little bit, at least occasionally.
How do I schedule time to slow down? I don’t know. But I’ve liked this week.
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Randy Mayeux
Bob Morris
Like motor vehicles, the human body has a multi-gear transmission with cruise control but, regrettably, most of us fail to appreciate how important it is to “shift gears” from time to time and even proceed for at least a while on “cruise control” before hitting the accelerator with a real or imagined sense of urgency. When pressure becomes increasingly severe, we probably need to “pull over, park, and turn off the engine.”
Rest is much more important than sleep, although (obviously) they are not mutually exclusive. It makes sense to take an occasional “electronic break” (i.e. no cell phones, no computers, no PDAs, no radio or television, and perhaps even no lights on). All electronics are valuable but none, in my opinion, is a necessity unless it’s a medical device such the St. Jude valve.
Many years ago at a reception for William Faulkner after he delivered a public lecture at Yale, I had the chance to have a brief conversation with him and took the opportunity to tell him how much I appreciated his use of humor. In fact, I expressed my opinion that his use of humor was widely and significantly underappreciated. He thanked me for the compliment. I then asked him, “What is the single greatest misconception that people have about authors such as you?” Long pause. “Most folks don’t realize that when we’re looking out a window, we’re working…working real hard.”
What you share in this post reminds me of that brief conversation long ago. Thank you.
Comment by Bob Morris | Thursday, December 31, 2009