How do you do this?
I’m terrible at it. There is always more to do than there is time to do it. The “to do” list is never completely done. There is always another email, another phone call to return, another project to work on.
But unplugging to create space to think and dream is so important.
I know this and yet really unplugging is one of the hardest things for me to do.
How do you do it?
Or do you?
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Jenni Catron is the Executive Director of Cross Point Church, a multi-site church in the Nashville, TN area.
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Why are we so bad at this????????
I really thought I was going to try harder at this, this year and now I feel like it is even harder to do then ever. I hate feeling like I can never stop or im always going to be behind.
you are horrible at this!
only a friend can share the truth, right??
it's hard for us to unplug as well, even though i don't work outside the home i'm always thinking about the next task to be tackled or the fight that's brewing i need to break up. unfortunately we feel the best way to unplug is to leave town, which sometimes isn't easy or cheap, but necessary!
i think lately i have been struggling with the difference between resting (good) and being lazy (bad). for some reason i think that to truly rest you need to have everything done, but alas i NEVER have everything done. it's one of those things that makes you go hmmm.
I struggle with unplugging because to me it's a defense mechanism. When I unplug and get into the silence where I can dream I fight with the feelings of failure from the past. I dream something up and immediately get hit with "…and that will bomb just like…" So if i stay busy, stay plugged in, I'm always doing something and it doesn't give me a chance to get into that place of battle. Then again, I probably need to do that.
It's remembering that I have a "LIFE" to do list. The items I need to do at my desk are part of that list, but so is the family time, the rest time, the fun time. I am the only one who can make the call on whether or not that extra email steals my time with my family or prevents me from taking a well deserved break.
By the way — I'm horrible at doing this — but I have thought about often!
I am terrible at unplugging, but my hand was forced in the past 2 weeks, and surprise, surpise….it wasn't that bad! When you have 3 MRI's in the course of a week, you have lots of time to just lay there and pray (can you believe they don't let you text during an MRI??!!)! I hadn't prayed like that in a long time, which is shameful to even admit. My over-technologized (yes, I realize that isn't a word
) brain wants to pray in short spurts rather than spend an hour in deep conversation with God.
An overnight hospital stay with no laptop also allowed me to the pleasant experience of real, face-to-face visits with friends. While technology is great, Facebook, Twitter, etc. can't compare with the pleasure of actually sitting down with a friend. Too often we let technology replace face-to-face friendships.
Have my past 2 weeks been fun? Not by a long shot, but I have already seen God's hand in my life in the lessons I've learned from being unplugged.