We are in the last month of August and I don’t know about you but it feels like it flew by. Well, maybe it flew by for you because you were rushing it by. I know I’ve been guilty of pressuring time to move faster and I’m sure I’m not alone in that. We have a habit of rushing life and impatiently waiting for time to move on to the next phase or season. When Monday comes we’re ready for Friday. When Winter comes we’re waiting for Spring. When we start something new, we’re ready for it be done with already. We are constantly pushing life to zoom past the seasons in life that we aren’t too thrilled about, which can cause of to miss out on a lot of great opportunities and moments. So for today’s episode we are going to discuss contentment and how to be satisfied with your life today and I hope to inspire you to cherish life.
Ah…the big “C” word…contentment. This word scares a lot of people when they hear it. The word contentment has a bad wrap in my opinion. Most of us hear it and think that if we are content that we are just fine with staying in the same place forever. And that’s just not what contentment means. To be content simply means you are in a state of happiness and satisfaction. It doesn’t mean that you stop working on your goals. It doesn’t mean that you are going to stop moving forward. It simply means that where you are right now, you are happy and satisfied with what you are doing. That doesn’t mean that things are perfect either. But far too often we are in phases of life that are full of happy moments and great opportunities, but because it isn’t our end goal or because it isn’t perfect, or because it doesn’t produce the money we want, or because it isn’t our dream, we are rushing and pleading for time to speed by this point in our lives. I get it. I’ve done it. There are times when I catch myself still doing it. But if you can, you have to try and slow down. There is so much greatness that you are missing by spending your days dreaming of the future and waiting for time to pass.
I remember when my children were first born. As most of you moms know, the first several months of parenthood are tough. There isn’t much sleep, you don’t know if you’re coming or going, you’re adjusting to life revolving around another person. And for many of us we can’t wait for that time to pass. When they’re newborns, we can’t wait for them sleep through the night and start crawling. When they crawl, we can’t wait for them to walk and use the potty (so we can stop changing diapers). When they walk we can’t wait for them to become more independent and feed themselves and so on. And before you know it you’re walking them into their first day of school and you’re confused. Where did the time go? Why is time going so fast? How did we get here? They were just born, I still remember the labor pains. Oh how I wish I could just hold them all day and rock them…but time has moved on. See sometimes we don’t cherish the moments until they’re gone. I look at my kids while they’re asleep sometimes and I just say a quick prayer and ask God to slow down. It feels like everytime I blink they are a year older. And sometimes life happens that way because we aren’t enjoying the moments. Yes, those newborn days are tough, but enjoy them! Enjoy being about to hold them and carry them around. One day they’ll be too big to do so. Motherhood is just one example of how life moves so fast, if we don’t pay attention. We do this in relationships and marriages, in our careers, with our families, and in school (lord knows I didn’t cherish my college years like I should have, life was so simple then). Think back to when you were a kid or especially a teenager…how many times did you say or think “I can’t wait to be grown and have my own stuff.” And looking back…boyyyy I had no idea how much work adulting would be. So some of those great times as a kid and a teenager were spent rushing life. Waiting to get older. Only to get older and dream about being a kid again sometimes. We all do this from time to time. We grow impatient with where we are in life and hope and pray for this phase to end soon. But I’m here to let you know that there is beauty in these phases of life and I’m going to give you a few tips to help you cherish life just a little bit more.
So my first tip is to Be Present (aka put your phone down). Life is passing us by. No literally…we are sitting on our phones while life keeps moving around us, whether we are aware or not. Have you ever been somewhere and you were on your phone and you just happen to look up and you see that sooo much is happening around you that you aren’t aware of? I’ve definitely done that a few times. I remember being outside with my kids and they were playing and I was engulfed in my phone and I decided to take a minute to look up and in that moment I saw just how beautiful they were running around carefree. I really heard their laughter. I saw their smiles as they played together. And I realized that in a few years life won’t look quite like this again. They’ll grow and things will be a little different. And I put my phone down to really take in that moment. So now I try to be more conscious and I encourage you to do the same thing. I see this a lot with parents and their kids where the parents are on their device and not paying the kids any attention (and sometimes they both are on devices) and I see this with couples. I don’t know how many times my husband and I have gone out to dinner and look around and all the couples are on their phones. No one is engaging each other. Nobodies’ holding hands or gazing into each other’s eyes. Everyone is doing their own thing. We aren’t present. And ask yourself this…even if you aren’t on your phone, how many times have you been one place and your mind was in a totally different zone. Where are all my daydreamers at? That’s me. Always thinking about the future. Now hear me, I’m not telling you to stop being forward thinking or to stop planning for the future. I’m just telling you that you can’t let that consume your life. If you do you won’t live today. You’ll always be waiting for tomorrow. So be present in the moment and pick a time to think about other things that are important to you.
My next tip is to practice gratefulness. Sheesh…I know yall are tired of me talking about gratitude, but I ain’t gon stop so there, lol. It’s for a reason. Gratitude sparks so much happiness and satisfaction in our lives. Sometimes we are so blinded by what’s going wrong, what’s difficult, what’s uncomfortable, and what’s not going perfectly, that we can’t see the forest for the trees. We can’t pull out what is going right in our lives, so I say become intentional. Every night I write a list of things I’m grateful for. Of course the list includes life, health, a sound mind, and things like that, but by being present more I’ve been about to be thankful for little things that have a big impact like hearing birds chirping, and watching the sun set, and having a moment to watch my favorite tv show, or hearing my daughter and son sing a song together. I’m grateful for you guys listening to my podcast, and I’m thankful everyday that I get to help another client. Little stuff that we normally disregard as regular things but when we pay attention to it we realize that these things make our days worthwhile. So I know your job may not be the best, but what little thing happened today that made it a good day. Maybe you got to talk to a friend for a few minutes at work. Maybe traffic wasn’t that bad. Maybe a butterfly sat beside you while you were eating lunch outside. I know that sounds so cheesy but when you come to appreciate those little things life really opens up to you. So be grateful. Write it down. Make a list every night of what you’re thankful for. Reflect over your day, not just thinking about what didn’t get done or what could have gone better, but think about what went right. Because whether you believe it or not, there is so much going right in your life. You just have to be willing to see it.
Tip number 3 is to use your time wisely. Whatever season that you are in there is something to enjoy…the question is are you putting in the time to enjoy it. If you have small kids use your time to play with them. Believe you me…there will be a time when they won’t want to play. They’ll just want to sit in the room and play video games. So make the time to do arts and crafts, to run around outside, to have tickle fights and movie nights. Enjoy this season. If you have a teenager. Enjoy this time. Do things with them because soon they’ll be out of your house and you’ll be wondering where did the time go. To my single ladies…enjoy this time and use your time wisely. Don’t spend it looking for a man and waiting for your Boaz. Go on vacations, go on girl trips. See the world. Spend time dating yourself and getting to know yourself. Cherish this time, because as soon as you get a boo or get married you now have to consider someone else before you make decisions like this. To my married folks without kids…ENJOY THIS TIME! Life is never the same once kids come into play. Have fun, take trips, be romantic, enjoy the freedom. Even on your job. Enjoy the time at this level and learn as much as you can because with promotions comes more responsibilities. With more money comes more bills, lol. If you’re young, take advantage of your youth. Work out, treat your body right because the older you get the more difficult this becomes to do. Don’t waste this time. Use it wisely. Make the best of whatever season you’re in. Sooner or later life will change and you won’t be able to do those things anymore.
My last tip is to pray for patience. I know that sometimes cherishing life isn’t easy. I’m sure some of you are listening to this and you’re going through something really tough, difficult, or unimaginable and you’re like you want ME to cherish THIS? And the hard answer is yes. Because there still is some beauty in your struggle. Many of us just aren’t patient enough to find out of see it. If you read the Bible, everytime God talks about blessings and hope and your future he also mentions patience. It’s hard to cherish life if you’re always upset about where you are in life. That’s what patience is: being able to tolerate the trouble or difficulty without being upset. If you are struggling this this do all the things I mentioned above but also talk to the Father and let him know about your struggle. Let him know that you are struggling with this, but most importantly let him know that you want to be more present, that you want to be more grateful, that you want to enjoy your time. Each morning I pray that God will open my eyes to his beauty every day. I ask that he help me to see what is going on around me. I ask that he makes me disciplined enough to use my time wisely. I ask also that he uses me to shine a light on his goodness. So when you pray, ask for patience and that will be the start to cherishing your life each day.
So those are my tips on cherishing life and feeling content. Remember contentment is not a bad thing. Every season in life is important and I hope that you take the time to realize it and to enjoy it.
So I hope that you feel inspired to be present in each moment in your life realizing that they all are precious. To enjoy the time you have in this season and to use that time wisely. And to remember to cherish this life…it’s the only one you have, so enjoy it. So until next time stay encouraged and inspire someone else along the way.