Developmental Milestone
A big developmental milestone for a child is when they learn to feed themselves. They learn to hold the bottle or pick up cheerios and eat. This complex process, that each child learns, is a wonderful celebration for the parents. Watching your child grow in independence is scary and beautiful. The interesting thing is we seem to forget that we have to feed ourselves.
Nourish Your Spirit and Soul
As an adult we have to relearn how to feed ourselves. I am not talking about food for your stomach but food for your mind, soul and spirit. I think this is a struggle for many people. We expect someone else to feed or entertain us. We don’t nourish ourselves we numb ourselves on mindless TV or media – kinda of like fast food for the heart and soul. We feel full but it is junk.
My Journey
This has been a consistent problem for me during my adult life. I become so busy “doing” that I find it hard to stop and feed, nourish or care for my heart and soul. I have tried to create a schedule or program to follow. This approach is good and I will continue to try and make this productive and beneficial. I have been trying to develop another way, the white knuckle approach meant that I spent a lot of time beating myself up. Negative self talk turns self care into a chore and hurts your heart. My inner dialogue becomes negative and condemning. Time with myself and God becomes kind of like brushing my teeth. I want it to be life giving and relational not a duty. Scripture says your heart is the wellspring of life Proverbs 4:23. It is the place of your desires, motivation and strength, you have to protect your heart. Feeding our hearts has to come from desire not duty.
Over the last decade I have tried to listen to my heart more. I am trying to see self care as responding to my heart instead of forced discipline. I think the metaphor is that of a fountain. You are refreshed spiritually because of time with God. That overflows into time with yourself. That overflows into time with family and close friends and that overflows into the larger community. Everything is a natural overflow that starts with the abundance that flows from a nourishing relationship with God. This overflow is a natural rhythm that starts with time with God and then yourself.
- Time with God – The goal is to open my heart to experience God’s life giving presence.
- Bible Study. – Sometimes intensive study others times devotional reading.
- Contemplative or Centering Prayer, – Fascinating forms of listening prayer not just worrying in his presence
- Lectio Divina. – This can make scripture come alive in new ways.
- Time with Myself
- Rest – Learning to find settled, deep stillness through physical and emotional rest. Stewardship of your time and energy that has a relaxed rhythm. I don’t think God is in a hurry…. maybe I should not be either.
- Reading – I wish I could read more. Reading helps my creativity and creates questions that draw me to God and others.
- Time with close friends – I have always been more of a loner but God has brought some wonderful friends into my life.
Please don’t see this as an exhaustive list. This is the list of an introvert. If you are an extrovert your list might look different. This is just where I am now. Not where I was in the past or where I will be in the future. How you grow should be in organic process that develops in different ways over time.
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.