Pause
It is important to notice where opportunities for minimalism show up each day. This should be a practice for us… one that requires daily intention. There is no doubt that we often times miss the graces that are present in the ordinary because we get so pressed in on by our busyness and the day-to-day duties of life.
There are certain questions that can be kept in front of us that will open our attention to where our desires and desperation’s collide. In this collision, we will be faced with both temptation and opportunity. The choice we make will have consequences that will move us one step closer to a simple life, or one step closer to consumerism… again.
These questions can help you to be attentive to your mental state… how your body responds to your environment… and how your emotional baggage plays into the desire to ‘have more’: life… or death.
These questions can help you be aware of what is difficult in your life… what is beautiful in your life… whether it be relational, or material.
These questions are meant for honest reflection about who you are… and who you are becoming. They can be pulled out at any time of the day. In any circumstance, whether a quiet moment in nature… or at the local department store as you stand before your next potential purchase… or when you find yourself in the midst a relational issue.
Before you simply react… take some time to pause and ask:
- How can I experience gratefulness in this moment?
- How is this moment making me feel ungrateful?
- Am I able to give and receive love in this moment?
- Am I not feeling the love at all right now?
- How is this moment an opportunity to be life-giving?
- How is the potential of this moment not life-giving?
- Is this a moment that is leading me to a place where I am going to be fulfilled?
- Is this a moment that is leading me to a place where I am going to be disconnected?
- Am I experiencing a temptation in this moment?
- Am I experiencing an opportunity in this moment?
These simple questions can used in those times of life where you need to pause before moving in a direction. They can assist you in that moment of tension (or moments of tension) during the day where you may be faced with freedom or bondage to things… time… and relationships.
It’s worth it to pause.
Your perspective and sense of direction for who you are becoming can only happen when you stop to listen throughout your day. The call to minimalism is a perpetual state of forward motion and growth. Without intention, the gravity of consumerism and busyness will undoubtedly pull you back in.
This kind of awareness will keep you in touch, and draw you into the person that you were created to be. When you recognize that the raw material of your day-to-day life is all that you really need to live, you will continue to move into the call and design of who you are.
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Chadwick and Amy 