I choose to slow down

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Good morning. Welcome to Gentle Hours. Wherever you're listening from this morning, whether you're still laying in bed with one eye open, whether you're still sitting in your car before going into work, whether you're making coffee or tea in your kitchen or trying to gather yourself before the responsibilities of the day begin. I just want to let you know that I'm happy that you're here. This morning, I want you to arrive in a safe space this morning, just for a second. And I want to remind you that you don't have to rush anything. All of your emails can wait. The notifications can wait, and the world asking for a piece of you can wait for a moment. Because right now, this time belongs to you. So go ahead and relax your shoulders for me. I need you to unclench your jaw, uncross your legs if you need to rest your hand on your chest or your stomach, if that feels good to you. Now let's breathe together. Take a slow breath in through your nose. Hold it. Now release it gently. Again. Breathe in deeply. Hold it. And let it go. One more time. Breathe in. Hold. Release.

unknown 1:50

Good.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Now this week's phrase is, I choose to slow down. You're not being forced to. I'm not asking you to quit. And I'm not asking you to give up. I'm asking you to choose to slow down. And baby, there is power in the word choose. Because many of us have become so familiar with survival mode that we think movement automatically means progress. We think if we stop moving, something bad will happen. We think if we sit still, we'll miss opportunities. We think if we aren't constantly doing something or fixing something or answering something or proving something, then somehow we're falling behind. And I need you to sit with that this morning. And then I want you to ask yourself, who taught me that? Who taught me that rest needed permission? Who taught me that slowing down meant laziness? Who convinced me that my worth was attached to my productivity? Somewhere along the way, many of us became human doings instead of human beings. We wake up and we immediately start checking things. We start checking our phones, we start checking responsibilities, we begin to check on everybody else. Meanwhile, my baby, we haven't even checked on ourselves. And maybe, just maybe, that's why some of us feel tired in places where rest is not a part of the program. And see, some of y'all are not sleepy. You're just caring a lot. You're caring yesterday, you're carrying some of those conversations that hurt you. You're also carrying expectations and pressure. Baby, you're also carrying everybody else's needs. While you're choosing, choosing to place yours on the back shelf. You know that later it keeps turning into weeks, weeks keep turning into months, months keep turning into years until one day you look up and realize that you've been surviving your own life instead of living it. So this morning. You do not have to earn rest, you do not have to earn peace, you do not have to collapse before you decide to give yourself a break. Because sometimes God isn't asking you to move faster. Sometimes God is just simply saying, I need you to sit with me for a minute. Stop running ahead. You're missing the beauty because you're sprinting through it. And you know something that I've learned. Life will force you to slow down if you refuse to do it willingly. Your body takes notice, your mind will know, and your heart will keep the score. And sometimes anxiety and burnout and frustration and exhaustion don't give signs that you are weak. Sometimes it's just, you know, a little alarm going off to tell you to, baby, I need you to come sit down. Because we weren't created to constantly run unemption. You weren't created to pour from a cup that hasn't been filled. You weren't created to carry every burden by yourself. So this week I want us to practice choosing slowness. And I'm not asking you to disappear from your life. I want you to pay attention. Take your time drinking your coffee or your tea. Look at the sky for a few seconds. Sit in your car before trying to rush into your house. Eat without scrolling on your device. I need you to laugh a little longer. I need you to pray without watching that clock. I need you to take a walk and notice the things you usually pass by. Baby, I need you to notice the trees. I need you to feel the wind. I need you to notice your breathing. I need you to notice yourself because some of us have become strangers to ourselves. We see we've we've learning everybody else's patterns and needs while forgetting our own. So I want to ask you something this week. And I want you to ask yourself, to ask yourself, what do I need? Not what everybody else needs. Not who needs you, not what you have to accomplish. But I need you to ask yourself, what do I need? And baby, maybe you need rest. Maybe you need boundaries. Maybe you need quiet. Maybe you need healing. Maybe you need to stop caring. Things God never asked you to care. Maybe you need to forgive yourself for moving through life with the understanding that you had at the time. Whatever it is, I just need you to honor it. Because choosing to slow down is choosing to hear yourself again, choosing to slow down is choosing to breathe again. Choosing to slow down is choosing to live again. Now place your hand over your heart for me. I want you to take a deep breath in and release. Again, breathe in. Release. And repeat these words with me slowly. I do not have to rush through my healing. Breathe in. I do not have to rush my life. Breathe out. I am allowed to rest. Breathe in. I am allowed to move gently. Breathe out. I choose to slow down. One last breath together. Inhale. Hold it. Release. Thank you for sitting with me this morning, my baby. And as you move throughout this week, I pray you move gently with yourself. I also pray that you stop apologizing for needing rest. I pray you stop treating yourself like a machine that only exists to produce. I pray you remember that your existence alone has value. And and I pray that peace finds you in the small moments. You usually, you know, usually seem to rush past. Alright, my babies. Stay in your calm and choose, choose to slow down. We're gonna meet this day very softly, and I'll meet you back next Monday with another gentleman.