Is this a good time?
This is a question that we tend to ask others when we want to ensure that we have found the best timing with someone for a request, question, favor, or simply a listening ear to what is going on in our lives.
We are very considerate when it comes to other people’s time, and we are all pretty aware when we are being a waster of someone else’s time, but we are not as aware when we are wasters of our own time.
I encourage you before jumping into Christmas Eve tomorrow and Christmas Day to ask yourself this question: “Is this a good time”?
Auto-pilot doesn’t have to drive us during this Christmas season.
Is this a good time to be immersing ourselves in the world of social media?
Is this a good time to be watching a marathon of the Office again?
Is this a good time to be training for a marathon?
Is this a good time to be deep cleaning every crevice of our home to reach unreachable standards?
Is this a good time to be talking about that person who hurt you?
Is this a good time to be fasting?
Is this a good time to be feasting?
Is this a good time to be alone?
Is this a good time to be around others?
Let’s be more considerate towards ourselves when it comes to our time this Christmas season.
My husband and I will be with family Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and there are plenty of times that my autopilot chooses to drive. It shows up with half-listening attention, cordial hypocrisy, empty words, and half-lived and premature memories.
When my auto-pilot drives you will find me subconsciously choosing the busy tasks like getting ahead on clearing the table, gathering and cleaning, and asking my husband what’s next as if the present moment isn’t enough.
Just like our physical body has needs to eat and rest, our souls have needs, and I feel the question “is this a good time” gives us moments to connect with the deeper needs of our soul.
Are we hungry and yearning for human connection?
Are we hungry and yearning for solitude and stillness?
Are we hungry and yearning for rest?
Are we hungry and yearning for the strength that comes from exercise and eating right?
Are we in a season of fasting or feasting?
Is this a good time for my soul to be on Facebook? Is this a good time for my soul to be checking emails? Is this a good time for my soul to be sleeping or doing? Is this a good time for my soul to give or receive?
I encourage you to be just as generous to yourself as you plan to be towards others this Christmas by simply allowing the question to pause you from entering into auto-pilot driven decisions.
The question “is this a good time” will allow us to figure out what our souls truly need. Just like our body’s fog and fatigue lifts after a nutritious, soulful, and much-needed meal, our spirits begin to feel lighter and brighter when we get what we really need.
If we let our auto-pilot drive we will always land on the default.
Let’s land and live in the divine where our spirits can rest in the sacred and holy moments of what it is to truly be alive.