When the intensity of the coronavirus hit in mid-March, I was – like everyone – consumed with questions. Was I truly at risk? How bad was this really? How long would this last?
Then came the closures and cancellations. No in-person school. Client fundraisers and community events canceled or postponed. Networking events scratched from the calendar. Coffee dates and social events put on hold.
I’ll be honest, clearing my calendar down to well, practically nothing, was freeing. I tend to live at warp speed, flying so fast through my life that days are often little more than a blurry mess. I like being busy, but there’s busy and then there’s BUSY. Despite my best efforts to figure out better ways to build in rest, more family time and a few minutes each week to catch my breath, I wasn’t successful. I had vowed that 2020 would be different. It would be different all right.
I hit “delete, delete, delete” on appointments, meetings, networking and educational events. My commute time to and from activities, taking my daughter to and from school, driving to and from our CrossFit gym was no longer an issue.
The first weekend of this quarantine time was the most restful weekend I’d had in, well, years. In the weekends to follow, I cleaned out some closets and drawers. We had Friday night pizza and watched “quarantine classic” movies like “Karate Kid” and the “Back to the Future” trilogy. We’ve taken family walks in the afternoon. Kate and I watched Hallmark mystery movies (our favorite) and chatted on the back porch. I even did a long overdue photo book from a family vacation to Yellowstone back in 2018. I was tackling my stack of books to read.
I wasn’t ending each week stressed about all the tasks I hadn’t checked off my list. I didn’t feel pressured to spend hours working on Saturday or Sunday.
What was this? Aside from missing my friends, favorite springtime activities, a haircut and a leisurely trip to Target, maybe this quarantine life wasn’t so bad. I could get used to this.
In fact, I’m writing this blog post while sitting on my back porch with a cup of coffee. I hadn’t carved out time for personal writing in eons.
As we approach the end of April, our state and our country look at ways to open businesses and relax stay-at-home restrictions. Everyone is talking about “getting back to normal.”
But what if I don’t want to go back to “normal”?
I’ve tasted a more relaxed lifestyle and I’m hooked. Jump back on that relentless hamster wheel? Hard pass.
Now, I’m not saying we don’t need to restart the economy. My family owns a fitness facility that’s been closed since mid-March. I don’t take lightly the incredible impact this has had on businesses, especially our small, local businesses. I don’t minimize the lives lost or the health care workers putting themselves in harm’s way each day.
Even as we resume economic activity, what if we took some personal lessons from this experience?
Within the first couple weeks of staying at home, I was already thinking about how my life could be different. In early April, a webinar hosted by She Works HIS Way addressed this very topic. Somer Phoebus challenged us to “quarantine clarity” and to consider how we might use this experience as a learning opportunity.
She shared this verse from 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. (NIV)
This doesn’t mean we simply Netflix and chill 24/7, but that we use our time well and wisely, Somer said. We should focus on what we were created to do, instead of rushing to complicate our lives with more and more and more.
She cautioned us not to let this opportunity pass us by. Don’t go back to the craziness.
Anyone else out there guilty of packing their schedules too tightly? Anyone else trying to do too much? Yep, me too.
I’m a doer. I’m an achiever. I don’t always rest well. If you have a similar personality, it doesn’t mean we aren’t capable of a less complicated life. It just means we have to be more intentional with our time and how we spend it. We doers are quick to say “yes.” We hustle. We strive.
There’s nothing wrong with hard work or striving to be better. But at what cost?
Rest doesn’t mean you’re lazy. Rest isn’t a sign of weakness. Jesus took time to rest and, my goodness, I don’t think we would ever consider him lazy or weak.
The last few weeks have been filled with moments of uncertainty, stress and worry. We’ve all felt it. But this time also has been filled with reflection. I’ve soaked up extra quiet time in the mornings, reading my Bible and journaling.
As we move into a life outside the four walls of our home, may we not slide back into old habits. I pray the positive changes in our personal and family lives and our schedules stick.
Let my ambition be to lead a quiet life, one lived with intention and focus on what my main purpose. As for the rest? I think I’ll put those old ways into permanent quarantine.