It all began when these five words were spoken to me in the form of a reward after a very tough season in the office. My HR leader started our regularly scheduled one on one meeting by first acknowledging that indeed it had been a tough season for the team and thus a day off to ‘woosah’ was needed by all. She put it this way “just take a day, pick any day, take a mental health day…let me know whatever you want to do…a spa, shopping…I think some time off work will be good”.
I had been going and going non-stop between meeting work deliverables, home obligations and personal goals that when I heard those words it was as if God had spoken to me through her – I believe he did. I did take that mental health day and I must say it set in motion a series of events that ultimately changed the trajectory of my ‘busy life’.
Besides this tough season at work, I also had a major decision to make concerning my career which took every ounce of mental and emotional processing to get to the best outcome. I was offered a good career opportunity by another company – deciding to pursue that opportunity or not to pursue was not an easy decision to make. I will save the details of how – I appreciatively let go of a Director level role at this time to pursue what I believe to be where I needed to be – for another blog someday. The unexpected happened as this career opportunity opened another door for me in my current company – blessing upon blessing, overwhelming and in awe when I think about the months of August, September and October of this year.
Then not to mention a string of life obligations I needed to meet – you know, the many hats that we often wear, some may sound familiar to you and some you may have. Moving from a family of three with a dog to a family of five with a dog isn’t as easy as 1-2-3-4-5…6! I am a planner, my MBTI profile type is ISTJ, I like order, I like logic, I like detail, I think through, I reflect, I prefer introversion, I am loyal, I keep a small circle of friends… and so on. This year, I have ventured out and tried many engagements. I went out of my comfort zone – surpassing stretch zone – close to panic zone to try new things, being adventurous, extending my connections with people, trying to make new friends, extending myself beyond normal limits!!! Trying to keep a level head and balance all these roles left me; one, emotionally drained by mid-October; two, mentally incapable of thinking through my day-to-day logically without the feeling of burden; and three, spiritually disconnected from God which left me ‘empty’. Something had to give, something had to change!
I went to the library with my daughter one Tuesday evening after work, and while she
read books in the children’s area, I went to find a book too. I came across Courtney Carver’s book – Soulful Simplicity – that immediately grabbed my attention and I knew I needed to read it. So, I grabbed it, checked it out from the library every three weeks over a three month period until I finished reading it cover to cover (yes it took me that long to read it …gone are the days…ok I’ll pause here. Back to Soul Detox) Courtney’s book in summary is what the book’s title is – living a life of simplicity where your mind, body and soul are in sync; letting go of the junks of life and being at peace with the simple things in life. She raises a key point which I have reminded myself of repeatedly since reading it. She says instead of stressing about resources to make ends meet how about you make fewer ends. BOOM! The light bulb went off in my head – I need to make fewer ends – the Bible affirms this in many verses – James 1:27b “…and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” 1 Peter 5:7 “cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you”, Philippians 4:19 “and my God will supply all my needs according to his riches in Jesus Christ”
I see it now…all the emotional ups and downs about the career, about life changes, about postpartum over the last six months have brought me to this place. A place where I had been pulled in many directions, I allowed many good distractions and not so good distractions to fill a need I had to have Peace around me BUT the only way I could have this Peace amidst all the blessed chaos was to get back to my core – the very essence of my being. I needed to ‘Soul Detox’. I’ve done it with my body, I’ve done it with my mind so naturally, spiritually, and even logically this was the next step. So, I did! I soul detoxed? How did I do it? Stay tuned for the next read.
In the meantime, remember to be still and know that he is God.
Always stay FREE,
Kate
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