My last post I wrote about being less busy during this holiday season. I am finding it is really helping me to not get too caught up in all of the busy-ness that this season tempts us with. I say tempt for it is an offering off busy-ing ourselves that we can either accept or reject.

Aside from the holidays I have been experiencing high levels of stress as a public school teacher of late. I won’t go into the details, but it has been a challenging year so far.

Thoughts of not wanting to go to work, a constricted and tight chest, feeling very run down physically, and being emotionally drained have been symptoms of my letting the circumstances of my work life get to me. I hit a low point, and I prayed. The last few days I have been doing a lot of praying, writing in my journal, and reading wonderful spiritual books.

The message that life, God, the divine, etc. has given me is to JUST BE. That’s it. Simple.

Yes, I still have a busy job to go to and to do lists and goals I want to accomplish- but I also am being reminded of the delight and peace that comes with JUST BEING.

It is bliss. To just be. No agendas. No worrying about being productive. Just being.

One of my favorite business books about negotiating is entitled Negotiate This! By caring, But Not T-H-A-T much, by Herb Cohen.   

I just love that idea: caring, just not that much. I am always someone who cares so much. I am an achiever and a people pleaser which is a great recipe for anxiety and stress. Perhaps some of you out there can relate. What if we, though, still continued to care (like the good people we are) but just not too much?  Would that be so terrible?

I also like the statement “Let Go and Let God”. There is a certain amount of relief and peace that comes when we have just had enough, we feel we can’t do it all on our own, and we can choose to just turn it over to a higher power. That is peace. A wonderful book that expounds on this message of letting go and letting God is Kathy Cordova’s Let go let miracles happen The Art Of Spiritual Surrender. This is a great read to have on your bedside table.

The Beatles old classic song “Let It Be” comes to me as I write this, and…

I would like to end this post this evening with the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

–Reinhold Niebuhr

 

 

Related Posts:

• “Letting it be” tonight for peace and a good night sleep
• Release: Letting it go for peace
• A wonderful meditation to release worries
• The Serenity Prayer
• Putting stress to rest so that we can get our rest at night.