My First Travel Tip of the New Year: Go Nowhere

“2025 already, can you believe it?  Wow, where did the year go? Is it my imagination, or does each year speed by more quickly?”  How many times in the past week have you overheard or participated in this conversation?

Maybe it’s just friendly chit chat with a grocery clerk or co-worker, the type of universal topic, like the weather, that puts us on common ground, but it also conveys our shared anxiety.  We’re all keenly aware of the invisible timer, running in the background of our lives, counting down the moments left.  And maybe we’re afraid of hitting 0:00 and discovering that we’ve wasted it, or missed out on something essential, or just weren’t paying attention, distracted by our busyness from what’s real and precious and true.

When did you last take time to sit still?  It seems almost impossible.  I’m on the go from the moment the alarm sounds.  I get myself and our daughter out the door, rush along the interstate, get those emails answered, give instant responses to instant messages, get those files reviewed in time for FedEx, get groceries, exercise (?), cook dinner, oversee homework and piano practice, bath time, story time, bed time.  Sit still?  I bought a Groupon for a massage four months ago, wrote a reminder to schedule it on a sticky note, stuck it on my monitor, and there it sits, four months later.  Clearly, I need to take my own advice.  But maybe that’s the trick to slowing down the ticking timer.  Not just acknowledging the need to carve out time for stillness, but actually scheduling and doing it.

So, as we flip the calendar to a new year, book yourself a 10 minute vacation to nowhere.  Set aside a few moments this week to do nothing but sit quietly.  I’ll do it too.  May we find refreshment, peace and perspective.