What's On Your Mind?
Last Friday I went for a motorcycle ride to a favourite park. I grabbed a coffee from a local bakery and sat on a bench overlooking the water.
It would have been my mentor's 85th birthday had he not passed away last summer, so for the next hour I sat quietly and reflected on a lot of memories spanning the 46 years of our relationship. At times I was close to tears, I laughed out loud, I smiled, and I prayed, thanking God for bringing him into my life.
On my ride home, my stop got me thinking about our recent focus on the importance of embracing quiet and solitude; the challenge to find it, and even to want it in the first place.
Then this thought struck me...
What we think about in the silence matters.
I mean, if solitude is so beneficial, then how do we do it in a way that ensures that it is?
First, I suppose we should consider what may not be helpful as we sit in silence and solitude. Consider the following...
- Past mistakes. Unless this is to learn from them.
- Regrets
- Comparison
- Fears
- Resentments
- Lies
What would you add to the list of things to avoid in solitude?
Perhaps a better use of quiet time would be things like...
- Gratitude
- Goals and ambitions
- Past successes
- Personal assessment
- Truth
- God's word - the Bible (more on this one next week)
The apostle Paul says, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8
That's a good place to start.
So let me ask you...when you're alone with your thoughts, what do you typically think about? Where do you tend to go in your mind? To the negative, to the past, to the things we can't change? Or to the present and future, and what you can move toward?
There's a time and place to look back, look around, look within, look above and to look ahead. Which is why I wrote Vantage Point: Five Perspectives to Live a Better Story.
Here's some homework for you...when you have 10-15 minutes, consider the following questions...
- On a scale from 1-5, how do you feel about your life today? Why?
- If you knew you couldn't fail, what would you do, that you're not doing now?
- What are you avoiding?
- What is your greatest struggle today?
- What are you looking forward to?
Next week we'll take solitude to another level again.
Until next time - Dan