While having some devotional time this week, I came across this thought that joy is incompatible with hurry. At first I glossed over it as one of those thing you read, like “Comparison is the thief of joy” or “Know better, do better.” The kind of quote you see so often that it almost loses it’s impact.

I have been mulling it over this week and I have realised just how true it is. Late last year, I stepped down from my Management role at a non profit. I cut down to two days a week, and took a job with another organisation for two days a week. Before making this change, I was exhausted, I was hurrying from one thing to the next, my back was in constant pain and I wasn’t sleeping. I had no time to rest and I was struggling to find any joy in life. After much prayer and consideration, I thought that the perfect solution had presented itself.

What if The Job Is Not The Problem?

It took a few weeks at the new job to realise that my job wasn’t the problem. I was the problem. I was living my life at such a hurried pace that I wasn’t stopping to breathe. I had completely lost sight of my own calling and mission. After realising I had made the wrong decision, I was able to take my old job back.

This time, I realised something had to change. I would not be able to sustain the hurried pace I had been living. Fast forward eight months, I am probably doing more than I was then. My job is demanding, we travel a two and a half hour round trip for work daily, I am studying, and my back is still not great. Yet this year, I am writing, making time for photography, and working on a plan for some of my own creative projects. I am working with a coach, setting goals, and acheiving them, rather than making excuses for myself constantly. There is joy in my life in so many different areas.

Boundaries Make All The Difference

The difference is the way that I am living. I have boundaries around my work hours, that include one day working from home. I have intentional rest built into my week and I am making sure that I am connecting with friends and family. Last year I hid. Every spare moment that I found, I would collapse in an exhausted heap, hoping that somehow, I might feel less tired. I was so stressed out, all the time and I felt as if I had no time to really rest. This year I am finding, the more I slow down, the more capacity I have. I find It doesn’t mean my life is not full and productive, it means it is not hurried and rushed.

Along with that comes the time to engage in the things that bring me joy, like writing and photography. It’s not that I have more time, it’s that I am more intentional in looking after myself and balancing the way I spend my time. Rest, slowing down, balance, I have found that these things only enhance my ability to achieve the things that God has asked of me. I am able stop long enough to appreciate and find joy in the small moments in life. Living a life where I was hurrying from one thing to the next, only produced frustration and resentment. What is one change you can make today to start to slow things down?