How to Love Your Life: 4 Practical Ways to Cultivate Joy
I’ve been watching the yellow poplar leaves grow on the tree beside our deck this spring. Their tiny faces glanced at me through the finger-smeared glass the day I turned the calendar to May, and they were about to teach me a lesson on how to love your life—even in the most ordinary seasons.
On rainy mornings, the tiny leaves grew larger before our eyes.
Like watching our children grow taller, we hardly noticed.
I was reminded that it’s easy to miss the small spurts of growth if I never slow down enough to notice.
However, as I sat at the window, I marveled at the way life emerged from the barren branches. I made note of the first tiny buds, and I didn’t miss it when the tiny leaves finally grew wide and offered shade on a sunny afternoon.
Watching the summer canopy grow was a gentle reminder of how to love my life: I find greater joy when I remember to slow down and embrace the quiet moments. I find joy when I remember to count God’s hidden gifts.
How to Love Your Life: 4 Practical Ways
Most of us could use a few tools to help us live less hurried lives.
I haven’t found lasting victory in this battle to live present in every moment. However, I’m growing. I’m making progress. Here are a few tips to help you slow down as you learn how to love your life:
1. Reset your pace with five minutes of stillness every morning.
Commit to five minutes of silence and stillness each morning. Use this time to do one thing: Rest in God’s presence. Focus on God’s delight in you.
Commit to five minutes of silence and stillness each morning. Use this time to do one thing: Rest in God’s presence as you sit in the awareness of his love for you. #rest #Jesus #Godslove Click To Tweet
If possible, turn away from the tasks and messes that tempt you to make to-do lists. Resist the urge to move from your spot. Sit by a window and watch the heavens declare the glory of God. This will force you out of your frenzied pace and set a slower, more intentional, and focused pace for your whole day.
2. Learn how to love your life with a weekly day to rest and play.
God wants the Sabbath to be a gift for you. I grew up with a misunderstanding regarding God’s good intentions for this day of rest. In her memoir, Stranger in the Midst, Nan Fink writes these words about the Jewish Sabbath, or Shabbat:
“Shabbat is like nothing else. Time as we know it does not exist for these twenty-four hours, and the worries of the week soon fall away. A feeling of joy appears. The smallest object, a leaf or a spoon, shimmers in a soft light, and the heart opens. Shabbat is a meditation of unbelievable beauty.”
I want to fall in love with the Sabbath like this, and I believe Nan Fink’s words are relevant to us today.
Do you look forward to a day of rest? Have you made it a priority to carve out a day for rest and play?
It doesn’t have to be Sunday, and if you can’t find a full day, find a half-day.
Use this time to do something you love. Step away from the regular demands of life and enjoy God’s gifts.
We take a day of rest in order to learn to carry this mentality of rest into the remainder of our lives, learning to rest in the Lord, even as we work throughout the week.
3. Turn off social media for one day each week.
Social media can be draining.
Make a commitment to turn it off one day each week. You will feel refreshed. You will also combat the compulsive desire to become overly dependent upon social media.
Instead, use your time for face-to-face interaction with loved ones. Make a phone call. Write a note. Play a board game. Head outside. Read a book. Practice “being all there.”
4. Save space between tasks.
Do you really want to break up with your hurried way of life? Plan ahead and save five extra minutes before leaving the house.
Don’t fill your schedule so full there’s no room to breathe between errands, no time to slow down and talk to a neighbor, and no margin for slow-moving vehicles and traffic jams. (To learn how to leave more margin time in your days, join me here.)
~~~
It is possible to live present to our days and the people God places in our paths. I remind myself of this truth as the hands of the poplar wave above the deck. I would do well to slow my pace and follow their gentle lead.
A Free Gift to Help You Learn How to Love Your Life and Have a Better Attitude:
I have a gift for you today. Set Free: Let God Do What You Cannot explores ten realms in which most of us need God to work in our lives and bring balance and peace. We’ll talk about finding freedom from fear, worry, insecurity, bad habits, emotional pain, and more. This short online devotional will bless you as you let God accomplish what you’ve been unable to achieve through willpower. Get your download for free with promo code GRACE right here.
These two books are free on Kindle Unlimited or available to purchase in print:
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life. Find this life-changing book for free on the Kindle Unlimited plan or for 12.99 in print right here. This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!
Calling all mothers and daughters!
Additionally, my 12-year-old daughter, Bekah, and I wrote a mother-daughter devotional book to help mothers and daughters grow closer together while connecting with God. Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith includes 60 devotions with Scripture, commentaries from both of us, conversation starters, and even a shared journaling section. Multitudes of mothers, daughters, mentors, and younger women are being transformed by this book! You can find your free Kindle Unlimited eBook or buy it in print for just 11.99 right here.
