I remember writing in the midst of the pandemic how I enjoyed the slower pace of life. Undoubtedly, it was a tough season, yet the one thing I appreciated was how many people I’d heard from agreed that the slower pace of life seemed to help us all focus on what’s truly important in life – namely family and relationships.

 

I had always ascertained that when the world opened up again, my hope and intention was to keep my life at a manageable pace – making room and time for the people in my life. I wish I could tell you that is exactly what happened. Sadly, it has been quite the opposite. I, literally, feel like my life is going a thousand miles a minute and I find myself overwhelmed, sleep-deprived and not so happy. In fact, when life seems to be getting away from me, God has a way of slowing me down when I can’t seem to do it myself. After all this time, I got Covid. I was, literally, forced to rest.

 

 It was tough not being able to leave the house. I found myself anxious and eager to get out of the house. Unfortunately, I was extremely lethargic and the one day I decided to go for a walk, it completely wiped me out. This is a pattern in my life. Candidly, resting is not something that comes easy or naturally for me. Nevertheless, I had no choice. During this time I was reminded of just how much I enjoy having time to think and to just be.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I also used that downtime to clean up my 1500+ database of contacts. More important than that, I was reminded of how important it is to have community. To have people in my life that I can lean on and share life with.

 

Why is it so difficult for us to ask for help or to accept help in our time of need? One of my friends called to check on me and offered to drop off groceries. I didn’t really need anything, however, I wanted to take advantage of accepting her help. So I asked for a couple of things and she surprised me with a few other items to my delight! I was reminded that when we allow others to help us, it actually blesses them too!

 

Thankfully, I’ve recovered and I am slowly getting acclimated back into a routine.

 

Samuel is also out of school so getting into a groove during summer always takes a bit of time to adjust.

 

My hope, prayer and intention is to establish healthy boundaries for myself, plan ahead, stick to my calendar and block time throughout the week to spend it with those I love so I don’t feel overwhelmed, and I am investing my time on activities and people I care about outside of just working.

 

To that effort, I started doing hula worship again. Hula is a dance unique to Hawai’i. It was created to preserve and perpetuate the stories, history, culture, and traditions of Hawai’i. To worship God through hula is something that is difficult for me to put into words. It slows me down in a way that I suppose meditation does for many.

 

Here’s wishing you all the time you need to focus on the people & things that are important to you. And, remember, it’s okay to rest. Nothing in nature blooms all year round!

 

Aloha,

 

Rica