There’s a phrase that many hate to hear, but love to use when trying to wrap up a phone conversation: ‘My phone’s about to die.’
Really? In 2019?!
I’ve found that the only thing more frustrating than hearing those words is not being able to reach my husband, only to have him later tell me: ‘My phone was dead.’
I mean, are we not vigilantly managing battery life these days? Am I the only one? I get a little anxious somewhere between 41 and 46 percent and start gauging how much longer I’ll go before grabbing a charger. Why? Because on the rare occasions when I don’t have a charger available and get down to a dangerously low percentage, I have important business to handle. Never fails.
My point: I’m keenly aware of my battery life. Meanwhile, I can’t tell you my credit score, whether or not my blood pressure is high, and I typically remember I don’t have any gas at the exact moment start the car, despite already running late. And though I may not have gas, I assure you my phone is attached to the car charger!
What’s that about? Priorities.
If you’re like me, you’re living a life which suggests that a need to communicate with friends, see the latest Instagram posts, or immediately access breaking news is more important than, well, almost everything else. Scary thought.
When our weight creeps up, we try to ignore the way our breathing and joints respond to the added pressure. We can go days — even weeks — without getting enough sleep and wear it like a badge of honor. All the while, our hearts are pounding out at stress levels and our brains desperate to be efficiently recharged. The problem is, charging up our minds and bodies usually requires us to unplug from the very things we’re determined to keep alive and running!
One night, I went to work at Starbucks after signing off from my 9 to 5. I arrive at my table, and as I start to get settled, I discover I forgot my laptop. Did I mention that I’m a writer? I managed to remain peaceful and decided to go old school by grabbing a pen and paper. That night, I got a tremendous amount of work done! You would think that I’d follow that up by leaving my computer on purpose the next week, right? Wrong. I’m a writer, folks!
Few people keep track of how their bodies are responding to always being ‘plugged in.’ Nevertheless, energy is consistently squeezed out. Somehow, we have to learn to discern the ways that our heart tries to tell us, ‘My battery’s about to die.’ We can’t make it about how much money we have, how important our job is, or even how much our family needs our leadership and management. If forced to choose between your superpower efficiency and having to take on a bit more responsibility, I’m sure they’d choose the latter to keep you from a dead battery.
Unfortunately, many of us are wearing ourselves out and passing on schedules that are nearly impossible to maintain to our teenagers via heavy workloads and numerous activities. How can we reverse the habit and help them learn to stop and smell the roses? With as much vigor and consistency as we used in demonstrating the “grind,” we should exhibit rest and its benefits. Do we want to leave a legacy of brilliant, yet burned out, young people? I think not. How will you encourage the people you love to chill out? Share in the comments.