Sometimes I wish I had a guy’s brain. Probably not in the way you’re thinking of though. I don’t want any of their thoughts, I just want to borrow that one track mindset that they have. Am I the only one? Guys can so easily think about one thing for long periods of time, while our brains, well, this sums it up:
The struggle.
I was riding home with my boyfriend the other day when out of pure curiosity I asked him the ever popular question;
“Hey, what are you thinking about?”
His jaw dropping response?
“Nothing really, I’m just driving.”
Which of course really wasn’t that surprising since I had pretty much expected that.
Me on the other hand?
You can refer back to the pictures.
I was so jealous of how he could just be in that moment driving along, while sitting right next to him my brain was running in 50 different directions.
Being in the moment. Is that even possible?
It’s something that I struggle with on a daily basis. It might be 10:00 am and I could be teaching a small group, but I am already thinking and planning out the rest of my day in school and what I am doing when I leave; trying to squeeze in everything I can.
If you’re not careful though, you’ll miss out on something, and it’ll catch up to you.
A couple of weeks ago I got my first speeding ticket. Those who know me know that’s just not something I do, so it was pretty devastating in the moment. I was driving through an area I drive through hundreds of times, yet in that moment I failed to remember that the speed limit had changed from 55 to 45.
What was I so caught up in?
I was thinking about what I was going to wear to school the next day.
Couldn’t pull that off as an excuse to the cop could I?
When I drive, I’m usually, well, always lost in thought. I use that time to think about where I am going, what I am doing next, and in that case since I was driving late at night, I was thinking about what I needed to do when I got home to prepare for the next day. I figured if I had everything figured out before I got home, my checklist of things to do would go by even quicker, and I’d have even more time to get extra things done.
Welcome to the inside of a woman’s brain gentlemen.
Unfortunately, I was so caught up in my thoughts, I didn’t realize where I was, and by the time I snapped back and started slowing down it was too late. Hello, blue lights.
I was pretty frustrated with myself.
I was frustrated at what I now I had to go through to take care of the ticket, but I was even more frustrated because of the reason I even had it in the first place.
Now on the drive back I was thinking about something completely different.
Not being in the moment can cause you to miss out on the important things going on around you.
But can I take it a step further?
Not being in the moment can cause you to miss out on what God has planned for you.
This isn’t just for us ladies; this is for all of us.
It is so easy to get caught up and distracted by the laundry list of things in our heads as we think about the right now, or the past, or even far into the future. And if we are so consumed in our thoughts, we miss out on what God has in store for us that day.
I might miss out on the joy He wants me to see in a student when they master a subject. I might miss out on the moments when He shows me His power and that He is in control. Where He reminds me that He is faithful and good and mighty. I could miss the chance to encourage someone. To love someone. To pray over someone.
If I am so wrapped up in myself, I could miss out on the chance to share the sweet news of Jesus.
God created each day. All 24 hours of it. Before you were made He had each of your days mapped out carefully.
He planned them. He knows what’s happening in the next 10 minutes. He knows what’s happening in the next 10 hours. He knows what’s happening in the next 10 days. He has every minute planned with purpose.
So why should I get so caught up in planning my day to make sure it’s perfect? I would just be messing with His already perfect plan.
“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord.
He knows them. Which means I need to take a breath, and close the 2,857 tabs currently running my brain and focus on the now.
It’s a challenge. But how sweet will it be when we can live our lives the way our sweet Savior intended us to?
Sometimes in this crazy fast paced world, we need to just stop, take a breath, and remind ourselves to see the people around us, notice the opportunities to love, and be in His presence, in the moment.
