Lately I've been learning a lot about the importance of breathing room. Interactions with God throughout my daily life and the "Breathing Room" series currently going on at my church have been convicting me about this like crazy. (I linked it if any of y'all want to watch; it is well worth your time!)

What is breathing room, you ask? It is, according to my pastor, the difference between your current workload and what you are able to handle. It is so necessary to give yourself room to settle down and let yourself enjoy quiet simplicity and just breathe in a world that is constantly telling you to pursue more, more, more.

Have Your Voice Heard: Become an Odyssey Creator

I'm all about being ambitious and a go-getter, but if one is constantly seeking out that more, more, more that so many of us want so badly, then that may imply that we don't have satisfaction in what our current life holds. Coming from me, a personal struggler with always wanting the next best opportunity, I have learned just how easy it is to spread myself too thin and take the joy out of doing life.

Last semester, I was so guilty of attempting to balance all of my responsibilities even when it was clear that I had given myself too much to handle. I thought that since all the things I was trying to balance were good things, I was doing okay. God told me to slow down and give myself more time for Him and more time for myself, but I was prideful and convinced myself I could handle it all on my own.

God promptly proved me wrong. By the end of the semester, I was an unrested, insecure, emotional mess of a person who only had the time to do everything halfway instead of to the fullest. Colossians 3:23 says "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men." It doesn't say to do as much as possible; it says that you should do everything wholeheartedly. In order to work in a God-honoring way, we need to limit our workload to only what we can successfully handle. God will make it clear how much you should put on your plate. Don't work so much that you no longer enjoy what you are doing.

Thanks to God's never-ending persistence in teaching His beloved children, I've learned better by now. With great reluctance, I am learning to step back and evaluate my life, and decide what I need more of and what I need less of and making additions or removals correspondingly. God designed us to work at our best, rather than work while halfway broken and fully stressed. God asserts that in order to grow closer to Him, we need to give ourselves time to quietly bask in His presence.

"Time is money," everyone says. I used to think this means I must not waste any time and I need to fill every minute of every day. I know now that it means time is valuable and I should cherish every second I have, and that doesn't mean by always keeping busy. Work with your mind set on things above rather than working for earthly success and you will find blessing through that.