Simple Advent, Abundant Life: What do you value most?

First week of Advent theme—Time

Day 4: Wednesday, Dec. 2

REFLECT

We can seldom live a joyful simplicity in relation to how we use time until we believe there is more to be gained by slowing down and exercising mindful selectivity in our activities than by speeding up and trying to jam as much as possible into every moment. How might we move in this direction? I suggest there are three steps to practice:

First, we renew consciousness of what it is in our lives that we most value, we reconnect with those things that are most meaningful, we remember who we are.

Second, it's difficult to live in voluntariness and deliberation if we are living unconsciously. To become conscious of how we are actually using our time requires the simple expedient of keeping close and honest track of what we are doing ... 

The third step in practicing simplicity in the use of time is to give urgency to the things that are most important.

-Excerpts from the chapter "Simplicity, Time, and Money" in Stepping Lightly by Mark Burch

Take a few moments now to reflect on what you most value in your life and how you might reconnect with those things that are most meaningful to you, especially in light of your experience of this past year. 

ACT

State out loud to yourself one way that you will prioritize what you most value in your life today or in the upcoming week. Is there something of which you might need to let go (an additional activity, event or habit) in order to make this happen?

View Day 4 of the Ignatian Solidarity Network Advent Simplicity Calendar for an activity that will help you determine and prioritize the most important things in your life. 

Simple Advent, Abundant Life

reflect | act

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