Happy Easter! Oh, wait. That was yesterday, you say? Have you ever struggled to get back into the rhythm of the everyday? I do. Every single time there’s a special event or when I go on vacation. I struggle in going back to normal life.
I hate that phrase: normal life. I never wanted a normal life. I wanted…I want Belle’s Reprise.
I want adventure in the great wide somewhere.
I want it more than I can tell
And for once it might be grand
To have someone understand
I want so much more than they’ve got planned
But the problem with always being in an adventure is that it becomes normal life. It’s like living in a TV show *ahem* OUAT is back *ahem* where the characters are always tested. As a viewer, sometimes I just want the screenwriters to give the characters a break. Let them breathe for a while and spend a day without someone trying to kill them or their happily ever after. But if that happened, there wouldn’t be a show.
…
I might have went off on a tangent there.
Life is not like a TV show. We’re not always being tested or challenged. We’re not always in an adventure. At least, not a life-altering, epic, plot-twisted adventure.
Most times, we’re living in the normal. The routine. The everyday. My problem after returning from an adventure is failing to appreciate what the everyday offers. It’s the same thing I wish screenwriters would give my favorite characters.
A chance to breathe. Life’s white space.
Instead of embracing that chance, I want to jump right back into the wanderlust. And when I can’t, I become resentful and the struggle to return to normal begins.
I don’t know if you’re like me, but whenever I feel out-of-whack and out-of-rhythm, here are some things that help me out.
Cook a multi-step meal.
Not everyone likes to cook, but I love it. In our fast-moving world however, where there’s a lot of work to be done in so little time, I usually resort to one-step meals, one-pot recipes, slow-cooker dinners, and even take-out.
But when I need to get back in rhythm, cooking slows me down and helps me appreciate the blessings of God. Following the steps of a recipe eases me into a routine, which puts my mind in the frame of the everyday.
Read a book. Catch up on a TV show.
Following somebody else’s adventure and story settles me. It satisfies my wanderlust without having to actually go anywhere.
Create something.
Complete a DIY project, even if it’s as simple as coloring a page from a coloring book for adults (your kid’s coloring book works too). The steps slow you down and puts you in a routine. It also relaxes your mind and reminds you that wonderful things happen right in your home. Right in the middle of the everyday.
Take a day.
Take a day to find your rhythm. To get used to the normal. To unpack your suitcase, do your laundry, and curl up in your own bed. Give yourself permission to breathe. To refuse to jump right back into things. To take a moment and relish the adventure you just had. It’s okay.
I still get stuck in the high of adventure, but I’m working on breathing in life’s white space. Because I need it. The chance to breathe. The moments to appreciate the little things. The pauses that reveals God’s grace at work in the everyday. Body, soul, and spirit, I need it. We need it, and may we all find it.
