Face Your Pace

How is your pace these days? In the past 2 or 3 weeks I have had conversation after conversation where I ended up challenging those who spoke with me regarding the pace they had set for living their lives. It seems as though for most folks they don't recognize that the pace they travel at is the exact pace they have chosen. After my mentioning it to them their first tendency is to blame everything and everyone else for their pace. The worst part is that if I had not taken my two months off I would be just like them. During my time off I was forced to stare my own pace in the face and it made me sensitive and alert to this subject. Over the course of those two months, my pace was drastically decreased. I thought I would be very restless but because of the record breaking pace I had been keeping prior to my time off I was far more exhausted than I felt or thought I was.

I think it is possible to live very full and exciting lives and still maintain a sane pace while doing it. I was reading a study of a group of professional tennis players. The study found that often the top tennis players are equal to and in some cases less equal in talent or skills than those who are not considered "top" in their profession. So what made them the best at what they did if their skills were basically the same as the other players around them? Pace. They knew how to pace themselves during matches that can take several hours to complete. What set apart the top of the top athletes was their ability to maximize small amounts of time to remove themselves from the pace of the game. The writers of the study gave an example of one super star who would take a vacation in his mind in the few seconds it would take to walk back to his line before serving or receiving a serve. To their surprise this same pattern was followed by all the best tennis pros. They had learned to pace themselves this way and it often gave them the advantage especially during longer matches and even when playing much younger but more intense (all the time) players.

Jesus was the master of maintaining a sane pace while keeping what we would even consider in our day a pretty full and busy life. He lived his life to the fullest but that included often taking breaks to rest and pray. He instructed his disciples to come apart and rest awhile when he noticed that the pace they had set was getting to much for them. One speaker I have enjoyed in my life named Howard Hendrix used to say that Jesus told his disciples to come apart or they would indeed come apart! So many things suffer when we don't learn this vital lesson on pace. Our health for one thing; Our physical health, our mental health, our emotional health and maybe the most important part of our lives our spiritual health are often unhealthy because of our unrestrained pace. If we are not healthy in these areas then everything else about us and around us will suffer.

Start small; take small breaks throughout your day. Make sure you are faithful at taking one day off per week. Take celebrations seriously. Long weekends, Easter, Christmas etc. are perfect to pull back, take stock, rest and pray about our lives. Church attendance is a simple way to pull back, relax, take a load off of our hearts and minds and be refreshed by the music, the fellowship, serving and by the preaching of the word of life. It is time to face your pace!