The Me I Want to Be

One of the most inspirational books I have read recently is John Mark Comer’s “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry”. It gives so many amazing tidbits about supporting your emotional, mental, and spiritual health within the everyday chaos we ensue. Within the opening pages, Comer shares the inspiration behind the theme of this book. A friend of his, John Ortberg, shared a conversation that he had with another friend, Dallas Willard. He had asked Willard “what do I need to do to be the me I want to be?”. Willard’s answer to Ortberg, ”you must RUTHLESSLY [emphasis mine] eliminate hurry from your life”. WHOA.

While reflecting on the question, “what do I need to do to be the me I want to be?”, I feel like we work on this our entire lives. For me, it is a focus on continual growth. It is a slowing down, enjoying the little moments. I focus on learning something new each day, and learning from anyone I encounter. I believe there is a reason for each person we meet on our journey.

As for the answer given by Willard, eliminating hurry from my life has been my current focus. I have done several things to make this a priority. First, I took email off of my phone. I now only check it once or twice a day, as needed. I spend that time I used to check ‘just in case’ for doing other important things like reading and journaling. Additionally, I plan out my day to incorporate ‘stacking’ tasks. I learned about this from James Clear’s “Atomic Habits”.

While multitasking isn’t necessarily a real thing, stacking habits is extremely helpful. Example: while waiting for my precious cup of coffee to brew, I tidy the kitchen. While waiting for it to cool and ready to drink, I do 10 minutes of yoga, stretching, and band exercises. Then the time I normally would do those things is now ‘free time’ to do other things I love and enjoy. A last example that I found really interesting is driving the speed limit. Yes, you heard me correctly. Not 5 miles over- the EXACT speed. As crazy as this sounds, it avoids a lot of anger on the road and gives you some room to breathe. Or sing. Try it!

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Journal Prompts:

• What do YOU need to do to be the person you want to be? Would you change anything?

• How can you eliminate hurry from your life? What can you give up? Or say no to?