Hiding

A week ago I declared on my Facebook status I was going into "hiding" for a few days. Well, a few days turned into a bit longer than that.

By the time last Sunday rolled around I'd been feeling more than just a little frantic with life, and began to recognize some of the "warning signs" my counselor and I had discussed during our very last session together. I was feeling overwhelmed, overdrawn, and overdone. It wasn't to a horribly bad point, but I could see the warning signs coming and knew if I didn't do something quick, I'd be heading down the depression road once again.

So I decided to be proactive and remove myself from typical daily activities and get some things done around the house to shake me out of my normal routine. I stayed off of the computer for several days. I spent my mornings reading or crocheting while sitting with my youngest (she was in absolute heaven!).

I tried cleaning the house and doing laundry at the beginning of the week to give myself a chance to get through my jam-packed weekend without feeling harried. I even washed down the hallway walls - something that honestly hasn't been done in FOREVER!!!

Over the last several days I've slowly been reintegrating myself into life outside of my home, including all of my friends on the Internet. I'm still trying to keep things on the down-low, just so I don't back pedal right to where I was before.

During yesterday's afternoon session of General Conference, President Uchtdorf spoke about simplifying our lives when we begin to feel lost, or overwhelmed. It was as if he was telling me I did the right thing in backing off for a bit. He spoke of it being okay to slow down, and not feeling a bit guilty about it. We live in a fast-paced world where the quicker we can get things done, get to where we're going, or make things happen the better. Being able to accomplish a lot is definitely a wonderful thing, yet these bodies of ours - like any machine - need a chance to rest.

When we're going at full speed, we cannot focus on the slow and simple beauties of our lives, of this world, and of the people around us. We are too busy to listen for the promptings of the Holy Spirit. We forget to stop long enough to learn the lessons our Lord would have us learn.

My husband came home from a VERY long weekend at work. He is a chef who, with a wonderful crew, works to feed everyone involved with General Conference. This poor man was beyond exhausted today. Still, as he sat down with his family for the first time in several days to enjoy a dinner I actually cooked he couldn't stop saying how grateful he was - for the food, for his family, for this wonderful home we have created together. He was made to go at full speed all weekend long, but was able to slow down this evening and enjoy something as simple as a homemade chocolate cake shared with five crazy people whom he loves beyond words.

Of course, he will have to pick right back up with the fast pace of work tomorrow, and I will need to start getting ready to paint that hallway of ours, but we both learned to appreciate the blessing of slowing down, and/or going into hiding. Even if it was just a few hours for my hubby.