Stop the Clock

When the To‑Do List Wins but Your Heart Loses

This morning I woke up already thinking about the hundred things I needed to get done. I even found myself Googling how to mentally “stop the clock,” because while we can’t stop time physically, I was desperate to slow it down in my mind.

Through my research I discovered that the way we “slow the clock” is by slowing down my internal pace.  Time then isn’t happening to me but I am living in it.  I need to narrow my focus, I think this is called “being present”.

One of my favorite parts of my business as a realtor is Listing Appointments.  This is where you sit at the kitchen table and discuss timelines and goals of the seller.  This is when they show you their home, where they have lived their life and where their greatest and sometimes hardest memories have been made.  My pattern of practice is to always turn my phone off during this time, being fully present.  Respecting their time.  This is where I truly get to know them.

As I was doing this research I realized this might be why I loved this part of the process with clients, I am present.  Not feeling the pressure of all that is still happening and will catch me when I turn that phone back on.  But for now it is just me and them.

I am humbled today by this discovery.  Do I turn off my phone when I am with my husband, kids, friends?  They are my bucket fillers too. Yet, do they get the best of me?

And then I thought about how Jesus lived. Always giving the best of Himself to EVERYONE!

Slow. Present. Unhurried.

He didn’t rush anywhere. He didn’t measure His worth by productivity. His only sense of time was the rising and setting of the sun. Yet everything He did mattered.

It made me ask myself: Do the things I do matter?

Some do. Some don’t.

And what’s unsettling is realizing that most of what I prioritize isn’t actually the most important.

“By the world’s standards, I had a productive day. But my bucket was empty.”

Last week I made two lists:

• the things I HAD to get done
• and the things I WANTED to get done

Two very different lists.

And of course, the “had to” list is the one that got completed. Yes, those tasks were important… but they weren’t the most important. Not one thing from my “want to” list was touched.

So yes, the world would say I had a successful day.

But my heart didn’t agree.

“What would your day look like if you only did the things that filled your soul?”

So let me ask you:

What would your perfect day look like?

What would be on your list if you only did the things you wanted to do—not the things you felt obligated to do?

I had about an hour this morning before I needed to head to yet another listing appoitnment.  I took a very deep breath looked out side at the beautiful lush green that the promise of Spring brings us and the beautiful blue sky and “narrowed my focus”.

I thought what would I really LOVE to do right now with this hour, you will never believe the answer. I put clean sheets on a bed, fluffed the pillows and then went by my “grandbaby” room and tidied up the space looked at their pictures on the wall and emotionally filled up my bucket, no phone, no text, no email. Just lots of toys and photos of the 6 most amazing little people in the world smiling back at me.  There is a wooden plaque in the middle of their pictures that says “I am God’s masterpiece”. Ephesians 2:10

I realized or the first time looking at that wooden plaque that wasn’t just about these 6 precious lives, I am included in that as well……….I was finally totally present!

Let’s be honest, no day is ever perfect. Life always throws something at us. But most days could be beautiful if we spent more time doing what matters, what fills us, what aligns with who we are… instead of doing things just to keep up or keep others happy.

Maybe the invitation isn’t to stop the clock.

Maybe it’s simply to stop long enough to choose what matters.

I can’t wait to see what will matter to me tomorrow, I pray you choose wisely too!