Welcome to Volume 10 of the Tao Out Loud newsletter where we’re finding everyday magic, every day! This will be quick but important, so make sure you read to the end!
Find details on the audio clip under the heading ‘Hear ye, Hear ye.’
Well, she’s back.
Hello, loved ones! Since January, I’ve felt the overwhelming need to be quiet and listen, to not over or underdo, to take my time, and not expect quick fixes. That looks like thinking more before I act, being deliberate about what will secure my time, energy, and attention, and (for the moment) to pare these newsletters down.
My word for the year is pace. And though he didn’t know it at the time, a text from my friend Andrew (@drewzalem) was freakishly on point:
We’re just walking around carrying ‘loads’…everything that consumes thought and time in our life as we understand it. It’s just filling up a hard drive that we can’t replace. So dump the unimportant files. We need to often reassess what’s important and what’s not.
This resonates with an ethos of pace. The ‘loads’ of life make things that are important seem urgent, and soon we are running around like headless chickens trying to solve everything and satisfy everyone and really achieve little if anything at all. Why be anything but purposeful and intentional about these few days we have on earth?
To the best of my ability this year, I’m choosing:
Persistence over purposelessness
Adjustment over anxiety
Consistency over confusion
Empathy over emptiness
I’d love for you to join me.
Hear ye, hear ye.
Pace also means it’s likely we will ‘grow through’ as we ‘go through’. As I was preparing this letter, an article I wrote years ago kept coming to mind called Growth by God’s Design. I’ve recorded it and included the audio here because I really think it will be encouraging. If you prefer to read it, you can find it here on my blog.
In other news, I am prayerfully reevaluating how (and if) this newsletter should continue. As I myself seek to grow by God’s design this year, I soberly consider Craig Groeschel’s edges-grabbing advice.
Fight the temptation to succeed at something that shouldn’t be done at all.
Is this mailout one of those things? Well, I honestly don’t know yet :), but the research has begun, and I will let you know as soon as I do.
His cautionary quote aligns with a question I’ve been asking myself, and have been saving up to ask you for months—
I’d love to hear your answers if you care to share them. Otherwise, watch this space, and let’s keep pace. Chao for now, with love.
Vol. 10: The Magic of Pace