Are You Ready to Exit the Frenzy Freeway?

So many of us make resolutions in January, pick a ‘word” for the year, and have grandiose plans of self-improvement, but we don’t follow through on them. What if instead, we try making changes in small ways?

Imagine if we shift our course ever so slightly so that we don’t end up crashing by mid-February. 

Suppose we take the road less traveled, get off the frenzy freeway, and move towards slower living?

I lived the hustle and bustle life for too long, and over the last few years, God has gently spoken to me about slowing down. While I love lots of activity, going here and there, and spinning multiple plates in the air, I realized it is not healthy for me. Moving at 100 MPH, being involved in so many things, and taking on too much had left me worn out and tired.

Are you exhausted, too? Are you ready to exit the frenzy freeway? Let’s hit the reset button for the new year. Are you with me? Today is the last day of January, so let’s get started with following a slower pace.

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I want to share three books with you which I recently read that helped me have a fresh perspective and remember to trade the busy and frantic for slow and peaceful. I believe you will enjoy these reads and find tremendous value in them.

Present Over Perfect, by Shauna Niequist 

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The subtitle of this book is “Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living,” and who doesn’t want that? This book is the honest account of what led the author to change her way of living. She wrote about loving her life but felt as if all the pushing and pulling of life was destroying her. She encourages the reader to “leave behind the heavy weight of comparison, competition, and exhaustion, and to recraft a life marked by meaning, connection, and unconditional love.”  Shauna coaxes us to show up and let ourselves be seen just as we are, wild, imperfect, and flawed, but still worth loving. Present Over Perfect reminds us to let go of the ‘shoulds” that steal bits of our soul and instead, embrace life-giving opportunities. Her words assure us we can leave behind the pressure to be perfect and begin the practice of being present. So often as I read this book, I found myself shaking my head in agreement with what she wrote. There were several times it seemed as if she wrote my very thoughts. I savored each chapter like a bar of fine chocolate. If you know how much I love chocolate, then you know I loved the book!

Some of my favorite lines from this book are:

“In my rampant yes-yes-yes-ing, I said no, without intending to, to rest, to peace, to groundedness, to listening, to deep and slow connection, built over years instead of moments.”

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“But you can’t have yes without no. Another way to say it: if you’re not careful with your yeses, you start to say no to some very important things without even realizing it.

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“This is actually my life, and it doesn’t matter a bit if it would be lovely for someone else to live. What does matter: does it feel congruent with how God made me and called me?”

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“We get to shape our days and our weeks, and if we don’t, they’ll get shaped by the wide catch-all of ‘normal’ and ‘typical,’ and who wants that?”

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Chasing Slow, by Erin Loechner

The subtitle of this book is “Courage to Journey off the Beaten Path.” I received a pre-release copy of this book as part of Erin’s launch team, and it could not have arrived at a better time. I began reading this during all the craziness of the holiday season. Every time I pulled it out to read, I had a pencil in my hand because there was so much I wanted to underline. Chasing Slow is a beautifully written book, and Erin shares the heart of what made her leave the fast, the fame, and the frenzy. She writes that she once chose to chase the busy, and I know I have done that as well. When we live in a society that screams more, more more, it is hard to flip the switch to the less scheduled, less stifling, less stressed life. Erin says that “many” is measurable but “more” is immeasurable. We want more. We need more. How much is enough? More is never enough. The world yells to be more, run faster, try harder.

She writes about living the American dream and all the perks that come along with that. She says, “some perks become so regular, you come to see them as ordinary blessings, and then you come to see those ordinary blessings as daily expectations.” Ouch. How do we forgo the riches of this life? Erin suggests we remove the bumpers of cultural expectations and chase the slow. She does admit that without grace, pursuing the slow life is just as exhausting as pursuing the fast one. We extend grace to others and have grace for ourselves.

This memoir is so honest, thought-provoking, and encouraging. I love that Erin sprinkles in scripture, some recipes, and practical advice throughout the book. I highly recommend this read!

Some of my favorite lines from this book are:

“There is only today, with holes in our pockets, with time pulling out. We cannot keep it for tomorrow. We cannot mend our seams to hoard, save, carry.”

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“I used to think the opposite of control was chaos. But it’s not. The opposite of control is surrender.”

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“The answer to a happy life is to give freely.”

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Simply Tuesday, by Emily P. Freeman

The tagline to her book is “Small-Moment Living in a Fast-Moving World.” I first read this book a year and a half ago when it was newly released.  I recall reading it while soaking up the sun in my backyard and agreeing with so much of what she wrote. I recently picked it up again to read, and I am so glad I did. The back cover asks, “Is your soul being held hostage by hustle? If you’ve grown weary of do more and dream bigger, small-moment living is just what you need.”

Emily writes that “real life happens in the small moments, the kind we find on Tuesdays.” This book is an encouraging reminder that God is moving in the ordinary of the everyday, not just the extraordinary days. She writes about how to live well in regular time and find contentment in the now. Each chapter ends with a written prayer, and there are thought-provoking questions at the end of each section. This book offers a way to help quiet your soul when your life seems to be going in a million different directions.

Emily writes like she is speaking to you as you sit next to one another, learning together. She reminds us that each day is a gift and invites us to observe as such. Her words are a sweet invitation showing us how to find rest in a fast-paced world.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book are:

“I’m thankful we have a God who sometimes chooses to tell his big story in small, delightful, quiet ways.”

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“The deepest need of my soul isn’t a personal organizer or an empty inbox. The deepest need of my soul is Christ.”

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“As it turns out, Jesus doesn’t come riding in on a white horse to save me from my humiliation, my daily work, my endless list. Instead, he whispers a quiet invitation to keep company with him the way he came to earth to keep company with us.”

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“Attention, success, and comparison hold my soul hostage and refuse to negotiate until they get what they want. Spoiler alert: They want everything. And they are never satisfied. They will never let you go.”

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My hope is for you to be motivated to exit the frenzy freeway. Try a more soulful way of living. Just for fun, here is a song I love that reflects a heart desiring to be still. Listen here.

Have you read any of these three books? If so, what did you think of them? Do you have any other book recommendations on slower living? Please share in the comments below.