By “Open your eyes.
Take in the scenery —
the view.
Turn your eyes.
Divert them from
the artificial light
emitting from the device
so seemingly glued to your fingertips.
Look up.
See the individuals around you —
the loved ones.
Soak up each moment spent with them
because one day
they’ll have gone away
and you’ll regret the moments
not spent.
Go outside.
Breathe in the sunshine
and feel the cool breeze
as it brushes against your skin.
Live your life
each day as if it were
your last.
Immerse yourself —
Propel yourself
into each day.
Take in each moment.
Life is too short
and too valuable
to merely go through nonchalantly.”
– Caleigh Ball
This right here, friends, is the moment I began to truly realize that key thing I was missing.
This was written probably a good year or so before my deliberate step towards intentional living.
So many times in our life we allow things, circumstances, and responsibilities to blind us from taking a step back and enjoying the moment of time we find ourselves in. We can become so consumed by them.
For some, they are so focused on reaching a particular moment in their future that they completely miss what God was wanting to do on the journey.
For me, not only was I feeling so consumed by all of my responsibilities, I also felt consumed by social media and other devices. After a long day of running from place to place, all I wanted to do when I got home was veg. And that’s not a bad thing in moderation, but it became an everyday thing.
Now, let me say this before you get all upset at me: I don’t believe that social media is a bad thing. I don’t believe that watching TV or playing video games is either… in moderation.
You see, even sweet snacks are fine in moderation. But too much of it and it isn’t. And the same goes to things such as social media.
I became so consumed by it that my true aspirations weren’t getting accomplished… and then I was becoming frustrated and depressed because the things I truly wanted to do I never had time for. It was a vicious cycle and I knew it needed to cease.
I felt like I was in the pit with no way out, but as the Lord showed that I had to be intentional with how I handle my time I began to see the way out of that pit.
Hence, this journey of intentional living.
Since then I’ve taken the blinders off and opened my eyes to my life around me. I can see that I don’t have to fill my schedule to the brim, and I see that I can do other things to relax at the same time as fulfilling those aspirations.
And, for the first time in a long time, I can truly enjoy the life God has given me the way He intended for me to.
For the first time, I feel that I can truly soak up each moment the Lord has blessed me with.
So the question I leave with you today is this:
What in your life has you absolutely consumed that it takes you away from pursuing the dreams and aspirations that God has placed within you?
TTFN, mi amigos.
Caleigh
An adventurer and coffee enthusiast at heart, Caleigh Ball has a passion for reaching out to others to inspire them to live with intention and purpose. As an ordained minister, she spends her time ministering as a youth pastor and is actively involved in Arise Ministries as the vice president and bookkeeper as well as one of the ministers. She enjoys life with her husband, Emmanuel, and their cat, Alaska, in their home state, Almost Heaven West Virginia.
Find Caleigh on Instagram at @caleigh.ball
by leaps and bounds 