How was your day?

I heard someone in a podcast say most people go through their day in a trance. It woke me up when I heard it.

I don’t think most people are actually in a trance during the day but I think we get stuck in a rut and miss out on seeing much of the world around us.

That does sound a bit like a trance, now that I’ve typed it.

Has someone ever asked about your day and you have found yourself at a loss for what to answer?

“What did you do today?”

“Ummm.”

It happens to everyone. My goal is to stop living that way.

A few years ago, I worked in another town about an hour from home. After a while, I found myself arriving at work and arriving at home after work without remembering a single thing from the drive either direction.

I had a flat tire once on the way home and, as I sat waiting for help, I realized I did not know where I was on the journey—even though I drove it several times a week.

The time in-between the driving was not much better.

“What did you work on today?”

“I wrote some things for the website, emailed a reporter, wrote a couple of guidelines for the policy manual.”

“Where did you go for lunch?”

“Ummm.”

And so it goes.

What catches your eye during the day? Stop and notice when things grab your attention. You might learn something about yourself. If nothing else, you might snap out of your trance for a few minutes.

During my day, I make it a point to get up from where I am and walk down the hall. Sometimes, I do it and don’t say anything to anyone. Sometimes, I stop and talk. It has made a difference in my perspective on life.

In the out of town job from years ago, I was in a building by myself most of the day. I got a lot of good work done but I go back and look at some of it now and I don’t remember ever working on it.

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As personality profiles go, I am an enthusiast, a connector, more dominant and an influencer. My leadership style is primarily coaching although it blends with other things like transformational. I’m results driven rather than task driven and that is important.

All of this is to say I make an effort to notice good things around me and I enjoy doing a lot of things at once. I also enjoy completing those things and learning from them. I make lists of things I’ve completed, not things I should do.

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I like to have my prayer time in the morning. For the last few weeks, I have been reading a book on Christian mystics and have kept a prayer journal during this time. Origen taught about prayer as a personal conversation with God. It is.

He spoke of the benefits of “speaking to him as present, convinced that he is present and looking at him.” In my approach, I pray (sometimes out loud) as if God is physically sitting in the room with me.

As I have prayed to God sitting beside me, my prayers have also been transformed. God is not distant. Christianity is a religion of relationship.

When you fully embrace the presence of God, you notice that you pray all day without ceasing and without even making an effort to do so.

You are no longer in a trance flowing from task to task without gratitude, without joy, without purpose. You notice the good around you and you enjoy it.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

It all reminds me of the children’s song/nursery rhyme enjoyed by many generations before me.

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

Life is short, but it’s not a dream. Get out of the boat. Snap out of your trance. Give thanks for the blessings you never noticed. Have a cheeseburger.