Slowing: What Fills Your Heart?

A few weekends ago, my grandson was taken to the emergency room by his parents. He had a fever, and was tired and lethargic. After many tests, the diagnosis was dehydration, growth spurt, possibly too busy, and he needed rest. He and his siblings are so busy. It is kind of the way life was for us when we were raising our boys.

And there was a time when I believed that being busy meant that I was doing something right. A full calendar felt like it was progress. Constant movement felt like purpose. Saying yes to everything felt like I was showing up for life the way I was supposed to. And I taught that to my boys, and they are teaching it to their children.

But if I am being honest, it also left me stressed, tired, stretched thin, and sometimes disconnected from what truly mattered.

Over time, and especially through seasons of a cancer battle for two years and almost passing due to completely blocked arteries, I have grown to see it differently. I know now that I am a living breathing testimony and I need to teach others.

I heard a song by Terrain (titled “Testimony”) today on the radio as I traveled to the office. Have you ever experienced a song that you swear was written about you? Well, here are the words—sort of. I have modified them a bit to fit my story. There are moments where everything turns upside down. I never thought that I would see those—I was busy building businesses and representing my profession on an international level. I didn't think I would see it—it was hard to believe but there are times when heaven crashes to earth. I've read the stories of all that God has done. He has parted the sea and set captives free, but I never thought I'd be one of the captives set free. I am a living, breathing, walking testimony like the song says.

The song goes on to say, “I am the living proof of what the Lord has done. You may call it crazy, but they can't take away my story.” They said I wouldn't make it and that I should give up. But they didn't know that the God that I serve Is more than enough. My God is bigger than all my problems—my cancer, my heart disease and the stressful life that I had built. I should have been found in a heap on a street corner with my running clothes on. But God can move mountains and he can make broken beautiful. I didn’t realize it at the time, but not only was I very ill, I was broken. But He can make broken beautiful. So, I learned that we should never run out of hope. Because, when I ran to the God of miracles I became a living, breathing, walking testimony. I am the living proof of what the Lord has done. He saved me from cancer, he saved me from complete blockage of four major arteries, and he set my life straight. You can call me crazy, but they can't take away my story, I survived two life threatening issues, I survived a very stressful lifestyle. Just look what the Lord has done! Oh, the enemy did what he could, as the song says, but the Lord has used it for good. When the thief tried to steal and destroy, The Lord gave me an anthem of joy, just as the song says.

It is with that joy in my heart that I tell you that busy isn’t the goal, peace is. I ran two large professional firms, and I flew round the world establishing mutual recognition agreements with professions in other countries and professionals in the US.

What I found was that peace doesn’t come from doing more and more—it comes from being aligned with God. Aligned with His timing. Aligned with what actually matters.

Aligned with the life He is calling me to live—not the one that the world is telling me to chase. So God changed me from the inside out.

I have learned to create space for quiet, for prayer, and for reflection. That doesn’t come from having my earbuds in 24/7 or my face in a computer or cell phone. So many people I see today are buried in their screens from sunup to sundown. They even take them with them when they walk a beautiful beach or hike an awesome mountain. I witnessed that on a recent trip to Charolette to do some consulting work. Everyone in the company had their face in a computer or phone all day long. Is that you? It was me! But I made a conscious effort to change that.

Time freedom is not about doing whatever you want, it is about having the space to be present wherever I am needed—with my family, my friends, my clients, and in my faith and the moments that truly matter most.

I started noticing what filled my heart instead of what just filled my time. I started protecting my energy, not just spending it. I started choosing a life that felt whole, not just full. I don’t want a life that looks full on the outside and empty on the inside. I experienced that at the time of my cancer diagnosis. I want a life rooted in peace, purpose, and presence. And that is a life worth choosing. That is the life that I want to teach to my grandchildren. My sons are very successful and extremely hard working, but I have noticed that they get this more than I did at their age. But the world has changed, it is busier and noisier than ever and we are all much more distracted than ever before. So, my goal is to teach them my testimony while I guide my grandchildren to a better life. I hope you'll join me, too.