But how do I "be still"?

I have a dear friend and spiritual advisor, Theresa Pate, who used to remind me when I was a principal to stay calm.  She, in fact, would quote Psalm 46:10 that says, "Be still and know that I am God."  I remember confiding in her, "I'm honestly not sure I know how to do that."  She looked at me quizzically and said, "What do you mean?  You have a great relationship with God!"  I laughed and said, "Oh, I don't mean that part.  I mean I don't know how to be still."  Ah, yes, the great problem of the busy people of the world.  We have a tough time getting still.  
I have another dear friend who keeps me sane and serene who swears by the benefits of meditation.  I have frequently marveled at her ability to meditate.  I am not positive I am ever that calm or still except when I am sleeping.  Getting relaxed and staying still are luxuries I can't always see fit to afford....or maybe I just don't know how to do them.


Air travel does damage worse than just making us susceptible to everyone's cough and cold (and maybe even worse, right?).  I get muscle soreness I never had before....okay, who's the wise guy who will say, "But it might be because you are older.  Had you considered that?"  
I find I need the help of massage therapy every great once in a while.  Dave and I sometimes do couples' massages, but we then laugh and joke with the massage therapists and each other and we come away wondering, "Now, that may have been fun but how relaxing was that?"  


I decided last Friday to treat myself to a massage, since I was in town for a string of days in a row.  As luck would have it, the establishment was running a special that enabled me to get an extra half hour of treatment for no extra charge.  What?? An hour and a half of relaxation.  While normal people might whoop and holler over this, I almost had a panic attack.  My thoughts ran to:  what will I do for 90 minutes??  The therapist introduced herself, then instructed me to get as undressed as I would like and to lie down on the table.  I will tell you that what happened next could only be considered a minor miracle:  I actually dozed off while the therapist massaged my feet.  I fell asleep!!  I got still!!  I also took some time to work through some thoughts I was having about my professional opportunities and do a little "vision" work.  


After the massage, the therapist told me, "You were so much fun to work on.  You were just like jello and let me work on you without any resistance.  Some people push back.  Some people resist relaxation.  You were fun!" I could only imagine I was having an out-of-body experience---no one had ever told me that before. 


Could it be that I am learning to live life one day at a time?  Maybe even to relax a bit more?  I like to think so.  Maybe, just for today, we need to take time  to relax, to dream a little, maybe just to be still....


I promise to think more about that---right after my next conference call and then right after I make that next airline reservation and then right after I finish my next edits.  :)


For today, happy communicating!!  Remember to take care of yourself!


Shelly