Do you ever tire of doing dishes? The laundry (my personal never-ending story)? The car that needs a tune-up or the dishwasher that needs repair? Sometimes it feels like life is full of stuff that needs fixing.

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

Then there’s my mental, emotional & physical health which all seem to constantly need attention.

Is there more to this life than focusing on what needs fixing?

It’s somewhat a rhetorical question yet a question that requires a pause to consider what the more might include. Here are four rhythms that can use attention on a regular basis. You get to define what regular is in your life.

Rest

Restore

Create

Connect

These are rhythms that have been identified as crucial to human thriving. If we want to move toward thriving in 2020, planning to give attention to these four rhythms will be a crucial adjustment of focus of time and energy.

It’s a little different than fixing something; adjusting is pre-emptive to something being broken.

In her book Rhythms of Renewal, Rebekah Lyons shares a bit of her own story to illustrate each rhythm while inviting the reader to engage in the practice of each rhythm. If this concept is new to you, I highly recommend her work. Rebekah and her husband Gabe have launched a podcast called Rhythms for Life; the first season just completed Thanksgiving week. In each episode they discuss one of the rhythms and interview various experts in the highlighted field. I gained insight, experienced affirmation, and felt a sense of shared experience as I listened to each episode.

Read those four rhythms again: Rest, Restore, Create, Connect

Without knowing anything more than what the word says, which one seems to draw you in? Which one do you look at and say I don’t even know how to do that?

There is more to life than focusing on what needs fixing. Being aware of how your rhythms are currently, celebrating what is working by noticing and being grateful is a good beginning. If you want more then recognizing what one needs adjusting the most is a great place to start.

Sometimes saying what is working is enough. Acknowledging and expressing gratitude is a shift of focus from what needs fixing.

Action step: take a quick inventory of the four rhythms. What’s already in place in your rhythm of life? Notice it. Express gratitude to God for the wisdom you’ve gleaned to have developed that rhythm.