The Best Way to Slow Life Down This Advent

The other day, something incredibly frustrating happened. 

I was rushing from a hurried dinner with my family to my weekly dance class, while at the same time catching up on some important medical news from a friend’s text. Stuffing my phone in my bag as I got out of the car, I trudged across a snow-filled lawn. I paused briefly when I heard a slight thump of something hitting the ground behind me, but doing a quick check of my car keys still safely in my coat pocket, I kept going. 

It wasn’t until after class, as I was tromping back through that same snow-filled lawn, that I began searching for my phone in my seemingly bottomless bag. Not finding it anywhere, I suddenly remembered the noise from earlier on. I frantically started looking for my phone in the snow, but it was to no avail due to the darkness that had settled in for the evening. I—of course—was running late to my next thing, my weekly Adoration hour at the parish chapel. Not wanting to keep Jesus waiting any longer, I called off the search after nearly half an hour, and disgruntledly headed to prayer.

The minute I walked into the chapel, the sound of interior laughter filled my ears. 

It was not my laughter of course, because I was still feeling rather anxsty about the whole ordeal. It was the laughter of my Lord. He was laughing at me in all my franticness! I glared at Him in the monstrance—lovingly, yet also annoyed. Nobody likes to have their frivolous behavior pointed out, let alone laughed at. But I knew Jesus wasn’t doing it to shame me, He was doing it to teach me an important lesson. 

I was so busy filling every second of my day with errands, multitasking, and micromanaging, that I was missing out on living. The result was not time well spent, but a time of mounting anxiety. Jesus spoke to my heart during that Adoration hour and reminded me of the importance of slowing down and staying present. If it took losing my phone in the snow to remind me of that, well then, so be it. 

And this is where my story coincides with yours. 

How tempting it is these days to rush from one thing to the next without really remaining in the present! We so easily get caught up in overachieving, over-scheduling, or hustling around, that we miss the things that happen right under our noses. The holiday season especially seems to breed an undue sense of urgency and busyness. But the season of Advent invites us to slow life down and to wait with the Church in anticipation. 

How can you better slow life down and enter into the season of Advent with patience and peace? 

If your busy schedule could use a reset, consider adopting some of these practices for the Advent season.

• Put your phone away when you’re with someone else. Stay present to those right in front of you. 

• Sign up for a weekly Adoration hour at the nearest Eucharistic Adoration chapel. It may seem difficult at first to sit in silence for an entire hour, but you’ll soon find the Lord filling your soul with peace and grace!

• If you are like me and feel the need to over-schedule and multi-task every minute of your life, pick one thing in your schedule that you can let go of, just for the Advent season. 

• Make a home-cooked meal for yourself once or twice a week (it doesn’t have to be fancy!), then actually sit down at the table to enjoy it. Put your phone away, turn the TV off, and slow down. Be in the moment. 

• Make or buy an Advent wreath to display in the center of your home. Light the new candle each Sunday, reminding yourself that we are given this time to slowly anticipate and prepare. 

• Read the daily readings, or go to daily Mass as often as possible. The liturgy gives us beautiful reminders of the reason for the Advent season, and inspires us to prepare our hearts and homes for the coming of Jesus. 

• I know this may touch a nerve or two, but, slowly decorate your home for Christmas. Don’t put everything out the weekend after Thanksgiving. Don’t listen to Christmas music 24/7 at the first sight of December. Slowly introduce those things throughout the Advent season as we get closer to Christmas. There are even some great Advent-friendly playlists you can find out there with instrumental hymns and carols or other Advent-themed songs.

• Before bed each night, write down something you are grateful for, something you could’ve done better, and one thing you’ll aspire for tomorrow. This helps clarify your intentions, your priorities, and your heart. 

Let this season of Advent change you from the inside out. 

With the addition of these new habits, you’ll be well on your way to a fruitful Advent season, and you won’t even have to lose your phone in the snow! (I did find it the next day, by the way, laying in the middle of that snow-filled lawn. It was a little frozen, but it still worked!) Have a blessed Advent season, friends!