Hey Bestie! My question today is who really benefits from you living the fast life?
To live a fast life means to always be in a state of survival while being anxious about what’s next. Living the fast life means that you’re always chasing things, not realizing that things are supposed to chase you.
There are sayings like “YOLO” and “Time is money”, but how much time have you allowed to slip away by trying to do more in life?
Do you know that the more you do, the less significant you really are? You weren’t made to be a jack of all trades.
Culture teaches you that the busier you are the better, but it fails to mention that more causes you to function on autopilot, burnout, with an increased appetite for things, all while preventing you from actually living.
The more you chase external goals, the more you forget about what’s actually important. Some of you may be trying to provide for your family, but honestly your presence is needed far more than any present you can give to your loved ones.
It’s time for you to slow the pace of your life so that you can start living like you were intended to.
This post will be all about the detriment of living a fast life.
Are you ready? Let’s geaux!
What’s Wrong With Living The Fast Life
The fast life teaches you that you’re in this life to survive. Aren’t you tired of trying to make ends meet in your own strength? The truth is that you were never meant to merely survive, but to impact this world in a way that only you can. Your needs are already taken care of.
When God sent you into this realm, he already made the provisions for you. Think about when you were a baby. The only thing you came into the world with was your naked body and even that was provided.
Once you were born, you were immediately embraced, clothe, and fed. Just because you grew older, doesn’t mean that God has stopped wanting to provide for you. You stop him by growing up.
One thing he has always called you is his child. He says “the only way to enter the kingdom is if you change and become like little children (Matthew 18:3 NIV). What does this mean?
It means that God wants you to go back to being dependent on him. Not your resources, not your job, not people, not money, not the government, but him!
God wants you to go back to allowing him to take care of you the way he would like to for your specific life
What Does Culture Teach You About Living The Fast Life
This culture teaches you to live the fast life by telling you to chase education, money, car, clothes, status, etc.
It also tells you to throw away everything that’s unique to you unless it makes you money. One of the main things you probably heard coming up was to not follow your passion, follow what gets you paid.
Can we just acknowledge that everything you do doesn’t have to make you money?
Bestie, what happened to you? When you were a child, you dreamed so many things and nothing was impossible for you.
God is calling you back to that. He’s calling you to embrace your inner child.
Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs Theory
A huge reason you default to surviving is because you were never taught about the kingdom or about who you really are. Bestie, you’re a king and there’s many more truths awaiting your belief.
The first thing you were instructed to do by Jesus was to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness so that everything will be added unto you (Matthew 6:33 KJV).
If you’ve ever studied psychology then I’m sure you heard of Maslow’s theory of human motivation.
The basic human needs according to Maslow is food, drink, shelter, clothing, and sleep.
Maslow would be correct if the truest version of you were flesh. But according to God, the most important need of a human is to seek the kingdom and his righteousness.
God explicitly said that everything else would be added unto you if you do this one thing. He’s implying that once you begin to prioritize the kingdom, things will start to chase you.
Bestie, nothing is supposed to have you under its possession, but so many of God’s children are enslaved to so many different things.
What Is The Thing That Has You Shackled
Is it money? Clothes? People’s approval? Control? Food? Anger? Lust? Rejection? Your career? Idolizing your kids? There are so many things that can have us bound.
You are not a slave! Nothing is supposed to have you except the Lord for he is owner (Psalm 24:1). The irony of this is that when we have things, we think we are the owners of them, but the truth is nothing in this world is ours.
When God created you in his image after his likeness, he gave you dominion. Dominion means to govern, rule, subdue, and dominate. It doesn’t mean to own.
Having dominion is similar to your friend allowing you use his beach house while you’re visiting. He tells you that while you’re there everything in the house is yours to do as you please.
All the food in the fridge, the cars, the appliances, the pool, tennis court, the electronics; its all yours while you are there.
He even tells you that anything you want to do is all on him and every restaurant you eat at will be on his dime, so you are free to order whatever you like.
Now in this scenario, are you the owner of the beach house? NO, but you do have access (or dominion) over it while you’re visiting? YES!
This is how God wants to take care of you in your daily life, but you have to release control and become like a child again.
The Importance Of Slowing Down
Slowing down helps you to see what’s always been right in front of you. It helps you to face the person you’ve been running from your whole life: You.
Slowing down resurrects and aligns your God-given senses. It brings you clarity about who you are and helps you to discover your purpose.
Remember how I mentioned that you weren’t created to be a jack of all trades? The reason is because when you try to do everything, you end up missing God.
He created you with an original intention aka a purpose. In fact, you’re multipurposed but everything unfolds in his timing.
Let God lead you while you focus on what’s in front of you. Even if that something seems insignificant, it’s worth your attention.
How To Slow Down In Life
Let me warn you: Slowing down will be uncomfortable. You need to know that anytime you try to implement a new habit, your mind will try to resist it. Like anything else, letting go of the fast life will take discipline.
Here are a few practical ways to slow down in life:
1. Seek The Kingdom And His Righteousness
God has conferred his kingdom unto you because you were born a royal (Luke 22:29). When Jesus came to earth, it wasn’t only to die on the cross so that you can get into Heaven. That’s only a small piece of the puzzle.
Jesus’ blood was shed to make your body a viable vessel for the Holy Spirit again. If you go back to the beginning, one of the first things God did was breathe the breath of life into your nostrils.
His will is for you to partner with him to make the earth look just like Heaven. He designed you to rule the earth while he rules Heaven (Psalm 115:16).
If you’ve ever been to New Orleans, Louisiana, you can see influences from both Spain and France. Many of the cuisines and architecture were derived from both the Spanish and the French when they were warring for that territory.
No one in this century has any idea of what New Orleans was before the colonization of the French and Spaniards. I say this to say that it’s your duty to colonize the earth in the same manner.
In order to start, you have to learn about where you’re originally from and start living life based on that culture.
2. Disconnect From The World
Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eyes are healthy, your body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness (Luke 11:34 NIV).
What you see is a huge influence on how you act. Because you’ve been constantly seeing the hustle, the grind, the constant, and the fast life; this is all you know. It’s time for you to disconnect from the world for a while.
3. Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a practice where you become intentional about paying attention to what you’re doing in a single moment. It’s all about being present.
One thing that helps me to practice mindfulness is to verbally ask myself what I’m doing when my mind starts to drift. This instantly snaps me back into the present and helps me to focus.
4. Drive the Speed Limit
What’s the rush? Forcing yourself to drive the speed limit can help you slow the pace of your mind. It’s so easy to go over the speed limit and many of us do it without thinking about it. You’re not in a rush. Stop living your life that way.
5. Fix Your Focus
What has your attention? Part of the reason you’re having a hard time slowing down is because there are a million things that you’re trying to focus on.
Multitasking doesn’t get more done. It actually opens the door to stress and burnout. Spend some time paying attention to what has your attention. Write them down so that you can begin to fix your focus on what actually matters.
6. Mind Your Business
It’s not your job to have an opinion on everything you see. Sometimes the best thing you can do is mind your own business.
You are also not the person who has all the answers. Leave that spot for the Holy Spirit and begin to focus on cultivating your own garden.
It’s okay to actively mind your own business.
7. Get Back To You
Who are you? This is one of the hardest questions to answer. You are not anything that you do because your identity lies in the One who will never change.
Start getting back to you by allowing yourself to be a child again. What are the things that you genuinely love to do? If you don’t know then it’s not too late to find out.
Living the fast life may seem fun, but it comes at a cost that’s too high to pay. Don’t live your life chasing things that are meant to chase you. Remember you’re not on this earth to survive, but to live.
There’s beauty in slowing down your life because no one benefits from you living the fast life. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mark 8:36 KJV)
Nothing in this world is worth losing you because you matter Bestie.
This post was all about the detriment of living the fast life.
Remember you’re destined to win because he got up!
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