Guest Post by Rachel Macy Stafford
Guest Post by Rachel Macy Stafford
During my highly-distracted years, life was a blur—the to-do lists took over … my life was a constant mad dash to a finish line that couldn’t be reached … and my devices were gripped more tightly than the hands of my loved ones.
Thank God things are different now.
Now I strive to open my hands, eyes, and heart to the moments that matter. And on this particular day, What Really Mattered was on my radar.
Out for a morning run while on vacation, I spotted a helpless starfish sitting in a tide pool. I couldn’t remember the last time I saved a starfish like I did when I was a girl.
But on this day, it felt like the right thing to do.
I reached into a shallow tide pool and pulled out a starfish missing a limb. I turned it over expecting to see no movement, but amazingly its tiny tube feet waved at me. The starfish was alive—and it was fighting to survive.
“Breathe,” I whispered to the broken creature. “Breathe.”
Suddenly, it became crystal clear what I didn’t want my life to feel like. Here are the thoughts that went through my head that day—words that have become my daily prayer, my Hands Free mantra, my vow to breathe:
Vow To Breathe
No longer do I want to feel like I’m always running late.
No longer do I want to feel like I‘ll never catch up.
No longer do I want to feel compelled to rush my children through life.
No longer do I want to feel the brush of a hurried kiss on my husband’s lips.
No longer do I want to feel guilty when I sit down to rest.
No longer do I want to feel depleted and empty.
No longer do I want to feel like each day is a blur.
No longer do I want to feel half alive.
Instead, I vow to breathe.
I vow to look my children in the eyes and step into their world.
I vow to remember what my heart loves to do and then stop making excuses.
I vow to close my eyes in gratitude and open my eyes wide in wonder.
I vow to have face-to-face, soul-to-soul connection with the ones who share my life.
I vow to
read a book.
Dance in the rain.
Say, “Take your time,” and mean it.
I vow to
Give a good kiss.
Leave a surprise note.
Do absolutely nothing every now and then.
I vow to
Rest
Laugh
Pray
Wait
Dream
And breathe.
And breathe.
So I can truly live.
It’s been three years since I made this vow. My journey has not been perfect. Sometimes I stumble, but I get back up by reminding myself that the to-do list doesn’t contain the most important tasks of the day. God’s gentle urgings on my heart tell me what I need to flourish and thrive—as long as I stop long enough to listen.
Hands Free Mama Give-Away!
DISCOVER THE POWER, JOY, AND LOVE of Living ‘Hands Free.’
If technology is the new addiction, then multi-tasking is the new marching order. We check our email while cooking dinner, send a text while bathing the kids, and spend more time looking into electronic screens than into the eyes of our loved ones. With our never-ending to-do lists and jam-packed schedules, it’s no wonder we’re distracted. But this isn’t the way it has to be.
In July 2010, special education teacher and mother Rachel Macy Stafford decided enough was enough. Tired of losing track of what matters most in life, Rachel began practicing simple strategies that enabled her to momentarily let go of largely meaningless distractions and engage in meaningful soul-to-soul connections. She started a blog to chronicle her endeavors and soon saw how both external and internal distractions had been sabotaging her happiness and preventing her from bonding with the people she loves most.
Hands Free Mama is the digital society’s answer to finding balance in a media-saturated, perfection-obsessed world. It doesn’t mean giving up all technology forever. It doesn’t mean forgoing our jobs and responsibilities. What it does mean is seizing the little moments that life offers us to engage in real and meaningful interaction. It means looking our loved ones in the eye and giving them the gift of our undivided attention, leaving the laundry till later to dance with our kids in the rain, and living a present, authentic, and intentional life despite a world full of distractions.
So join Rachel and go hands-free. Discover what happens when you choose to open your heart—and your hands—to the possibilities of each God-given moment.
Rachel Macy Stafford is a certified special education teacher with a Master’s Degree in education and ten years of experience working with parents and children. In December 2010, this life-long writer felt compelled to share her journey to let go of distraction and grasp what really matters by creating the blog “Hands Free Mama.” Using her skills as a writer, teacher, and encourager, Rachel provides readers with simple, non-intimidating, and motivating methods to let go of distraction and connect with their loved ones. Rachel’s work has been featured in USA Today, TIME.com, MSN.com, PBS.org, The Huffington Post, Reader’s Digest, and Good Morning America. Her blog currently averages one million visitors a month. Rachel newly released Hands Free Mama, is a New York Times Bestseller.
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