I grew up with an older brother.  We were the bookends of the kids.  I was the youngest; he was the oldest with two sisters in the middle.   My life was imprinted with things from his growing up.  I often times lived vicariously through him.  His music was what we now call classic rock and roll – Creedence, the Royal Guardsman, the Eagles, Beatles, Beach Boys, etc.  Many of those groups still move me in ways that could be known as dancing. His friends were cool and he was bold enough to push the envelope with our parents.  The results were not always favorable, but I learned how not to get in trouble from him as well!

My brother had the coolest toys too.  The Lionel train set and the slot cars were my two favorites.  The train had “smoke” that came out of the engine as it chugged around the track.  The slot cars were sweet little dune buggies – not quite big enough for Barbie – but what a great ride for her had they been sized right!  When I was finally old enough to play with the slot cars, I was fascinated with creating the curves and straight-aways on the living room floor.  The goal was to see how fast you could make the cars go around the track, racing each other, without jumping out of the grooves.  Fast was the way to go!  I was transported into that little dune buggy, flying around the curves and accelerating on those straights.

The interesting thing with slot cars is, if the little wire mesh contacts wore down, the connection with the track became weak creating a sluggish trip around those bends.  Replacing the contacts made the car accelerate and seemingly fly.  Liken those contacts with our day-to-day flying through our routines.  There are those weeks when it seems like the coffee isn’t working, the nap didn’t quite refresh as we had hoped and our to-do list is stuck on pause.

I am not a morning person.  I ease into the day slowly, gently with my favorite chair, a view out the window and my coffee. If I anticipate a rushed morning, I will get up an hour early just to process into the day.  The routine is that important to me.  It refuels my soul and offers the opportunity to prioritize what lies ahead.  I have given myself permission to do nothing while soaking in the silence. As the daylight grows, I may read, pray or just listen to my thoughts.  The time is a luxury of intentional self-care.  It’s my way of making certain my “contacts” are refreshed and will carry me through the day. 

Be kind to yourself and find a way to refresh your contacts – take a break to go outside for a change of scenery; take a walk, sit and have a cup of tea…while doing nothing; listen to music; pray, meditate, read devotions or the Bible.  Find that routine to fill your soul. Taking moments in each day to read the Word, pray and simply talk with our Creator can refresh our contacts and spur us forward to navigate the twists and turns of each day.