Catalyst Track: Chasing Slow // Day Three

This track, featured on the Catalyst App, comes from Erin Loechner’s book, Chasing Slow.

 

• I used to think the opposite of control is chaos. But it’s not. The opposite of control is surrender.

 

• I used to confuse the words grace and goodwill. But goodwill is not what we have been promised. What we have been promised is grace.

 

• When we wrap ourselves in anything other than truth, in anything that doesn’t acknowledge our authentic being, we risk hiding our inherent, God-given, life-affirming selves.

 

Does one of these statements resonate with you?

 

Maybe you try to control those you lead.

Maybe you can’t extend grace to others because you don’t understand how it was given to you.

Maybe those you lead only see a well-crafted veneer of yourself.

 

Whatever it is, Erin invites us to take an honest look at the things that drive our motivations, fears and lives.

 

If you’re ready for that honest reflection, and if you’re ready to take subsequent action, dive into the track and complete the challenges at the end of each day.

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DAY 3:  DIAMONDS VS. CULTURAL VALIDATION

 

I don’t think the most dangerous part of social media is the time we waste on our phones. I trust that we can keep this in check, that we can maintain focused communication with those around us and not become consumed by our devices.

 

I think social media has caused something far more dangerous, far more penetrating, a creeping issue that sneaks by daily, unnoticed.

 

Social media has encouraged us to crop out the contradictions in ourselves.

It has caused us to airbrush the parts of our lives we don’t love about ourselves.

 

Perhaps you’ve been encouraged to use your circle of influence for a purpose—for entertainment, for information, for inspiration. Perhaps your phone number is starred as the go-to resource for homeschooling online or paleo meal plans or essential oils for beginners.

 

And perhaps you think your diamond ring—your true self—is in need of a spitshine. Or worse, that it holds no inherent value aside from the person you portray to others.

 

And perhaps you decide to hide in a Cracker Jacks box.

 

When we wrap ourselves in anything other than truth, in anything that doesn’t acknowledge our authentic being, we risk hiding our inherent, God-given, life-affirming selves.

 

When we edit our biggest selves to fit into tiny profile images and Cracker Jacks boxes, we risk wishing away the parts of us that make us unique.

 

We risk dulling our diamonds in the name of cultural validation.

 

And then perhaps the most dangerous of all? We risk discarding other people’s Cracker Jacks boxes—the ones we don’t like—straight into the kitchen garbage bin.

 

CHALLENGE:

 

Take an honest look at the way you portray yourself in your areas of influence – is it wrapped in anything other than truth about how you are uniquely designed and valued?

 

1.How will you more authentically embrace and present the contradictions in yourself in your daily interactions with co-workers, employees, family and friends?

2.How will you bring out the “diamonds” in the people you lead this week?