Traditionally, summer is considered a “slower” time of year. Kids are out of school; there is an expectation that people will be away on vacation; the regular rhythm of activities are suspended; and the longer days seem to give an impression that you have a little more time to get through your to-do list.
Though most of us associate Spring with budding new life; I find that summer is actually the season when our humanity has an opportunity to flourish, not in activity, but in incubation.
There is no need to write anything more about the frantic pace of life that we all live or the impact of 24/7 accessibility to everything through our devices. The problem is clear and well documented and it causes us to react to nearly everything.
The reality that is not so well documented is that we need preparation for that which we are about to encounter. As common as the term, “blindsided” is, we do not seem to associate it with the way we live our lives at any given moment. Our devices catch us off guard with news about an aspect of life that we were not prepared for. They have no concern for the activities of a present moment to which we are trying to give our attention. We may be focused on work and suddenly a message gives us personal news that we were not prepared to hear, or vice-versa. We may be focused on inner work, and suddenly our device calls our attention to events on the other side of the world.
However, living life constantly on our toes for fear of what may come next is not the central issue. Rather, it is the context in which the larger issue dwells: confidence, or actually, the lack of confidence is the issue that is at core of so many issues today.
Change is not so difficult if you feel like you will be okay as a result. Differences of opinion or values are not so threatening if your own person and values are secure as a result of the encounter. Compromise does not seem like loss if do not feel the need to be “right”; or even more so, the need for the other person to be “wrong”, thus making you “right”.
I don’t know how many people have made the connection between the frantic pace of life and the struggle so many have with their own confidence, but two seem very related. How can a person feel confident when they are constantly caught off guard by information? If confidence is connected to preparation, and we are frequently pulled from that which we’re prepared for, then it should be no wonder why many of us struggle with confidence?
More the issue, the lack of self-confidence gives rise to other demons: perfectionism, false humility, sensitivity, fear, anxiety and anger.
Perhaps summer can offer us a remedy? During a season when we are not pulled in so many different directions, perhaps summer is a chance for us to create disciplines of focus and intentionality? Perhaps we can offer ourselves time for reflection and incubation? A season for which ideas may percolate? A season that allows time to distill the essentials from the façade? In doing so, perhaps we will create disciplines that nurture our confidence by allowing us to be prepared for the present moment? That we will create disciplines that allow ourselves to sit in the silence trusting that winds of our lives do not bring changes that uproot our lives, but rather, renew our lives?