This year, Christmas for us was exactly what we had intended for it to be: focused solely on our family. Although a significant number of presents were under our Christmas tree, we spent our money, time, and efforts on family time and unity among the four of us. We had video calls with family, an elaborate Christmas brunch, prayer and scripture reading, and gift-giving with lots of gratitude.
Later in the day, we all cooked a traditional Christmas dinner together. It was a joy to see both our son and daughter team up with us to prepare our feast. Their hands were dusted with flour, the counter was a disaster, and smiles were on everyone’s faces. I was excited to capture that moment, so I grabbed my phone, opened it to the camera, and pressed the button … only to realize that I had run out of space on my phone and was unable to capture or save any more photos. I frantically tried to delete unwanted photos and found that I needlessly was the proud owner of 32,443 photos. In that second, I realized that I had missed such a priceless moment simply because I had not cleared space beforehand to receive it.
A few weeks ago, people were throwing around a whole lot of New Year’s resolutions. Many of us have intentions to alter and improve areas of our lives, but have we actually made room for these incoming changes? How many areas of our lives are full of unnecessary clutter that no longer serves us? How many painful memories are we holding that are taking up space in our minds? How much anger or resentment are we keeping that is littering our hearts? How much negativity are we consuming that is dampening our spirits and stealing our joy? How tightly are we clenching our fist, holding onto something that we should have released already?
If we are not mindful of these accumulations, we may find ourselves missing opportunities to receive new blessings and experiences that add value to our lives. In order to be available to receive the new blessings and the positivity that is coming our way in 2022, we must first be willing to reserve space for them.
We all have useless clutter in our lives—whether physical objects that are collecting dust with no use in sight or mental blockages that are hindering our creativity and delaying our growth. Some of us need to give up the weight of guilt in order to experience the freedom of forgiveness. Some of us need to release certain people who do not add value in order to possess the confidence that comes with understanding self-worth. Some need to cut back on spending habits that are unnecessary.
For me, I need to literally give up busyness in general. I believe that time really is money. The clutter of hours in my day hijack my entire calendar and rob me of time that should have been allocated to much more pertinent actions. This busyness can be seen in the form of meetings that I should have said no to or calls that I should never have answered. My husband tells me that I cannot simply sit in an empty room in silence and do nothing—even if I was paid to do so. He’s probably right. I think I would feel so useless, so wasteful, and so bored. Even when my body shuts down, my mind refuses to follow. I am always working, always talking, always on the go. To me, an empty spot feels useless. A free space on my calendar means one more spot is available to fill, rather than leaving it open and filling it with emptiness itself. A blank space in a conversation feels so awkward that I must quickly break the silence. Even a vacant space in my home seems incomplete, and I somehow find an object to fill the void, accumulating more clutter.
Other ways to fill empty spots in our lives may be overfeeding an empty tummy, replacing a lost loved one with unhealthy relationships, or craving drama in the midst of peace (or even chaos in the midst of calmness). Many of us misinterpret emptiness as the adversary of contentment.
In our faith, contentment is the sweet space in which we are encouraged to rest and can be used as a guide in where we spend our time and money. It is the posture that states, “Whatever I have is enough.” Contentment allows us to not only accept empty spaces; it allows us to rejoice in them. In the empty spaces, we find peace, clarity, and direction. These empty spaces are open and available to receive the beautiful new and positive blessings that are on their way in 2022.
