The first time my children asked if they could stay up until midnight, I remember my husband and me saying, “Okay,” thinking that it was highly probable they would fall asleep well before midnight, which was a good deal beyond their usual bedtime. However, as midnight approached, to our surprise, they were wide-awake and charged full of energy. It was not because of a late afternoon/early evening nap or anything else we would have thought of, but rather it was all due to a Wii racing game.

To our children, staying awake far beyond their nightly bedtime and reaching new levels of Wii greatness was exciting and a great feat accomplished. To us, it was an interesting lesson on the power of Wii—a new addition to the “things that can rev us up when we really need to be winding down” category.

Thinking back on that night, as I recollect it—much more fondly these days—I am reminded how at every stage of life there are many things that can cause us to become revved up, distracted and/or pulled away from perhaps recognizing and responding to the better choice among the possible options.

Oftentimes it can seem as though there is so much to do and so little time in which to get it done. There can be pressure to keep pushing and plugging away, rather than pausing, if only briefly, and reassessing the direction in which one may be travelling. Coming to a complete halt can also be unthinkable… unspeakable, but it can also be life altering for the better, even when it may seem to be for the worse.

Like so much in life, the view depends on from where it is taken in… from where one is standing, and the posture in which it is received.

“Every life needs a hopeful spiritual discipline that recognizes the presence and action of God at all times.” – Jerome Kodell, OSB