Small Changes, an Hour to Yourself, and Happy Thanksgiving!

We're less than a week away from Thanksgiving. Can you believe it? I hope you'll get to spend some extra time with family and/or friends.

I'm winding down my work schedule for an extended break. On Thanksgiving weekend, I'll be watching football, enjoying a meal with my family and then headed to a cabin with some friends for a few days. That means you won't hear from me again until December 2.

Now, let's get to this week's thoughts about slowing down and living deeper:

• Singer TobyMac posted this on his Facebook page this week: "The quieter you become the more you can hear Him."

 

• Author Austin Kleon talks about the importance of having an hour every day in which you are oblivious to what the newspaper says, or what your friends are doing or what is going on around you. Find out more about it in a post he titled The Bliss Station.
  

 

• Don't underestimate the power of small change. That's what this post is all about: Small Change, Small Victories.

 

• Did you know that the comic strip "Peanuts" was originally going to be called "Li'l Folks"? Creator Charles Schulz thought "Peanuts" was a terrible title. You can read more about it in this "Writer's Digest" throwback excerpt from 1965.

 

• I found this Fitbit article to be fascinating: 3 Reasons You Need to Be a Nose Breather. That article led me on a search that took me to this: Breathing Through Your Nose During Strenuous Exercise on the LiveStrong website. I have no idea if this information is accurate, but now I can't stop thinking about whether I'm a nose breather or a mouth breather.

 

• Awhile back, I wrote a blog post about creating more margin. Here's more on the topic from the Becoming Minimalist blog: 12 Simple Strategies to Create More Space in Your Day.

 

• Essayist Shauna Niequist posted this on Twitter recently: "When life feels loud, I create quiet: prayer, reading, listening. This grounding makes my heart strong again to go back into loud spaces."

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Have a great weekend!