Know When To Sip And When To Swallow

It's Monday. I am going to sip slowly and savour every taste and smell of its flavour. Yeah.

Sipping & Swallowing Life

I already confessed that when I don't know what to write, I just write. Those times I totally and wholly depend on God for inspiration. My best articles are written at such times when it feels like my mind is blank.

This principle has been working. I'm grateful for the Spirit in me who influences my mind towards thoughts my head would have never understood on its own.

So it happened on Twitter. I had the urge to tweet, but didn't know what to tweet. And I started tapping my fingers on the keyboard. Just like that.

Permit me to say, God was tweeting.

I honestly didn't understand half of what I was tweeting at that time. I knew it wasn't me behind the keyboard.

Even when someone asked me to explain, I said "hhhh". Can you imagine?

Some people said "Life is too short to sip"

I've been praying and thinking about this. It's deep. It’s transforming. It will change your attitude towards life. Read deeply.

Our experiences are different. Relate it to your life at the moment. Are you sipping or swallowing?

There is so much meaning embedded in these two words "sip" and "swallow". However, I will try as much as I can to simplify it while avoiding to write a very long article. Because I want you to sip it all in and not swallow it.

Life is a liquid. It's like taking water or a favourite drink. It could also be like taking medicinal drugs (which I hate very much). You either sip slowly or swallow quickly.

• To Sip

According to Webster Dictionary; to sip means to drink slowly by taking small amounts into your mouth.

When you sip, you slow down. You pay close attention to what you're drinking. The closer the attention, the more you’ll enjoy the flavour. You don’t rush to the next thing, but stop and give some space to the activity. You aren’t worried about what you have to do later, you are fully enjoying the present.

Sipping is savouring. Enjoying. Interesting. Learning. Changing. Building.

You feel the emotion. You let it show. You pause and look around you and savour this very moment. Fully appreciating the gift you’ve been given.

The moment might seem not to be special, because you’ve done what you’re doing a thousand times. You can choose to sip it in slowly and savour it differently.

Even water taste sweeter when you sip slowly.

• To Swallow

According to Webster dictionary, to swallow is to take it through your mouth quickly (often because you are nervous).

When you swallow, you are fast. You take it quickly and pay close attention to the next thing. You can't wait to let this moment pass.

You don't want to give it a second thought. You hide the feelings.

Swallowing is working. Achieving. Meeting target. Carrying on.

You choke it down right away. You just have to build up a tolerance. You consume it, and before you know it, you’ll have room on your cup for something else, probably something better.

I'm learning to sip slowly. 

I'm on a fast. So I can only sip water. Lol.

On Saturday, I sat down and started a list of all the good in my life. I have a family that loves me. I have a church that ushers me into the presence of God. I have friends who make me laugh and bring out the best in me. As I continued with my list, I could feel His holy presence. It is God who engineers all that is good and allows me to experience it.

I find God through sipping.

My mind wandered to things that had been hard over the past year. Just like having a cup of water in my hand, I had sipped some and swallowed many. But it occurred to me that God had worked good even through the experience. He wooed me, patiently whispered to me, allowing me to see how I have grown. He opened my eyes to see how taking just a few minutes to let my feelings seep in can help me reform the state of my mind, even in the painful moments.

Sipping is about learning to live presently, to fully enjoy the gift of each moment, to give that moment the space and attention it deserves.

(I went to church that morning. And when I got back, I slept from 1PM to 6PM. I haven't slept like that in months. I sipped it all in.)

Today, I am going to sip slowly. I'm going to enjoy every taste of it . . . every flavour . . . every smell . . .

Hmmm . . .

Written by Nwamaka Ajaegbu 

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Heart Rays . . .giving out  the light.