How A Mouse Forced Me To Rest

This week, we are graced with another brilliant guest post by none other than Keri Papili. You’ll get a kick out of this funny and down-to-earth story about finding peace in the most unlikely of places.

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There’s a mouse in my house.

On Monday I had a day off for President’s Day and created a whole list of things I wanted to accomplish with my extra time. 

I wanted to read, vacuum, get started on our taxes, update our monthly budget, drink some coffee, bullet journal. 

The day was mine and I couldn’t wait to get started!

The day started off pretty good. I woke up early, read my devotions, took a shower and made the bed. My mom wanted to meet for coffee so I was “on schedule” to check off some things on the to-do list before heading to meet her.

Until. 

Around 10am, I was preparing to leave with intentions of returning home soon after to resume my Day Off List. 

That’s when I heard it. 

The infamous squeak. I was standing in our living room and heard it clearly. Like it was right next to me. 

Squeeeeeak. 

I looked around. I saw nothing. Was that a...mouse?! I thought. I heard the noise again. 

And just like that, like the strong independent woman that I am…

I fled.

Yep, that’s right. I took my jacket, my purse and my keys and I RAN out of the door and to my car. 

Ain’t nobody got time for a mouse. 

I am not a person who enjoys mice. Or bugs. Or anything that should live outside instead of inside my home. If it should live in the woods or a tree, it isn’t the animal or bug for me. 

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not brave when it comes to things like this. If there’s a spider in the bathroom, you bet I’m calling Luke (my husband) to come kill it, or better yet, avoid that bathroom until I know for a FACT it’s dead and gone. 

I have other skills, but putting on a brave face in front of a bug or rodent is not one of them. 

In the car, I made the decision I wasn’t going back to the house until Luke got home at 3pm. For five hours, I would need to stay busy to avoid the mouse that was for sure taking over my house at this very minute. 

You think I’m joking, but I am most certainly not. My home was a “No Trespassing” zone. 

My Day Off List was no more. All of a sudden, I was free from a to-do list and I wasn’t sure what to think about it. I make to-do lists for EVERYTHING so to suddenly not have one was… exhilarating? Terrifying? Necessary? All of the above. 

After coffee with Mom, I was at the mall. That’s when I decided to do something I’ve always thought would be fun but never had done before. I decided to just wander.

I’m not kidding. I don’t “wander.” I’m a speed walker. I walk around a store on the hunt for something in particular and rarely just stop to “browse” or walk the aisles without a plan. “There simply isn’t ‘time’ to do that,” I’d reason. But now there was. 

I purposely walked slowly around Barnes and Noble. I walked down every aisle. I stopped to look at covers that caught my eye. I read the summaries on the back. I walked in aisles I never walk through. I bought a fruit smoothie and walked around Target. I simply wandered and took my time. 

And you know what? It was exactly what I needed on my day off. For real. It never occurred to me that this was the type of rest I needed. My days off typically include a laundry list of things I want to accomplish, but hardly ever do these lists include “rest.” And never would I have allowed myself to do this “wandering” thing if I could do my Day Off List instead.

I like to go, go, go. I thrive on to-do lists and checking things off. Who knew a mouse in my house would force me to actually REST and enjoy the day? 

Fast forward, the mouse has not been caught. I truly do not know where it went or when I’ll see it again. But I do know that I’m somewhat thankful for that infamous squeak that quite literally forced me out of the house. It forced me to adjust my plan and expectations and go with the flow.

Rest is necessary and so is slowing down. Monday reminded me there’s not always a need to walk fast and get somewhere quickly. Sometimes it’s just as important to slow down, walk slowly and take in the world around you. To simply wander and be. 

“Sometimes the most urgent thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest.” -- Ashleigh Brilliant

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@KeriPapili