4am. Eyes Wide Open. Slowing Down | Jamey Ice

4am. Eyes wide open.

One of those early morning wake-ups that have become familiar to me over the years…

But this felt different.

Not the usual cortisol-pumping, stress wake-up where my mind races with all the things I need to do.

This was gentler.

It felt like God was whispering, “Slow down.”

I did what I usually do—got up (no point fighting it, I never fall back asleep anyway), made coffee, and sat in the quiet.

Visions of the girls when they were little… Melissa and I as newlyweds 18 years ago… moments that felt like yesterday but somehow are already behind us.

Then a flash forward—Rosie as a teenager. Me and Melissa in our seventies, gray and weathered.

It hit me…

These are the glory days.

Right here, right now.

Elementary school drop-offs. Dinner table conversations. Bedtime stories.

I’m always going, always moving, always creating.

New projects, new companies, new ideas.

It’s my superpower, but it’s also my weakness.

Because you can’t simultaneously live in the future and be present in the now.

You can’t chase the next thing while fully savoring this thing.

Gratitude happens when you’re present… when desire is suspended for just a moment.

I wrote “slow down” in my journal about twenty times this morning.

Just a reminder to myself that these days won’t last forever.

That being present matters more than being productive.

That sometimes the best thing you can do is just be where your feet are.

Not sharing this as some wisdom to impart… just preaching to myself on a quiet Wednesday morning.

Slow down, Jamey.

Slow down.