This morning I woke in a slightly better frame of mind than
I have for some time.
I have been struggling over the last 12 months or so with
issues. It’s hard to pin point anything in particular but lots of things;
family (at home and afar), health (both mine and family), work for Harry and myself,
personal aspects of my life and just general demands on my time.
I realised that everything has sort of got out-of-control by
being pulled in all directions and not being strong to myself. I have made
attempts at speaking out or putting things back to the way they were but it
didn’t seem to work or others didn’t appreciate me thinking of myself.
I know from the past, a few years ago now, that if I wasn’t
able to look after myself I would suffer and so in time those around me too. If
I didn’t take steps for self-preservation I would crumble. I needed to take
control of who I am and what was happening in my life.
I will admit I had let things ‘fall’ down. I wasn’t sticking
to my routines, reading my bible daily, exercising or eating, sleeping and even
thinking right. Nearly everything was suffering and it was either because I had
time stealers in my life, or depression and/or laziness had crept it. It seemed
the more I noticed things weren’t being done or done well, the more I seemed to
give up.
This morning I woke with time to think and realised I needed to get
back to what I knew.
I often see a new… day, month, year whatever, is like an
opportunity to start again and leave the past behind and although we are
already into the month of August I though “New month - start afresh”.
I follow an adapted version of Fly lady and one of her slogans
is “you’re not behind, jump in right where you are”.
I opened my bible and started on the new readings from the
new Word for Today booklet from Radio Rhema.
As usual it spoke to me, not just today's but yesterdays too.
This often happens whenever I am searching. Let me share.
...it's not just the opportunity - it's often the attitude that
meets the opportunity that determines the outcome. God will give you chances to
win, but it's your commitment that determines the size of your victory.
'Is your heart in what you're doing? Are you giving it your
all?'
2nd August was titled
Maximise This Day The
reading was taken from Psalm 118
God determines the number of your days, but you determine
how they are spent. Yesterday is a cancelled cheque, tomorrow is a promissory
note, today is all you've got.
And you can begin your life over today, if you live by these
words:
'Today I will delete from my diary two days - yesterday and
tomorrow.
Yesterday was for learning; tomorrow will be a consequence
of what I do today.
Today I will face life with the conviction that this day
will never return, that it may be the last opportunity I'll have to contribute
because there's no guarantee I'll see tomorrow.
Today I will be courageous enough not to let opportunity
pass me by; my only alternative will be to succeed.
Today I will invest my most valuable resource, my time, into
my most important possession, the life God has given me.
I'll spend each minute purposefully, making today a unique
opportunity.
I'll tackle each obstacle knowing that with God's help I can
overcome it.
Today I will resist doubt and pessimism and warm my world
with a smile.
I'll maintain a strong faith, expect nothing but the best,
take time to be happy, see every task as an opportunity to honour the Lord, and
endeavour to leave His footprints on the hearts of those I meet.'
'Time is your life - nothing more,
nothing less. The way you spend your hours and your days, is the way you spend
your life.'- John Boykin
Talk about having God tell me He knew exactly where I was
and what I needed.
So I prayed that God would order my day and allow what needs
to be done to get done.
I knew I had to get back into what I knew worked for me and
instead of jumping out of bed to dive into everything I thought “I know it
doesn’t work when I am down whether it be not feeling well or being depressed
or lazy, I have to work at ‘coming back’ slowly so it doesn’t overwhelmed me.”
I have different routines I have put into place for me. One
is a daily morning routine and also a bedtime routine; another is jobs in the house done weekly but only
certain jobs each day; and still another is setting aside time each day for me to
either read, knit, garden, bake or whatever as well as do some exercise. If I
tried to start all over with all of these I know I would fail as so much has
lapsed and left undone.
So being gentle I have given myself a week for each
group to be put back into place.
I am also entitled to some holiday from work and as I can
choose as to when these are I will ‘sort’ things out so that when the holiday
is taken I can have it for myself and not running around trying to catch up.
It gives me a sense of excitement to work towards too.
Psalm 118 Parts that spoke to me
5 In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and he answered by
setting me free.
6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do
to me?
7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my
salvation.
28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my
God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures
forever.
All scripture is from the New International Version 1984
I think it's human to sometimes let things slide. Winter time I also need some motivation to continue with my routine. I have a list of things that I'd like to get done over winter but I can't even find the motivation to start. I know once the weather warms up again- I'll be hard at it again. Little steps aand make sure they're things you enjoy. What a shame we're so far apart- we could give each other a hand. Always fun when you get together and chat while working. One day ..... Sue
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