Recently, I've been feeling "stuck" and a little annoyed with my life. I feel like my life consists of going to work and paying bills, and I'm a little tired of it.
By nature, I am a creature of habit who lives for and loves routine. But recently, my routine has been no longer enjoyable. I'm satisfied with my job and love my family. But recently, I feel the need for a change. I have no idea what that will be. But something to distinguish one day from the next.
As I was putting the finishing touches on a blog post, The Holy Spirit said to me, "One Day At A Time." I thought you were right. I've been thinking about my days, weeks, months, etc all the same. There is a little bit of variation here and there, but overall it's all the same.
By taking life one day at a time instead, I might find myself enjoying my life a little more again. I might enjoy and notice the slight differences that each day has the potential to bring.
In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 6, Jesus teaches us about not worrying. Verse 25-35. At the end of this passage, Jesus says, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." As always, The Bible and all the wisdom it contains was for them then and for us now. God wants us to enjoy each day and not worry about what is to come. Prepare for it, sure. But not to worry about it.
I don't spend a whole lot of time worrying about the future. Although I suppose that depends on your definition of worry. Do I spend a lot of time thinking about and planning the future? Yes. I like to have all my ducks in a row as soon as possible for everything. Although I do stress enough.
It's been a few days since I started being more intentional about living each day as itself and not worrying about tomorrow. So far, so good. On Monday, I discovered a hiccup in our life and my routine. A blessing in disguise. The washers in our apartment building are not playing nice again. This happens every two months. At which time we head to the In-law's mechanic shop, where they have a washer and dryer. With this latest hiccup, we decided that we would do laundry at the shop until further notice. With the In-Law's blessing. The downside is that it requires me to change up my routine ( I usually do laundry at 3:30 am). But that's okay. I'm ironing out the kinks.
Anyway, the moral of that story is that by taking life one day at a time, I'm not stressing/overwhelming myself with the extra errand to run. I'm simply focusing on today and all that it entails.
Am I still planning for tomorrow? Yes. I like to get the most out of every day and to do that, I do need to spend a few minutes planning the next day's activities. Mainly taking out meat to thaw for tomorrow's supper. With my laundry schedule changing, I will now use that time in the morning to get supper prepped or, if I'm lucky, made and then all I have to do is warm it up, along with my chore of the day, such as dusting or swiffering.
Looking back on Sunday, God knew what challenges lay ahead and knew that I needed to practice one day at a time. He is a good God and always knows exactly what we need before we say or ask a thing.
I'm also done with overtime at work, so I'm back to working 8 hours a day instead of the 9 hours that I've been doing for the last two months. Giving me back more time and more importantly, more energy to enjoy each day. I've slowly been learning that there is more to life than just working. So when I had the chance to return to my normal work hours and get off at my usual time instead of an hour later, I took it. And am trying to practice enjoying my evenings more again.
Last night I wanted to spend some time in the evening reading a book. Unfortunately, I was too tired so I just watched TV. I reminded myself that it was okay and that tomorrow was a new day and maybe I would have more energy then. And now here I am, with enough energy to type up a blog post. And in half an hour I will climb into bed with my book. All while practicing one day at a time.
I pray this post finds you well and resting after a full day's work. I pray it blesses and encourages you today and reminds you that you are not alone in your struggles.
God Bless
~Hannah
A picture is worth a thousand words.
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