Giving thanks for - the country that I call home. With all its imperfections and challenges, it is still home. I don’t know much about any other countries really, but I know that one issue we face as a nation is immigration. And why is that a problem? Because there are so many people longing to enter and live in this country that we have a system in place to limit the number of people who do. I’m not in the least bit political; I’ll just say that it seems to me that people outside a country wouldn’t try so hard to enter a country unless they also viewed it as the best place on earth to live. At the very least, it’s better than the place they are leaving.
Outside my window - dark. It’s still dark. I am returning to my early morning wake ups! I couldn’t be happier about that. Like the old Army motto, I can get more done before 6:00 than most people get done in a day. LOL Well, that’s probably not really true, but if I get up early, I can get more done and my attitude is always better. It’s been consistently (too) warm considering it’s September. The forecast was calling for highs in the 70s all week, but that changed and now it’s 80s that feel like 90s. I really feel like complaining isn’t the best thing to do considering all the things happening in other areas of the country. Wildfires. I’m just going to leave that here. 2020 has added the worst wildfires on record to its repertoire of apocalyptic events.
Clothing myself in - stretch denim capris, navy t-shirt with Mickey peeking out the pocket, tennis shoes - ready to head out the door when the stores open. Keeping house - with the new normal, I hope to get to many of the things that have been sorely neglected these past months. I still have some hopes to hire a cleaning service at some point, but I’m not holding my breath.
Keeping it simple - how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Just keep doing the next right thing, over and over again.
To be fit and healthy - new goal: just 5 pounds. The first 5 I want as a gift to myself for my birthday at the end of October. Then just focus on the next 5 pounds until I reach a healthy weight. I don’t even know exactly what that is, I’ll know it when I reach it. I anticipate returning to my walks. Other than that, I am incredibly healthy. I need to lose some weight and get some exercise. Mostly, I need to manage my stress. Pondering - hmmmm, am I pondering anything? More like obsessing and trying hard not to. Perhaps the exercise I plan to do is something like pondering. I was “pondering” earlier this week why it is that I have withdrawn from so many things that I love doing. This topic really could have an entire chapter dedicated to it but I think I have come up with a way to “peel my onion”. More later.
Listening to - silence. Blessed silence. However, after listening to my favorite podcast this past week and following the link to the playlist mentioned, I am exploring a whole new world of music and a different platform than I usually use. I really like the playlist and am looking forward to exploring even more!
Reading - the stack never gets smaller. Even if I manage to check a title off the list, I add at least two more :-) I really must find a way to motivate myself to read! Christina has convinced me to read Deception Point by Dan Brown. I’ve at least started it. I have to say that when my son saw what I was reading and mentioned it was the only book he ever loved reading (he is NOT a reader), I was pretty strongly motivated...
Watching - I can’t even believe I’m going to admit it - Blacklist, again. It’s not that I love this series so much I can’t stop watching it, it’s that I have been so mentally whipped at the end of every single day that I can’t bring myself to do anything else. There are people in our life who have not seen it that wanted to and so we started it again (again). Dear God, can you please help me stop watching so much television and start reading good books!? Amen.
Loving the moments - I’m breathing. My view of those moments has been skewed for a while, but I have absolute confidence in their return very soon.
Planning for the week ahead - it will be a new normal, whatever it is. I have hopes, but I’m almost afraid to have any plans. 2020, Covid, life’s unexpected curve balls. You know, maybe it’s best not to have a plan.
Words worth sharing - a friend asked us to share some random advice recently. This was mine: “Don’t just DO something, SIT there”. In other words, don’t react too quickly. Get out of the way and let God do what only He can do. So often if we just allow a little space and time, problems are resolved without any involvement on our part. I really, really need this to be true for some current situations.