Category: Season

The Bottom Line

9/21/2014

The bottom line to it all is that it's best to live one day at a time, and to do the best you can with what you've got. Life is a journey, and all you can do is roll with whatever part of it you're on. Whether it's the long, slow times when progress is so slow as to be non-existent, seasons of head-spinning change, mountaintops or valleys, the fact remains that you are where you are and all you can do is your best. It seems to me that fixating too much on being in a season of life is a surefire path to frustration. It puts you in a mindset that might not be best for you, and can make it more difficult to manage where you're at. Best to work with the blessings you have and enjoy them along the way. You can reminisce on the seasons later. For now, live.

I can say that the last couple of years haven't been phenomenal. Looking back, it's amazing what we've come through. At first I did realize that it seemed I'd sunk in a valley, but I'm glad I made the realization about a year ago that I was making it harder on myself by fixating on that and fretting on when is this gonna be over. I decided to take a day at a time, and you know what? The days passed with a lot less anxiety and frustration. I did what I could, when I could, and now here I am. It looks like things are moving up now, but honestly it doesn't matter. I'm thankful to be where I am and dedicated to working with what I've got to keep things going. Good season or bad, all that really matters is that you keep moving in the right direction.

The nature of life is motion and change, so you may as well get used to the fact that you're on a journey that doesn't end until your time on this earth does. Whether you're in the spotlight or the periphery, the mountaintop or the valley, the fertile land or the desert, just be you. Do what you can and keep rolling. I guarantee that you'll find yourself somewhere else soon enough. So don't fear. Nothing last forever. If the days are good, enjoy them fully. If they aren't, rest in the hope that they will get better. That is a fact.

That's all today. Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!

The Journey Continues

4/21/2014

And so, just like that, the Lenten fasts are over and now we celebrate the Resurrection. The journey that we embarked on Ash Wednesday is over and now we move on with what we’ve learned on the journey.

In all of my ponderings over the past weeks, I think the one thing that struck me the most is that the journey continues. Easter may have come and gone. Celebrations are in order. But the truth is that the journey never ends. We have celebrations and sorrows. We have highs and lows. We have feasts and famines. For everything there is a season, but three things remain: our faith in God, our foundation in Christ, and our obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit within us.

And yet, there we waiver just as much as in anything else, because our human nature challenges us in all things. We may be certain in our salvation, but our faith along the way is always tempered and tested by doubt. All it takes is something unexpected, some setback, something that flies in the face of “how it should be” and we start to doubt. Does God care? Is He real? Is Christ holding us secure, or are we swaying in the winds of chance? Is that the Spirit prompting us, our own will, or something else?

Why is that? How many times must God prove Himself faithful? The truth is that He doesn’t have to do it ever. He owes us no explanations. And yet, if we really and honestly look over our lives, we can see where He has proved faithful to us through His promises over and over again. He doesn’t move; we do. And sometimes, figuring out where we are is like trying to navigate with a map that doesn’t have a compass on it. We see where we are, but we don’t know how to move on from here. What direction should we take? Where should we go? Where’s the right path; the path to where we belong? And that’s where we get in trouble. As I said in previous entries: free will is God’s greatest gift, and our greatest stumbling block.

And people think that a Christian’s life should be simple. It’s anything but! Believe me, we have just as many questions as you do. Maybe more. Sometimes the big picture is more of a riddle than a mosaic. And I’m not afraid to tell you that I hate riddles. It’s the age old battle of good versus evil, and if you think that believers have it figured out – well, let me just tell you that any person of faith that tries to tell you they “get it” all is lying. The surest sign of the devil at work is certainty that you’re right. It’s the questions that define our faith, not the answers. And that just means our ability to accept the questions, and that we won’t have all the answers. There may not be answers, at least that we could ever understand. Certainly not that would satisfy us, anyway. See what I mean by a riddle now?

People aren’t wrong to celebrate the Resurrection. In fact, they should do it. It is, after all, why we don’t have to have all of the answers. It’s why we’re human beings, not humans doing. Our job is to be what we were created to be . It sounds simple, and sometimes it is. Sometimes, it isn’t. Sometimes, the path isn’t so clear. But we’re always on the journey, from the day we’re born until the day we die. The question is our location. We’re simply called to take life a day at a time, and sometimes even a step at a time. We know the final destination, but we don’t always know the path. That takes a faith that requires renewing every day.

And so the journey continues. I pray that you’ve made your own significant discoveries in these days of reflection, and that your life is better for it now as we celebrate knowing that the end result is certain. So celebrate, knowing that it all means something good, even if you don’t always get it. And if you don’t like riddles, then just focus on the journey, a step at a time.

I’ve enjoyed taking this Lenten journey with you, and I hope you’ve enjoyed following me along on it. And now, we shall see what life brings next in the method of the madness in my rabbit hole.

That’s all today. Take care, and have a great week.

Bye!

Beating the Beast of Transition

8/6/2013

Ah, back to school time! I have to be honest – this is the time of year when I don’t envy teachers or students at all. I don’t mean to sound snarky; it’s just the truth. I remember the “back to school” dread that would start as soon as the retailers would crank up the commercials in late July from my own school days. It was downright depressing to go back after a nice, long break and make that adjustment to the lazy days of summer to the crazy school days again. One advantage of having a year-round job is that my schedule doesn’t get disrupted like that any more. The disruptions are for much shorter periods of time. It’s easier to rebound from a two day meeting or a three day conference than the nine months on/three months off school schedule. But I guess that’s a personal preference, and it’s all in what you’re used to.

Still, we do all go through schedule disruptions from time to time, and everybody has busy seasons. Whether it’s rebounding from having three months off, a cross-country conference in a time zone three hours behind you, the explosion of activity during your busiest time of year, or covering for a colleague that's resigned or is on long term leave, there are tips and tricks to keep your balance through the transition. It’s not easy to move through these phases, but you can ease the burden by:

Not skimping on sleep. I know there are times when you need more hours in the day, and the easiest way to get them is to sleep less. Don’t do it. Your body needs time to rest and recover, and getting enough sleep is your best defense against the ravages of stress and illness. Trust me: You’ll be a lot more productive during your day if you get enough sleep at night. So don’t burn the midnight oil, or get up at 4 a.m. to “get a leg up.” It won’t work if the 3 p.m. crash fogs your concentration to the point where you can’t focus on anything at all.

Taking your lunch hours and breaks and don’t do overtime unless it’s required. I picked up this gem at an administrative assistant’s conference about 10 years ago, and it’s proved golden. Just like skimping on sleep, it’s easy to reason that you’ll get ahead if you skip your “off time.” And just like skimping on sleep, you’re cheating yourself by not allowing breaks that will refresh you and give you energy to get more done while you’re there. There might be times when it’s necessary, but keep it to a minimum and don’t make it a habit. Remember, work/school are there to serve your personal life – not the other way around. It’s a symbiotic circle where things are supposed to work in harmony. If your school/work becomes a parasite feeding on your personal life, it’s time to take stock and get things back in proper balance. I realize there are times when things or issues take over your life, but these should be for short seasons. If it establishes itself as a way of life, it's become a parasite and it's time for correction. Remember your priorities, and remember that time to yourself every day – even if it’s just 20 minutes – is essential for keeping you sharp and in balance to do your best at all you do.

Learning time management skills. I was lucky to have a good instruction in one of my college freshman classes that made teaching time management skills her first priority of the semester. That lesson has helped me through all of life ever since. I’ve had some refresher courses and these are things that never change – if anything, they find more ways to save you time and help you be more productive with the time you have. Some examples of things you learn are how to group like tasks together, keeping a schedule and calendar, advance planning and preparation, and blocking out personal time. If you’ve never had a time management course and you don’t naturally have these skills, it’s worth your while to fit it in your schedule. In fact, I’d put it on the “necessary for modern life” training list along with typing, computer/software training, and driver’s training.

Keeping your home/car/office clean. What’s on the inside shows on the outside. I know that cleaning and organization take time, but it’s well worth it if you can find what you need without looking everywhere for it, or when you aren’t having sneezing fits from digging in a drawer or cabinet that’s full of three years worth of dust. Keeping your space clean is good for your mind, body and soul. Organization helps you to be more efficient and saves you time, and cleaning keeps you healthy by clearing out germs and things that can carry them or cause allergy and sinus problems. Plus, you just feel better mentally when things are neat and organized. Cleaning and organization doesn’t have to take a lot of time, either. Sure, you have to make the initial investment, but once you’ve done that then it’s maintenance. Put things back when you take them out, keep your systems going, and make Clorox wipes and your Swiffer mop and duster your new friends to keep things neat and tidy in a hurry.

Staying on your medications. I know I’m going where angels fear to tread, but I feel it’s necessary to address this because it’s important. I mean no offence, but it’s a simple fact that sometimes people get the impression that “I’m fine” and go off medication to save money, or because they don’t like the side effects. Don’t do it. Your doctor put you on medication to help you lead a normal, balanced life, and cutting that off will throw whatever needs fixing out of whack again. And yes, people can tell if you go off them too, because it shows in ways that you don’t notice, so don’t think you’re so clever that you can hide it. Your family, friends, and colleagues don’t believe that your sniffling and sneezing is “just an allergy attack,” that your frequent restroom visits are “something that didn’t agree with me for lunch,” or that your frantic hustling around the office and losing your temper is “just stress and a bad day,” especially when it goes on for a week. People might be dumb, but it’s never in a way that’s convenient. The one thing that smart and dumb have in common is that they always show at times that are darned inconvenient and frequently embarrassing for you. Plus, you will get sick and need it again all too soon. Someone once told me that stopping your medication because you feel better is like cancelling your pest control service because you don't see bugs anymore: you don't see the bugs because the pest control works, and you don't feel bad because the medicine works. Don’t play that game. Maintenance medications are a blessing that everybody should take advantage of. You don’t have to suffer and there’s absolutely no reason to be ashamed or embarrassed about needing it – in fact, if you take it regularly and the dosage is right, then nobody will know you’re on it at all unless you choose to tell them! Do yourself and others a favor and take your medication. If you have trouble paying for it or the side effects don’t go away in time, talk to your doctor about adjusting your dosage. Let them do their job by keeping you well so you can do your job of serving the world through whatever you do with good health and a clear mind.

I’m sure there are many more tips and tricks for making life easier when life gets busy, but these are good, basic things to help you get started. So don’t fear that date circled in red on the calendar. This too shall pass, and if you work wisely and efficiently then it will pass with as little pain and suffering as possible.

That’s all today. Take care and have a good rest of the week.

Bye!

What I Need Right Now

10/20/2012

I think what I really need is to cut my life back to basics and take stock of what I have and how to best nurture the things most important to me.

Fall is naturally the busiest time of year for me, and coiencidentally it's when people want to "get together" the most too. Football season is usually the excuse for this - "let's get together to watch the game!" And I've been a social butterfly these past couple of months and participated in all sorts of gatherings, visits and get togethers.

But folks, this butterfly needs to retreat to her cocoon. No offence, but the Carolina's bye week didn't come soon enough for me this year. I need to sit out a few. The season is going on, but my "to do" list and my schedule don't get it. There are things I need to tend to around the house and with the technology committee at church. I know I said I was going to take a hiatus from my in-progress writing projects, but I really do want to get back to them with as few distractions as possible, and that means I need to put my nose to the grindstone and get things done now. And if you want me at my best during the busy holiday season, well, I need a break.

I mean no offence, of course. I just need some time to myself every now and then to catch up, rest up, take stock, and move on. I need to recharge my batteries and right now I'm running low. I've come to the conclusion that I must be an anomoly, because this seems to be a need that not many other people have. Other than my family, only Rick and one other person has admitted to needing time to themselves. It seems others actually clamor to fill those empty spaces in their lives to the point where there's no quiet, no hiatus, no opportunities to simply "be" and exist in communion with the Lord and the world. Doing, doing, doing. Well, I admire their energy and their tireless dedication to their social schedule, but I'm not afraid I can't operate like that. My life is very full right now and all the "blessings" keep me quite busy. It can be a challenge to find those moments and days with an empty spot on the calender. And they aren't usually give, so it looks like I'm going to have to take them.

I'm burned out. I need to clear off my plate to I can be true to my priorities and focus on what really matters - not on what the world says should matter.

So I'm starting today. I'm sitting out the USC-Florida game. I know, it's a big one and how could I. It's simple, really. The need for quiet in my soul outweighs "the big game." As I said, I need some time to catch up on some stuff around the house and with church so I'll be free to resume work on Move next month when I end my writing hiatus, and what better time than by focusing on that while the rest of the world (around here) is tuned into the big game. Plus, I still have Feathered Frenzy to finish, and I already have an idea for my next writing project which is a novella I hope to start in 2013. And promotion work on my already published works never ends. So there's lots to do there and I really need to get focused and get back to work on my writing soon, and taking care of the other things on my plate will really help with that.

I know life won't always be like this. I'm quitting volunteer activities in 2013, so I won't have to make decisions based on things like this soon. That was another decision I made this week. I need fewer meetings in my life and the truth is that I need to focus my time away from work on home, family and writing and that doesn't leave time for much else. I wanted to be more involved at church, and I will certainly continue to be a greeter and help with activities as I can, but I can't be bound to a committee anymore. It just doesn't work in my busy life.

As for the rest - well, eventually I'll retire from work, so that won't always be eating up most of my weekdays, but that's far away as I'm not even at the halfway point of my career. Frankly, I do have concerns about being bored if I didn't work, but those aren't concerns I need to ponder now or any time soon. Until then, it's the immovable object in my life and I have to work around it. Those aggrivations and annoyances aren't going to stop and I have to march on and do what must be done because it's my responsibilty and financial support, now and in the future. That's a reality for most people and it's something that should be easy to understand and respect.

Yes, life is busy, and sometimes it won't give you what you need so you have to take it. That's what I'm going to to today. Because if I don't take care of myself and my needs, then I'm not much good to anybody else, now am I?

That's all today. I hope you have a great weekend.

Bye!

Making Time

7/25/2012

I know you often hear that if something's important then you should make time for it, and I agreed with this philisophy until a couple of years ago. See, that's when my own life took off and I realized that sometimes, you do have to let things go in your life, and it's not always an issue of not caring anymore. Rather, it's an issue of your life changing and being forced to make hard choices about how you're going to spend the 24 hour time limit you're given in a day.

The thing that made me realize this were changes in my own life. Over the past couple of years, my life has changed drastically. Oh, I used to have time for multiple hobbies. I wrote. I cross stitched. I did plant and veggie gardening. I read books. I watched television and movies. My life was my mid-level administrative job and after that, it was whatever I wanted.

Then we built a bigger house.

Then Rick was elected to a 3 year term on church council and I was asked to help with one committee and then, a few months later, a second committee.

The we bought a second parrot and a month later, adopted a budgie found at Rick's work - bringing us from a 1 bird house to a 3 bird house.

Then my job got transferred, and I was upgraded with more job duties.

Then my writing got published.

And it was at this point that my calendar was suddenly filling up and I found myself having to prioritize and make hard choices about what hobbies would stay and what would go. And sometimes, I find myself having to make those choices on a day to day basis.

It wasn't easy for me, but I came to realize that when you're in your 30's and 40's, your life is growing to maximum capacity. The seeds you sowed in your 20's are bearing fruit, and you have to decide what crops to maintain in order to have maximum growth of what you want most in life. Marriage, home, and family obviously come first. Your job has to come second - it's kind of mandatory, because that's supporting everything else. (And frankly, as much as I talk about a crammed schedule, I don't think I'd be a happy stay-at-home wife. I think the list of hobbies above show that I like to stay active.) After that is where you have to start making choices.

I recently discovered that I'm in a season of life where I'm going to have to pick the things I like best and dedicate what I can to them. My life will inevitably change someday and perhaps that will free me to experience more, but for now I know what I've got and I have to make active choices. Of course, I want my writing to continue to grow, so I'm going to spend most of my free time on that. And writers need to read to stay up on the craft - reading
and writing go hand in hand. I like volunteering at church and while Rick is in a leadership position we will be more actively engaged there. As for the rest, it's "at will." I cut back my gardening to just tending my 4 rose bushes, because I love roses and always want to have them around my home. I don't watch near as much TV as I used to - in fact, since I've been writing more novels, I've found that I typically watch 2 television shows a week, plus 1 or 2 movies with Rick. I think I recently figured that on a normal week when new episodes of my shows are on, I probably watch 4-6 hours of TV a week. That's right, a week. (Maybe more during football or baseball season, although I usually substitute the game for a movie.) And I haven't cross stitched in over a year. That was the toughest thing to set aside, because I enjoyed it - but the problem is that cross stitching is time consuming, and I'm more dedicated to growing as a writer than growing as a stitcher. I sincerely hope I'm able to resume this hobby one day. It's definitely one I put on hiatus temporarily, with the intention of taking it back up when that elusive "someday" rolls around that frees up more of my time for another hobby.

It wasn't easy for me to come to this realization, but I believe it was necessary. And really, I believe this full life is a sign of a life bearing good fruit. I am truly blessed and I hope I am passing the blessing on to others by serving through my work, my writing, and my volunteer work. I'm busier than ever, but I'm also happier and feel I have more life satisfaction than ever, and it's good to see the fruits of my labor finally starting to bloom.

And as for my parked cross stitch needle - well, until we meet again, my friend. I plan to be back when the timing is right. Here's hoping it's sooner rather than later.

That's all today. I hope the rest of your week goes well.

Bye!

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The Bottom Line

The Journey Continues

Beating the Beast of Transition

What I Need Right Now

Making Time

Escape Reality

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