I am stuck. Not in the mud or with a flat tire, but rather sleepwalking while paying bills, tending to my family, or checking my to-do list during the day. Each day I eat, sleep, work, and play a bit…and yet, some days I feel as though I’m not thriving. I’m not sad or angry, I just can’t catch my rhythm. It’s not all that hard, right? Work, play, and serve. Somehow, I feel as if I’m spinning my wheels.
My routine changed two years ago when I moved across town. The thirty-minute commute flipped my routine on its head. Along with the loss of my dog, my four daily dog walks went out the window. Instinctively, I knew I needed more green grass and nature nearby. To refresh and renew from technology, the headlines, and my to-do list, I needed to smell the fresh air and listen to the quiet. I’ve tried a few options, stumbled, and bumbled and looked for Door #3, and there had to be a better solution for my routine of self-care, connection, and spiritual repair.
I knew the fundamentals of self-care included good food, good rest, good play, and a keen focus on filling my cup with nutrition, sleep, and concepts that fed my soul first. I turned off the 24-hour news cycle first. Turned off social media & television next. I watched movies and shows that I knew were appropriate (or that I could show to my grandmother if she were here). Even making these small changes, although difficult to do did not alter my frozen mood.
According to a study published in the journal, Personality Individual Differences, Rachel Schepke, noted that optimism is associated with increased cognitive abilities, “People with optimistic views believe they are capable of influencing their lives. Pessimists believe that outside life events caused by external forces influence their own inferior lives.” Optimists believe it will get better and pessimists want to blame others for their lot in life. We think better when we take a glass-half-full approach.
Each week women email, call, and visit me. They are walking through the darkest of the night. These women are broken and alone. These women pick up the broken pieces of divorce, women who never married and struggle to deal with health issues solo as they age; widowed women wrestle with paperwork and financial concerns.
As they tell me the difficult and concerning circumstances of their lives, I know that it is helpful to help them focus on nutrition, rest, going forward, and learning new things…and yet, the only way truly forward is with God. And we only do this if we sing, hear, listen and follow His way for our lives. Psalm 81 says,
· SING Psalm 81:1 “Sing praises to God, our strength.” How can we cry and sing at the same time? It is impossible, I’ve tried.
· HEAR Psalm 81:6 “I heard an unknown voice say…” We hear the Word of the Lord. We cry out to Him and He saves us.
· LISTEN: Psalm 81:8 “Listen to me, Oh my people…” God asks us to listen to Him as He loves us and we are His.
· FOLLOW Psalm 81:13 “Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!” God wants us to follow and imitate Him.
Editor’s note: I wrote these notes in my journal last summer. Since then, I began singing hymns on the way to work, listening to Christ-centered music on the way home. Meaningful podcasts on my new walking path downtown. As I sang, heard, listened, and followed God’s Word, He filled my cup with thanks and blessing.
While it is true that my journey has quite a few ups and downs and the night is still very dark, it is not so bleak because I know my Lord is with me. I see the stars and I know He is bigger, stronger, smarter than I am and if He can put the stars in the sky, He can help me figure out my problems. He can do the same for you.
Schepke, Rachel (2022) Optimism is Associated with Higher Cognitive Abilities, Journal of Personality and Individual Differences, May 27, 2022.
The One Year Bible, New Living Translation, Second Edition, (2004) Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois, p. 388.