As much as I love holidays, the weeks leading up to them seem to get crazier every year! My calendar is full of conferences, doctors appointments, dental appointments, and seminars - on top of all the regular parts of my weeks - exercise, Bible study, music lessons, and Jiu-Jitsu. Somewhere in there I have to squeeze in time to work since the holidays really are coming, and we'd like to pay for whatever gifts are coming! I think I might really and truly lose my mind this year!
My goal right now is to find peace. I know, that sounds kind of crazy, right? Did you see my calendar?? Peace is a far distant destination, if you look at everything on my plate. However, for my sanity (and my family's) I've got to find a way to carve out some peace in the midst of the chaos. I have some ideas I'm going to try, and I'll try to update you on my progress as I go along.
1. Stay focused: I have to stay focused on what's actually important. Are there things I can let go of? Probably. I have a bad tendency to say "yes" and figure out how I'm going to do it later. I may have to miss a few events, or say no to a few people, but I have to stay focused on what's most important - my commitment to God and to my family. Everything else can wait!
2. Calm it down: I have a tendency to carry all my stress around, letting it compound and make me crazy until I start dropping things. Unfortunately, the things I end up dropping are usually bills, appointments, or school commitments - all things I REALLY need to remember! I have to calm everything down and make time for these things that just won't wait. Keeping a desk calendar front and center has really helped me a lot with this. As long as an event makes it to the calendar, I'm OK and I can plan for it. If I forget to put it on the calendar, it gets dicey!
3. Push Forward: I know that some days I'm not going to get much done on my list, but I can't let that stop me. Life has a bad habit of intruding just when I have everything planned out just right! When that happens, I have to remember to push forward and get through. The world isn't going to stop just because I'm overwhelmed!
4. Pray it out!: The final, and most important, part of the equation is prayer. I have to pray when things get to be too much. God will give me the peace I need to see my way out of the hole, but only if I ask for it. Sadly, I think that too often I rely on myself to get things done, when it's only through him that I'm going to truly succeed in life. He's promised to take our cares and burdens away if we give them to him - so why in the world don't I? His shoulders are much broader than mine, and much better suited to lifting heavy burdens.
