I love to wake up to the sound of birds chirping on my alarm clock. For years, I have been able to use this particular choice of alarm clock sound to wake me up every morning. I did not realize how picking this particular alarm clock sound would not do me any favors in the future.
There have always been a family of cardinals living around my house. The male is always very happy and sings his songs in the early morning daylight hours everyday from the telephone pole behind my house.
Out of the blue, this little guy has changed his morning routine of singing and is now starting in the early morning hours while it is still dark outside (around 5AM).
Like I said, I did not do myself any favors by picking an alarm clock sound that sounded like birds. Guess what? At 5AM when this little cardinal starts his day and sings his little heart out, it wakes me up every single time.
As a result, my sleep cycle has been suddenly interrupted nearly every morning. I am a little more tired than usual everyday. After my normal cup of tea that usually wakes me up, I am still yawning like crazy. I started fixing myself a pot of tea. Drinking a whole pot of tea has the same result. Lol!
Tune In
This week has been harder than I expected in a lot more ways than just being a little more tired than normal. No arrows of the enemy have been flying as thoughts or lies in my head. More like I have felt oppressed. My emotions have been like a hurricane. That is not normal for me. I am more a head than a heart person.
This last Monday, I saw more posts on Instagram about plugging into scripture more. This made me realize that I wasn’t the only person struggling. Yes, I did spend more time reading some scripture.
That night, I still needed something else to lift my spirit. I thought about journaling. Honestly, I did not want to write. All of sudden, I thought of my cousin Amy’s journal (definitely a Spirit thing).
My cousin Amy lived most of her life with M.S.. She was an amazing lady who loved Jesus, had such a kind heart, and loved learning and reading. At her memorial service, I was told that there were around 12 or so boxes of journals. I assume that journaling is how she coped with life. (My parents brought me back a couple of her journals.)
The journal you see up above is filled with quotes, stories, newspaper clippings, pictures from various magazines, and much more. What a priceless gift this has been to me! It was exactly what I needed!
Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.
(I have always loved this quote!)
The greatest gift that I have experienced in these past months is the time to nurture my soul.
In the mornings, I wake up, fix my tea, meditate on scripture verses, pray, sometimes journal, and read my Bible. That routine looks different everyday. I have the freedom to take as much time as I want or need to spend with God.
This whole time of life has been a game changer for me. I know that is a good thing. I have had the time to evaluate or take inventory of my life. Really re-evaluate the different rhythms of my life to determine what I need to change.
What about you? Is there anything you could do better or different on a day to day basis?
Choose Wisely
Even for me, the past days and weeks have been a struggle to be grateful and positive for life in general. I may be a little more tired. (Thank you, Mr. Cardinal!) My emotions may be a little bit more abnormal. When I shift my focus (or even make myself shift focus) to recognize how blessed I am, I know that life is good!
If we can choose to be more grateful and positive, we can keep ourselves from a downward spiral into negativity, loads of stress and anxiety, and depression.
Let’s choose to look on the bright side!
(‘Look on the Bright Side’ design in my Motivation Collective shop. – Check it out!)
Until Next time…
Bethany 🙂
