When things stop being all about me, things start to get much better.  

I don’t have enough time, I have too much going on, I can’t relax, I can’t get organized, I’m tired, I don’t know what to make for dinner, I don’t have time to see my friends, I don’t want to clean the house, I work too much, the kids are driving me crazy, etc.  Most of us have experienced some of these thoughts, I have experienced many of them!  I find that these thoughts are very unproductive and I work hard at eliminating them from my daily routine.  

Although I am fairly good at looking past the junk and working through the routine; it is not always easy and I continually need to remind myself to take a breath and enjoy.  I am normally a fairly productive person that takes one day at a time.  However, there are times when my focus is off and the noise gets the best of me.

At the end of this past work week, I found myself less than excited about my weekend.  I knew that I would enjoy everything we had planned, but the schedule seemed to expand to the point of having no room for error and numerous unconfirmed items would sway our timing significantly.  When I hear a voice in my head dreading my schedule, I know it is time to change it being “all about me”.  

Prayer:

The first thing I do when I begin to get worried about my schedule is to pray.  I pray that I will let go of the worry and enjoy what we have planned.  I pray for the timing to work out and for us as a family to enjoy each other.  I pray that we will spend our time as intended and that everything unnecessary is canceled. 

When I let go of the worry and the control, everything seemed to fall into place.  In some ways my busy weekend got busier, in other ways significant holes opened up; all of which led to an incredible weekend.  Yes, among all the events of the weekend, my car was stuck in the garage due to a failing door. However, friends transported my kids, my brother had a car I was able to borrow, a repair man had a slot available on a Sunday afternoon, and the best part was I didn’t waste my time worrying.  

Redirecting my thoughts:

We had a great weekend because I was able to redirect my thoughts from what I was anticipating to be an exhausting weekend to a weekend that brought us joy.  After prayer and redirecting my thoughts, the girls and I enjoyed a wonderful weekend with lots of sports, friends, and family.

Yes, I admit to temporarily dreading the weekend, but I quickly stopped those thoughts and changed direction.

Continually working on redirecting my thoughts:

Redirecting my thoughts from what I want to what was intended is something I work on continuously.  I find myself wanting a certain outcome because it is better for me.  When I realize what I am doing, I quickly redirect my thoughts and pray that I am able to give up control.  My weekend which I anticipated to be exhausting was filled with many changes and bumps in the road; but because I had faith and let go of control, I was able to relax and enjoy the weekend.

We all need “me” time and I believe it is important to think of yourself and be good to yourself.  However, I find life to be much more enjoyable when the “ME” is minimized and the focus is on your faith.   

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