For the last 2 1/2 years, the world has felt like it is spinning out of control for many people. Looking at the "big picture" as we are so inclined to do has become a source of stress and overwhelm since seeing in front of our very eyes is clouded with despair, anger, grief, hurt, loneliness, sorrow and more.
What if we bought into the expression, "it's the little things that count."? What if we focused on our blessings daily instead of all that we see as wrong in our lives and in the world? What if we actually believed there is a light at the end of our dark tunnels and walked in faith toward that light?
Faith as little as a mustard seed is what Jesus told us is all we needed. Now I don't know if you've ever seen a mustard seed but it is minute. To put it in perspective, it is the smallest of all seeds measuring approximately 1 millimeter in diameter. Give me a jar of them to add as a pickling spice and I can see them, drop one and try to find it, and, yeah, no, it is forever lost.
How do we apply that to ourselves and our lives? As the last 10 months have passed I have had to adapt and adjust my life in many ways. Some of these changes have been big and some small. With each new challenge that life has thrown my way, I have had the choice to succumb to a defeatist attitude and failure or to meet the challenge with whatever mustard seed of faith I have inside me.
10 months ago, I was left to manage my family and all it's finances on my own. Today I am adapting to those demands on an ebb and flow basis. While some days feel like a struggle, others feel like a triumph and I see that I am on a forward moving path. Also 10 months ago, diagnosed with cancer, I fell into a time of fear at the uncertainty of what lie ahead for me and how it would affect my children. A few days ago, I got the results of my last scan and there was a great deal of progress on the shrinking of my tumor! We have a dog that is winding down and now we have the means to help him transition quietly and not in pain. We have another dog who after experiencing grand mal seizures is now on medication for epilepsy. At my last doctor's visit, he told me I had gained too much weight since my cancer treatments began and he needed to retrain my palette (I stuck with comfort foods because everything tastes like metal). My body fat test (kind of scary clinical one) came up almost half my body and he said I had to get up and move. 40 lbs is the goal, longish term goal, he has set for me. Five weeks i
nto my new daily routine I have lost 7 lbs. and am feeling like I am becoming new.
These are the little things I am talking about...okay, one of them is pretty darn big and my heart is so much lighter today! Celebrate the little things! Take those challenges in life and put them into action to propel you towards wholeness and healing in your physical, emotional, and spiritual lives. Soak in the sun, breath the fresh air, journal your heart, meditate with God in that all important one on one conversation and allow these times of turmoil, trials and tribulations to be the impetus for positive change in your lives!
Here is today's poem for your reflective journaling:
"It's the little things,
Joy is found in self release,
Daily renewal."
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