Do you have any words of wisdom you've heard at some point in your life that have really stuck with you? You know, the words you hear only once but have had a strong impact on you, maybe not until years later. One that I remember from my early teenage years came from my grandmother. I had spent the night at her house and in true teenager fashion, I slept until noon the next day. As I strolled into the kitchen looking for a bowl of cereal I remember her asking me how I could just sleep half of my day away. I guess I had never thought about that but that has been my mindset now as an adult. Maybe this also explains why I choose to wake up at 5am to workout before work.
Another one that sticks out in my mind comes from a friend that I follow on Facebook. She had written a post a few years back meant to encourage other moms. In it she explained that in the midst of driving kids to school, appointments, soccer practices, etc. it's easy to get caught up complaining that you have to do this and you have to do that and life is crazy. The take away from it was to change one little word. Changing I "have" to to I "get" to will allow you to have an attitude of gratitude instead of complaining.
While I don't have children, this still hit home for me because it can really be applied to every part of my life. Raise your hand if you've ever complained about having to go to work on Monday morning. (My hand is definitely raised ✋🏻) What if you changed that little word? Now, I get to go to work on Monday morning. What a blessing it is to have a stable job that will pay my bills. Maybe you hate that you have to mow your lawn every single week during the hot summer months. Let's try changing that word again. I get to mow my lawn. It's a great reminder to myself that not everyone has a home with a yard that they can mow. I try to remember that the thing I may be complaining about just may be the very thing someone else it praying and hoping for.
What I love about my job as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor is that I have the opportunity to encourage people on a daily basis. This week I had a client that shared that lately she hasn't felt like coming to workout. She doesn't know why but she is in a rut with no motivation. I used this moment to remind her that instead of looking at her day ahead and saying "I have to go to the gym" to try saying out loud " I am healthy and able and I GET to go to the gym!" She stopped what she was doing and looked at me and said, "You know what? I never thought about it like that. Not everyone is able to get up each day and come here." It gave her that little extra push she needed to get through her session and hopefully will help her in the days and weeks to come.
Since it was fresh on my mind, I used this thought to close out my active older adults class that same morning. The final 5 minutes of class is reserved for quiet relaxation and if something encouraging is on my heart I share it with the class. I suggested to them that they take a moment to be thankful that we all got to wake up and come to the Y that morning and be together. I love that I get to be in a position that can inspire and motivate.
So the next time you catch yourself complaining about having to do something, take a quick moment to switch that one word. Don't look at your tasks as chores, but as blessings, and see if it doesn't change your perspective. 😉
I've always had a strong desire in my heart to be a wife. Far too many times I've read this verse and wondered "why hasn't he given me that yet?" But then I realized that I wasn't holding up my end of it. Was I honestly and truly delighting myself in the Lord? One definition of delight is: to give great pleasure or to please someone greatly. When I made the choice in my heart to finally fully submit to Him and His ways, my life changed. I was no longer worried about who, when, where, or why. I wasn't worried about "my" plan. My focus was on the Lord, trusting that He was preparing me for when the time, His time, was right.