I’m discovering that a big part of my learning to walk in freedom in 2014 is choosing to live intentionally. For the past several years instead of approaching my days and each task in a mindful, purposeful way, I’ve kind of floated through life, doing things on auto pilot and just getting by.
By this I mean: wasting a good portion of my weekends parked on the couch watching movies, putting off nagging chores until they absolutely had to be done or bad things would happen (and then kind of half-assing them), always turning to TV when I had a spare moment, mindlessly eating whatever was put in front of me, and on and on.
Last Saturday night I made some popcorn (my bestie Cara got me a Whirley Pop for Christmas… AMAZE), cozied up on the couch, and began to look through Netflix for a movie. After about 10 minutes of looking at the same movie descriptions over and over, I felt kind of restless and icky, and nothing looked appealing. Suddenly, I decided to turn off the TV and read instead (this kind of thing never happens).
By getting out of my numb, auto pilot mode and taking a moment to reflect and ask myself what would truly be the most life-giving, tank-filling thing for me to do with my time, I ended up having the most restful, refreshing Saturday night at home that I’ve had in quite awhile.
Lara Casey often talks about downloading–getting the junk out of your head and onto paper–in order to pave the way for clearer thinking and goal setting (not necessarily huge goals, but what you want your day to look like). I’ve started doing this, and sometimes I’m super surprised by what I write down, by what’s been burdening me. It feels good to get it all out, and it helps me see what I need to focus on to bring my life into order. Then I write down what I want to focus on once the junk is cleared away and what would be the most life-giving use of my time.
“what’s filling your mental mason jar?” -Lara Casey
It’s amazing how freeing it is to conquer nagging chores and complete things that have been on your to-do list for months. (example: I finally called Boden about getting a refund on that newish skirt that is coming unraveled, and I lugged that box of books that’s been sitting in our dining room for ages to Half-Priced Books.)
Living intentionally, for me, means saying yes to the things that fill my tank–reading quality books, conquering my to-do list before it becomes overwhelming, running–and no to the things that don’t–procrastinating, eating like I’m on death row, not getting enough sleep.
SOME TOOLS I’M USING TO HELP ALONG THE WAY:
Naptimes Diaries printables for making lists & planning the week ahead
The Yadahome iPhone app to make grocery lists (I like it because I can make different lists for different stores)
She Reads Truth devotionals
Lara Casey’s PowerSheets
