Finding Your New Habits of Rest One Little Bit At a Time
Change will happen – it’s a constant even when you don’t notice. When you get caught in the change of the moment, you have to find the new habits that will give you the balance you need to keep going.
Daily Inspiration and Encouragement
May 13, 2020
Daily Dash of Twisted Encouragement
New Habits of Rest
When change happens, all you can do is find your new habits of rest a little bit at a time.
The slightest noise would wake me. Light would keep me awake. Little changes would hinder my ability to relax. Most nights, it took an hour or two to settle into sleep.
I enjoyed traveling, but I knew it came with a lack of solid rest because of my light sleeping habit.
My morning routine changed a few years back. I started each day with Scripture readings, journaling, and study. The change in focus in the morning changed my ability to find rest at night.
Changes would still wake me once I sleep found me, but at least I could find sleep again.
If you want to learn new habits, try sleeping in a hotel room with a husband and fourteen-year-old son – for OVER a month (yes, you read that right).
The first couple of nights after the Easter tornado, I struggled to get any sleep. Turning up the air conditioner provided a little white noise, but so many changes circled around me, my mind didn’t know how to rest. Add in the not knowing. Uncertainty combined with unsettled do not make for a good night’s sleep.
Our State Farm agent and adjusters stepped up to give us a sense of security.
The staff at the Guntersville Hampton Inn stepped up to provide some semblance of calm in the storm.
It took almost a week to find my way, but I finally had a good night’s sleep and found rest.
Things are going to happen. Change will always show up. Moments of storms arrive, and seasons rotate around – sometimes spinning you in circles as they go.
You can lose sleep or create the new habits that will give you the rest you need. The choice is always yours.
Find Your New Habits of Rest
All you can do is all you can do. It’s not always easy to accept that truth, but in acceptance, you begin the process of finding your new habits of rest.
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- Take note of what you can do. Even little things become big things when you add them up. Turning on the air conditioner gave me a little control over the sounds around me. Turning off my lamp gave me a little darkness. Organizing the dresser top to a “dining area” gave me a little control over our living space. And using the dresser drawers as a pantry gave me a little more control over how we have our meals. It wasn’t a lot, but the little bits added up.
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- Make a plan for what you will do. You need a plan so you can make the most of what you have and where you are. Each morning, I made a plan of what needed to get done, what had to be done, and what I really would have liked to get done. Having a plan helped me settle into rest.
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- Utilize a practice of focused flexibility. Have your goals firmly locked in place, but be flexible in how you must arrive. I found a broken but still usable portable filing cabinet plastic storage and cleaned it out so I could use it as a portable office. It required pairing down to essential elements, but it allowed me to have needed information handy no matter where I went.
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- Learn all you can. Take notes and dig deeper with research. I rescued the files with our insurance explanation of benefits, so I would be prepared to deal with the adjusters and agents (because no matter how great they are, it’s still your job to know your benefits). The more I equipped myself with knowing, the calmer I became even when things didn’t happen at the speed I wanted.
- Invest in a firm foundation. The stronger your foundation, the bolder you will be in your standing. I skipped my Scripture reading for the first few days after the tornadoes. The first day I got up and read, a peace settled around me. I haven’t missed a reading since that day and the days are better for it.
All you can do is all you can do, but what will you do? When it comes to setting habits of rest, a lot of what you need has to do with finding a place of settled and getting information lined up, so you are standing on a foundation of knowing.
Add up the little bits because that is the way to your new habits of rest, no matter what the world throws your direction.
What little bits will you tackle today?
Need Help with Your Little Bits?
Sometimes it helps to have a new set of eyes and hears work with you through the process. If you are struggling to define your uniquenesses and map out your plan from the understandings, I would love to work with you.
Visit CoachforFocus.com to learn more about how I can help or to schedule your FREE consultation call or visit WhiteBoardofWorldDomination.com to begin creating your focus and balance today.
Challenge for Intentional Actions
Habit of Rest
Take note of what you can do.
Make a plan for what you will do.
Utilize a practice of focused flexibility.
Learn all you can.
Invest in a firm foundation.
Uncertainty will steal your calm. You need a new habit of rest when change spins your world around.
Quote of the Day
“Refusing change holds you back from becoming all you are designed to be.” – Kathryn Lang
You can’t stay where you are and go where you want to be. It takes change to fulfill your full design.
What Others Say
Scripture Focus
Today’s Readings:
Numbers 16 – 18
2 Chronicles 5 – 8
Ezekiel 45 – 48
Proverb 13
Scripture Focus:
“For I have chosen and sanctified this house that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will be here perpetually.” – 2 Chronicles 7:16
Ponder Point:
God declared the temple that Solomon built as His house forever. Now you are the Temple of God.
Share Moment:
How will you act today knowing that God has declared YOU His temple forever.
Study Question
Dig in deeper to the Word to grow a closer relationship with the Word.
You are the Temple of God. Your life is that simple and that complicated.
What will your day look like when you make the choice to dedicate all you have (and all you are) to God?
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