Today is a working from home day. These are good days, although working from the office are good days too. I love my job, so any working days are generally good. But being at home means I can do some chores while also working. So I got some laundry cycled and some errands checked off my list. I spent the morning with a puggle at my side soaking up all the cuddles she has been missing since the kids went back to school.
Whether I am at work or working from home, I try to take a walk at lunchtime. It helps me get a few steps closer to my daily 10,000 step goal and I often stop for coffee, giving me the desperately needed caffeine boost.
Today was no different. The skies are blue with a few fluffy clouds and there is a very gentle breeze. For being mid-September, it is still very much late summer weather. My weather app says it is 76 degrees, so there’s that.
While walking, I chose not to listen to music and instead allowed my brain to wander. And I found myself thinking about where I am right now. I am almost 45 (just 11 days away from that birthday). I am married. I have three teenagers in high school. I have a mortgage, two car payments, a full time job and I am adding a part time job to the mix this week. I participate in a Bible study that begins tonight and a book group that meets weekly. I would have to say my life is pretty darn full.
For whatever reason, all of this led me to think about how many times my brain said the words, “me, mine, my.” Turns out, it was a lot. My job. My house. My family. My car. My…my…my…..
All about me. It’s all about me, right? Well, dear Kathy, no it’s not. I have spent the last 44 11/12 years with the focus on me. And that’s kinda not cool. The more I think about it, the more troubled I feel about it all. I don’t like the selfish me, and I don’t want to be that me any more.
I have this one precious opportunity to do God’s work, and I am wasting it on such small things. Is that really what I am supposed to be doing? I don’t think so. I really don’t. I think it is supposed to be different. This is not working out… and it’s time to make some changes.
From now on, I plan to change my focus. It’s not about me. It is about God and His plan. It is about lightening the load of those around me. It is about showing others that joy is there, right in front of them, if they care to look.
It is about noticing the wonders and blessings that God gives me in every single day. It is about helping these three teenagers to find their purposes and to pursue them. It is about increasing the kindness in the world. It is about finding the positive and eliminating the negative.
That’s the thoughts I had today. I have been a bit down lately, but suddenly the grey cloud seems to be dissipating. I think the joy that I seek is back. And I think that is a good thing.
Walking without music is a good thing, I guess!
Happy Tuesday, dear friends. May you find your joy and realize what your purpose is. Care to share it with me?
