I’m not a morning person, but I recently took a good look at my schedule and realized that it was engineered in such a way that never really allowed me to take care of my basic needs—and when you aren’t good to yourself, you end up compromising your ability to help others.
So this night owl decided to trade in her snooze for sneakers, and I’ve been going to the gym every morning for 5ish am. Let me tell you, that started out as quite the experience. But I started to really enjoy it! A whole new perspective on the world–I could be in the gym and out of the gym before the first rays of sun ever broke the horizon! I’ve become a creature of routine, setting my alarm at the exact minute that I want to get up so I will have precisely the right amount of time to get up, dress, shower, stretch, and make the 1:30 second trek to the gym to be done by the proper time and back home to continue the day. Handled.
But yesterday I forgot to set the alarm.
Oh dear.
Get this mental picture–shoes flying, a toothbrush bobbing out of my mouth as I hop around on one foot trying to stretch, fishing for a ponytail holder for the ponytail I’m late making. Mad dash for the car–oh wait–must go back in for the headphones–mad dash for the car–dang! need the keys with the gym tab–mad dash for the car, and finally we’re here. Must get to the treadmill, adjust the machine speed to account for my tardiness, listen to a Party Mix to compensate for adjusted speed. I’m tired, and the workout hasn’t even begun. The routine had been jilted and my mind began to race about all of the other things that were going on that day that ALL needed my full attention. I raced home to prepare, all seeming chaotic at best until I got to the end of the street and saw the most amazingly beautiful sunrise that I have ever seen. Absolutely breathtaking.
I pulled over, took some very deep breaths–and sat there as I marveled over the absolute astonishing beauty of nature–God’s reminder to us that every day has the potential to be a new, bright, colorful day.
If I hadn’t been late and hadn’t stepped out the routine of my day the way that I planned it, I would’ve missed what God planned for me to see. We get so wrapped up in what we think is best that we forget to stop and hear and see what God is telling us is best for us. Sometimes, what’s best is a simple breath and a simple submission to the fact that we don’t have all the answers for ourselves–but that’s ok. It reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures that I learned as a child:
“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” – Philippians 4:6-7
