Schedule Space

     I have been thinking about space. No, not the planets and stars. But rather space, as in elbow room or room to breathe. More specifically, I have been thinking about space in the way of my life and what it looks like. 

     Do you have that friend that hovers obnoxiously close over your shoulder as you are on the computer trying to show them something? They are so close that you can feel their warm semi-smelly breathe on the back of your neck. If you were to simply turn your head to look left or right, you would be cheek to cheek? Yep. We have all have that friend. And if you don't... I mean I'm not saying it is you... but... all signs point to... (just kidding... mostly). Most times you want to turn around to that person (maybe you have) and said something along the lines of, "Can't I just have a little space to breathe??"

     Bingo. That moment. That is what I am talking about. When you can't even focus on what you are going to do because you just need a little room. Don't we do that to ourselves? There was a time when my daily schedule looked something like this:

           6:00am- Wake Up. 6:05- Be in shower. 6:15- Out of shower. Make lunch. 6:20- Do hair. 6:30-Be eating breakfast. 6:35- Check email while eating. 6:45- Be done eating. Make-up. 6:50- Make Bed. 6:55- Put Shoes on. 6:57- Put coat on. 7:00- Close door to apartment. Walk to car.

     I did not leave myself a single minute to breathe. I didn't give myself any space. In our day in age, if you aren't constantly going or doing something, you are seen as lazy. You are seen as the person who is wasting your day. But maybe, just maybe, that person with the breathing space, is the only person who isn't going to go insane. They chose to give themselves some space. Some room to breathe and digest what is happening around them. 

     "But Katie, how can I do that? I have so much to do with classes and work and family and this commitment and that commitment!" Simple. Schedule space time. Recently my pastor told us that you schedule what is important to you. Aren't you important to you? Be realistic in your space goal. Don't schedule 2 hours to sit and think... you'll get 15 minutes into it and find something else you have to do. Think of how long you need to breathe. I may need 15 minutes everyday... but you may need 5 minutes or 40 minutes.

     So, consider scheduling something new into your daily routine... space.

Childlike Love

     No matter where I am in my life, no matter what has happened that day or week or month. My day is instantly made by the love of a child. Seriously though, I can walk into a classroom or preschool and suddenly all my worries are gone because they gave me a hug.

     Today, I returned to an elementary classroom that is very special to me and was welcomed unconditionally. It amazed me and suddenly I found myself thinking. Why are they so welcoming? How can they love so willingly? Then I thought more and started asking questions like: Why can’t all people love like this? Where does the unconditional love go once we “grow up”?

     I’m not suggesting that we all go running up to each other and envelope each other in hugs every time we see someone we know, as the students do. But rather, that we learn to appreciate others for who they are. That we learn to love, as God taught us, unconditionally.  

     I know what you are thinking, “Katie, you are crazy. I don’t love everyone. Some people I can barely tolerate.” I can answer that. Let me take you back to a time where Katie and her little sister fought… a lot. I can remember my mom saying on many occasions, “You don’t have to like your sister right now, but you have to love her.” Boom. Roasted. Mom got me. We don’t always approve of others actions or like their attitudes but we have to love others because God loved us first. Simple as that.

    So, I challenge you to think about someone in your life that you may not like. Got it? Now, I challenge you to consider whether or not you show any love to them. Let’s, you and me, reflect on that and see if it lines up with the way we want to live our lives. Love always!

Decisions...

Once someone told me that it was amazing how I could look at a situation and see all of the possible outcomes. In mere seconds I can come up with a list of reasons that things should go one way or another. Now maybe you are the kind of person that sees things one way, and you wish that you could see all of the outcomes before it happens. Maybe you only see the outcomes that have happened in your past experience. Maybe you are in the same boat as me and you can see things from every angle. Any way that you see it, I want you to understand one thing... I am really really really bad at making decisions.

I don't want to complain because that's just lame. But I do want to explore the reasons why I am so bad at making decisions. It could be many things:

I could be afraid to commit.

I could be completely unbiased to everything in life.

I could be completely content with many of the different outcomes that I see.

I could be afraid of everything.

I could be... 

You get it. It could be many things that cause me to not be able to make up my mind. But as I sit here and think of all of these excuses, I realize that I just have to deal with it. I have to find some way to make things happen and do it in a way that is healthy. Some ways that I tend to fall back on are:

Flip a coin.

Make someone else choose.

The handy dandy pro/con list.

Call my mommy and beg her to make it.

Dwell and think until I choose one way or the other or at least drive myself crazy.

Okay, so maybe some of those aren't too healthy. But I'm going to be honest and tell you that they are the ones I use. I need to work to do something. I need to work to add God into that list. The list above reflects things that Katie chooses. Things that I want. Not the things that God has planned for me. But you know what, that scares me. It scares me because I have to place my trust in someone else. 

I challenge you (and myself obviously) to choose to put God at the top of that list, let him be your consultant. Because you know what will probably happen, I won't need any of the rest of those methods, once I choose to let go, and let God.

Love. Simple as that.

January 20th is the International Day of Acceptance. This is a "holiday" created by the founders of 3E Love. 3E Love is a company that is close to my heart. For years, I have worked to give those who have disabilities a chance. In our world, we view disabilities as something "wrong" or "broken", but I live my day to day life trying to challenge that view. As cliche as the saying has become, I feel like a disability is simply a "different ability." Different but not less (as Temple Grandin would say).

Now, I don't "technically" have a diagnosed or identified disability. But I do have an overwhelming amount of fear in my life... isn't that an emotional disability when it comes to living life? When I broke my wrist, didn't I have a temporary physical disability? I don't know what your "disabilities" in life are, but I can bet that you might be thinking of some right now as you read this post.

I challenge you to accept those around you with love. Because everyone, whether they realize it or not, has some sort of disability.

dis-ability/ n.-- being apart from ability

http://www.3elove.com/

Disclaimer: I am in no way minimizing the daily challenges that those with documented disabilities face. I am just suggesting a different way of looking at things.

Busy and Productive... not the same...

"Just because you are busy, doesn't mean you are productive."

 

     What a thought... Someone recently said this to me... not in a mean way but rather in a "think about it" sort of way. Busy is not equal to productive. I am so guilty of making myself busy that this thought completely shocked me. I think back to times while I was working on papers or research... Yep. I was definitely guilty of looking/keeping busy, but not getting anything done. That is a very quantitative way of looking at this thought. But venture with me to look at it from a qualitative way...

     My overall life... Is it productive? Now, I'm not talking about one area (such as class, clubs, or work) but rather the overall thing. Am I being productive? Am I making a difference in the lives of others? Am I working to spread God's love and Word? Am I accomplishing my big goals in life (if you don't have goals set, I challenge you to work on it)?

     I know, once again I am going to leave you with a bunch of questions... But I have been thinking, and I hope you do too... Are you busy or productive? Can I manage being busy AND productive? How can I be productive in my life?

Do Everything With Love

Even the smallest of things, done with love... become great things.

Acceptance-with-Joy

               I just finished a wonderfully glorious book, "Hinds' Feet on High Places" by Hannah Hurnard. It had been suggested that I read it for a few years but between classes and a multitude of other excuses, I never got around to it. But then, I got it for Christmas. And thanks to this HUGE snow storm and the 4 snow days... I have finished it! This book is fiction yes, but it is an allegory which means that it has a parallel to the Bible. And boy did it ever...

                As the book sits next to me while I write this, I can't get this one idea out of my head, so I thought I would share it with you. It's the idea of 'Acceptance-with-joy'. These are such simple words, yet I keep thinking about them, and have throughout the entire book. Being in the schools, on Facebook, and just in this world, I have noticed that we (as Americans.. or Humans...) place a lot of value on accepting. Whether that be accepting each other (opinions, thoughts, choices), our situation in life (money, job, love life, family), or the outcome of a sports game (because goodness knows there are a lot of Facebook posts when it is a big game)... we place value on acceptance.

                But what if instead of just accepting, we were joyful about it. Now, I don't mean happy... I mean joyful. Sure, you may not be where you want to be in life. Sure, you may not have the money that you think you should have. Those things are unfortunate and I don't want to minimize them, but what if we looked and were thankful that we are alive or that we have a job. What if we accepted where we were in life, and reacted with joy? What if we looked at someone else's opinion, accepted it, and reacted with joy? What if we admitted that the other team played better and accepted that we lost... with joy?

                I challenge you, friends, to try and display acceptance-WITH-joy in your daily lives. It may be hard, but we are in this together.

Embrace your inner cupcake!

Remember!! You are worth it. You are beautiful. You are loved!

Rhythm of Life

     Today I had someone ask me a question that I had never considered. In all of my 22 years of living, no one had asked me: What is the rhythm of your life? Now, before you go on reading, hoping that I will tell you what the rhythm of my life is... I don't know.

     I wish I had the wisdom, when the question was asked of me, to respond with more questions such as: What is included in your rhythm of life? Is it merely the things you do? Can my thoughts influence my rhythm of life? Who gets to determine my rhythm of life? Do my career, the people in my life, or my financial situation influence my rhythm? Is my rhythm fast or slow? Is my rhythm manageable? And last but not least, can I change the rhythm of my life?

     I didn't ask these questions, and don't know if I will have the opportunity to ask them, but I challenge you to ponder these with me. I'll keep thinking about my rhythm and once I've done that for a while, I plan on asking for guidance from those I trust regarding this concept and idea. 

     As I go, I hope to dwell in a positive and effective manner. I hope to eventually create a small list of things that I want to drive my rhythm and a list of things that I will allow to affect my rhythm. But for now, I'll just think and pray.