Take Five - Blessing Jar

Today is the fifth post in our Take Five series of small changes. Due to a technology hitch, this post could not come out on Friday, but here it is for today. Three small changes. Most people think of Mondays in colours of blue. It does not have to be the case. For me, Mondays are always days filled with promise and opportunity.

Firstly, for preparation, I want you to get yourself a jar. An empty coffee jar will do the trick. Next, cut up some paper into 5 cm x 8 cm rectangles. Then, once you get home tonight, I would like you to turn the predictable Monday schedule on its head. Surprise your spouse and children tonight with a comedy night. Yes, make some hotdogs and a large bowl of popcorn, put on your PJ's and settle in front of the television and watch a comedy. You will be amazed what fun it is for the whole family to take a break from the norm.

Once the movie has finished and the children are in their beds, then it is time to pamper yourself. Run a hot foam bath for yourself, light some candles, and put on some relaxing music. Spoil yourself with a mask and pedicure.  Maybe you can ask hubby to give you a foot massage. Enjoy an hour of you-time.

Finally, settle into bed with your pre-cut papers, a pen, and your jar. Write down one thing you are grateful for this very moment, and remember to enter the date. Roll it up and put it into the bottle. This is your jar of blessings. If you do this one simple thing for a year, you will have 365 blessings. How wonderful is that?

I hope you have a wonderful day, be blessed, my dear reader.

 

Pause

Monday.  Again.  Do you also sometimes feel that time is just rushing past at breakneck speed?  The week-end has been merely the blink of an eye.  This day is already past halfway, yet my inbox is still piled high.  Everybody wants their pound of flesh, and I can hardly breathe.  Yes, you know that feeling.  That feeling of overwhelm.  Well, it is time to press the pause button.  No, I am not talking about taking a vacation, that is too far into the future, and chances are you will suffer burn-out before then.  I am also not talking about a week-end breakaway.  I am talking about hitting the pause button right now.  A moment before your next meeting, before answering the next call or handling the next crises.  We usually are so busy tackling our to-do list, catching up on e-mails or scrambling from one deadline to the next that we forget to breathe, we forget to take a moment to just be calm and re-assess our next step.  We run from errand to meeting to telephone call and we grab a coffee on the go.  Pause.  Now!

   Breathe.  

Pour yourself that cup of coffee, and sit down.  For two minutes just savour that warm aroma wafting past your nose,  taste it's warmth, feel it slipping down your throat.  Empty your mind of all the to-do lists, all the hectic talk echoing through your head.  Just focus on this moment, don't rush off into the clamour of your thoughts.  Pause and breathe.  

Take your lunch hour, it is your sacred time and step outside the office.  Take a walk along the pavement, smile at the passers-by, listen to the laughter of children, notice the colours of the sky and the flowers blooming in the cracks.  Clear your mind of any thoughts about work, about the afternoon meeting, the worry about your children's homework or what is for dinner.  Pause and enjoy where you are right now, name your blessings and your joys.

So often we are taken hostage by our thoughts, our fears and our emotions.  They sweep us along on a path of worry, anxiety and destruction.  We loose sight of the shore, of what is real and we are so overwhelmed by it all that we feel as if we are out of control and drowning.  Pause.  Take a deep breath and regain your focus.  Reboot.

Yes, I hear you say, but what if....

What if you take just a few moments, fill your thoughts with stillness.  Be calm.  Psalm 46:10 says , "Be still, and know that I am God."  When life becomes too hectic, when fear and worry threaten to destroy your peace, when your emotions want to overwhelm you, just take a moment and press the pause button.  Breathe.  Let calmness flow into you, envelop you and lift you higher.

Pause.

Then play again.