One thing that I have realized is that I have taken focus of God and myself and have been worrying about all these other things. Excuses started to creep there way back into my mindset and self-pitty along with it. Because I have lost my focus everything around me has suffered because of it. So it is time for me to get selfish. I know that seems wrong, but I believe there is such a thing as being selfish in a Godly manner. Here is my reasoning:
As a woman, especially one that is also a wife and a mother, we have many hats that we wear on a daily basis. We are maids, cooks, nurses, teachers, financial advisors, personal assistants, and the list goes on and on. With all these responsibilities it easy to forget to take care of ourselves. But there is danger in that. How are we suppose to accomplish all these tasks when we get emotionally, physically, mentally, and, most importantly, spiritually out of balance? The answer is we can't and that is when we start to see the CHAOS building around us and filling our homes.
We need to shift our mindsets from not wanting to be selfish to wanting to be healthy and energized to take on our day. So how do we do this? I am by no means an expert on this subject but I believe we can accomplish this as follows:
- DAILY COMMUNION WITH GOD (SPIRITUAL): We do this by reading His word, praying, and spending time in worship with the Father.
- ARMOR OF GOD (SPIRITUAL): Ladies, our homes are our battlefields! Our bodies and minds are our battlefields! We can't go into battle if we are not dressed for it. It leaves us vulnerable to attacks. That is not to say that we won't be attacked, but that we are ready for attacks.
- DIET & EXERCISE (PHYSICAL): We need to be healthy! Again how are we suppose to accomplish our daily tasks and run around after our husbands and kids if we are sick and tired all the time? It is not a quick fix but a life long journey. Find out what works best for you and give it your all trusting in the Lord to guide you.
- ALONE TIME (EMOTIONAL & MENTAL): We need some time alone to do what we love even if we are not alone and choose to hang out with the girls! There are times when we just need a moment to ourselves without hearing little voices screaming for juice and snacks.
I know that is not an extensive list, but it is where I am going to start. Which leads into how we fit this into our daily lives. I have been learning that 16 hours a day is plenty of time if we are smart managers of our time.
Here is a simple way of doing this: On a piece of paper write out your day in 1 hour blocks from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed. Take an inventory of a full day of activities and pencil them into the blocks. At the end of the day tally up how you are spending your time. Do you have several hours of TV time? How about Computer? What about games and time on your smartphone? Are you spending way more time than necessary cleaning, especially on messes that little ones and husbands could be helping with? Now I understand that there are many women who work full-time either inside or outside of the home, but that is when tasks need to be truly shared by the entire household. Call a family meeting and start taking back your time. The enemy wants us to believe we have no time, and we need to stop giving ourselves over to this belief.
I pray that this week we would all take the time to get a little more selfish and be better stewards of our time.
God Bless us all on our journeys to better health!
