When I found this song, my gym mixes were never the same…”My Name is Eustace” by Benjamin Dunn and the Animal Orchestra is an homage to CS Lewis and the Narnia books. What’s not to like? Literary rock and roll merged with pop-filled alt-rock. What’s not to love?
I am sort of digging this #Give word. Funny how God puts things on your heart and then you slowly realize why.
Today, I strive to #Give encouragement. To people I know and those I don’t. By writing a quick note to a friend. By cheering on someone at the gym. By acknowledging someone’s accomplishments.
Looking at my to-do and to-call list, this may not be as easy as I think…but I have all day to pull it off.
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing…” 1 Thess. 5:11
What will you give to today?
It’s the first Monday of 2016…and it started quite a bit differently than every Monday of the year that just past. The alarm went off at 5:30 – the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak, so for 20 minutes I read on my phone in bed. No Facebook. No CNN. I read my Bible app. I read another book. My body was tired from working out yesterday so staying in bed was a welcome relief.
Why is it so cold in our house?
Apparently, we never reset our house timer, so our HVAC system was under the impression that we were still on holiday hours. I reset the heat and resisted the urge to jump back in bed, and grabbed Chris’s sweatshirt instead.
Next up, run into the kitchen to make some liquid warmth and energy. While brewing, I had a glass of water with lemon (thank you Unhealthy Anonymous). I wrote up a quick journal. Coffee was ready in no time…and was served with cream and coconut oil.
Louis had gotten up so together we did a set of prayers/sun salutations. I tried to write a thank you note but Louis was persistent in his severe need to be scratched.. No TV news until 6:45. No email until 7:15.
I’m GIVING myself space to start the day on my terms. Giving myself fuel. Giving my brain time to think about things more important than work.
When I woke up today I was dreading the return to reality. But now the new week feels different. I think there may be something to this morning routine / productivity thing.
Ok ok ok – so several friends have talked about how important the idea of having a word or phrase to focus on each year has changed their life. How they need to have that direction. For a few years, I thought that was a great idea…but wow – that’s a huge commitment. I would sweat over what that word would be, make a lackluster statement and then completely forget about it by MLK Day.
But this year, a few days before the launch of 2016, I really started to feel a word on my mind. And I think this year needs a word. I think I have too much on my plate and this word can help with a grand-scale focus.
The word for 2016 for me is:
Give.
Give away stuff.
Give up what I can’t control.
Give myself a break.
Give to needy causes and people.
Give thanks.
Give it to God.
Give God the glory.
I could go on and on…but to start this focus, I gave away bags of cookies to some hungry college students and I’m starting to thin out some closets. Why let stuff drag me down and take up my time when I can GIVE the things that I could end up paying to put into storage to people who need it.
Do you have a word? What will you #GIVE to 2016?
It’s a new day – a new year – and happily I made it to the gym to kick off 2016.
Which is quite a feat considering everything. This week was much busier than planned and New Year’s Eve was, well, New Year’s Eve so I consider this whole year a success already!
I hope to be posting all sorts of things in the coming months that can make for a happier, healthier, stronger year in business, in life, in faith. This 2016 blog will be starting a bit slow, thanks to a New Year’s evening of binge-watching movies.
Tomorrow, we kick off the Unhealthy Anonymous plan. Tomorrow, I take all of our left over Christmas cookies to some 20 something boys who have the metabolism to handle a few dozen scrumptious Christmas cookies. Tomorrow we start phasing out sugar, white flour and pretty much everything we’ve been eating the past month.
Ouch.
But I’m excited on this new journey!
But one thing for this year, I would love to hear what music makes you want to move. The songs help with that first 10 minutes of getting on the treadmill. The songs inspire you to add an extra 5 lbs. to that weight machine. I’ll be posting new music as well, but this is the song that my iPhone decided should kick off my playlist today…and I think it’s a great launch for the new year.
Ladies, chances are, you don’t know how beautiful you are. So get on your boots.
So – what songs get you working harder at the gym? Let us know!
Wisdom from Taylor Swift and Real Simple. Ladies – let’s inspire each other in 2016!
important nothings blog 
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