Excuses & Rhythms

Have you ever started a book and not finished it? Over the last two and a half years I feel as though I have set aside more unfinished books than I've actually finished.

I have always preferred fiction; I'll see non-fiction books advertised and they seem so interesting and that I could learn a ton and maybe even work to apply those lessons to make myself a better person. But what is the point if you can't finish? I'm not sure why, but I would get almost half-way through and I just lose focus. Maybe I was interrupted too many times, maybe my brain was too foggy from lack of sleep; what if it just wasn't the right time?

Looking back, I do think it was a little bit of all of those things. When I started Rhythms of Renewal by Rebekah Lyons I was so excited to learn about these four rhythms to hopefully help me lead a more balanced life. But I didn't finish it, until a whole year later! And you know what, I'm pretty sure I was able to absorb so much more reading the second time around.

I have a whole shelf of books that I want to read this year, mostly non-fiction and a few are ones I had started, but didn't finish.

I've learned that there is a difference between excuses and the grace of knowing it's just not the right time.

I am a self-proclaimed excuse maker. Especially when it comes to cleaning - "What's the use? It's just going to get messy in two seconds anyways!" Or I'm also really good at "I can just start tomorrow. What's a day difference?"

While I've learned this about myself, I've also learned that those "excuses" can be applied with grace to some circumstances. There are days, whether mentally or physically or both, when I need to let myself know it's ok to NOT do all the things. There are also times when I think I need a day "off" but when I get all the things done I feel so much better -- talk about a balancing act!

Insert rhythms here. The rhythms from the book are very helpful -- rest, restore, create and connect -- but what I have found interesting is all of the information I've heard recently about how our "work" comes after resting. In our culture today we work, work, work and then have the weekend off. But God intended for us to start our day or week with rest so then we could be rejuvenated for the work ahead. A few larger companies {and possibly smaller, but we don't ever hear about those} have implemented a rest or even nap time halfway through the work day. An intriguing concept!

But Sabbath. . .can allow us the space we need to understand our lives are not rooted in work, productivity, or acquisition. Our worth is found in the God who loves us, who created rest for our good.

Rebekah Lyons, Rhythms of Renewal

A rhythm that I have worked hard to maintain is waking up early enough in the morning to have more than 10 minutes of quiet time to do my Bible studies. This is not easy for me. I am not a morning person, I wake up incredibly slowly, but our transforming routines with school and having naturally early risers {thanks to their dad} having extra time alone in the morning has been very important to me. I have learned to sacrifice a few things in the evening; cleaning up the kitchen and tidying up around the house over vegging out on the couch, so I don't feel as though I leave it a disaster when it's time to leave for school. I go to bed early -- somewhat embarrassingly so -- and even found a unique alarm clock meant to help you gradually wake up in the morning with a soft light and soothing sounds instead of being jolted awake. Does the shock of a buzzing alarm clock almost make you more exhausted? Like, my heart is pounding and it's like too much adrenaline at once and so I need to lay down to give over the shock and then just fall right back to sleep. . .just me? Okay, then.

Moving on.

But creating this new rhythm of cleaning up and going to bed early and has significantly helped me to have smoother mornings including a chunk of time to start my day off with my Creator. And that usually helps me to start the day off on a positive note.

Learning this rhythm of rest has been difficult for me, not in the typical sense of not thinking I deserve it, but too often I apply it only as nap time. But I have come to find out that just sitting in the quiet and reading or even journaling or doing a lighter devotional, I feel refreshed in a way that a nap doesn't always accomplish. There are for sure days that I take a nap {toddler can't decide to sleep through the night or not} and that is what my body and mind need on those days, but I have found the joy in discovering different ways to find rest.

I suppose a rhythm and a habit would be the same things; but rhythms seem to have the feeling of an ebb and flow of ups and downs. They are more grace-filled. Instead of the habit of eating healthy {nothing wrong with that, just stick with me} break it down to adding the rhythm of cutting up veggies to be easily accessible when you're making dinner one night a week. And choose a spot in the fridge at eye level so you can reach it when those cravings hit. But if there isn't time, if you grab something else if you accidentally stick those veggies behind something and forget about them, no habit was pre-maturely broken; there may have been an "ebb" in your rhythm, but that way you learn to readjust so get back into the flow of it all.

Well it makes sense to me; I just hope to give you a different perspective if you've been struggling with a particular excuse and are needing a change of view.

Eventually these rhythms become habits and it all compiles into the lifestyle you want to be living. It will take time and several adjustments, but does anything really run a straight course?

All that from a book it took me over a year to read {wink}.

Even as I am finishing up this post, I think back over the month of January and how certain goals didn't pan out as I had hoped, while others have been incorporated beautifully into new rhythms of my daily life. So much so that I would call them habits, now; practices that are more automatic than just another item to check off the to-do list.

Having a clear and simple plan has been very important in all of this rhythm making, but just as important, or even more so, is knowing when to see the grace in excusing myself when necessary. Then also learning when to kick myself in the rear when things really do just need to get done {looking at you piles of laundry!}

Would you care to join me? Start with something simple - in January I wanted to drink four quarts of water a day which is a bit over 100 ounces. I didn't do it every day, but now I find myself craving a few sips of water first thing in the morning and if I'm feeling "hungry" between breakfast and lunch I check on my cup "How many times have a filled this?" That terrible 2-3pm hour. . .ice cold water to wake me up and fill me up til dinner time.

What is ONE rhythm you would like to incorporate into your day? Maybe it is twenty minutes of reading during nap time instead of binge-watching a show. Maybe it's enjoying a nap yourself! Maybe cut up that bag full of veggies and put them at eye level in the fridge; choose ONE. If it mess up a day, set a reminder on your phone, write it down find a way to reassure yourself that you can do it better tomorrow. No