This time change thing has really thrown me off.
Of course, it always does, but tonight, when I legitimately thought it was 9:30, I looked at the clock and it said 5:57. Now it's just after nine, and I'm completely ready for bed. In an ideal world, going to sleep at 9:00 would just be like an hour early for me, but lately, it seems like getting in bed to catch the end of Seth Meyers at 12:15 is a victory.
Tonight, though, when I was leaving the studio at 5:57, I was thinking about how over the last five days, I have been the least busy of my entire semester. It has literally been so glorious. The other day, I went to Books-a-Million and bought a new book IN THE MIDDLE OF A SCHOOL DAY. (Amy Poehler's Yes Please, which you should all read immediately.) Do you understand how rare and wonderful that is? Having time this weekend to relax, and not wake up stressed, is so precious.
It's also given me some time to recalibrate. About a week ago, Satan started whispering little lies in my ear, things that were discouraging and scary and, if I had let them, would have seriously knocked me off balance. You might not care about this, but maybe you might have heard a similar lie. So here's my lesson of the week...
As a creative person, I like working behind the scenes. I don't really want attention or praise, I just want to make other people's jobs easier. I am aware, and so very thankful, that God has given me a gift that not everyone has. (Of course, for the one thing I can do, there are seventy hundred million more things that I can't do. Perspective, people.) So much of my to-do list over the past year or so has been designing things for other people. Which I love. That's what I want to do with my life. But I think that I lived behind the scenes for so long, focusing on other people first, that I started to lose a bit of my self-worth. I thought, "What if people only appreciate me for the work that I give them? If I died, or moved to Australia, would people miss me, or would they miss the designs that I could give them on two hours' notice?"
This, you see, is another side effect of being too busy and stressed. I always say that I know I've got too much on my plate if I wake up worrying, but I realized last week that another red flag is those little devil whispers. And I am so, so thankful for this slow period that came at just the right time, allowing me time to find rest and peace.
It doesn't always happen that way, though. Sometimes your toughest days are also the busiest ones. In that case, I've learned that you have to carve out little moments throughout the day for silence. A thirty minute break from schoolwork to read a quick devotional, grab some peanut butter M&Ms, and catch up on SportsCenter can work wonders. In that time, enjoy the mental quietness, and remember that your worth is so far beyond any work you can produce here on earth.
Of course, it always does, but tonight, when I legitimately thought it was 9:30, I looked at the clock and it said 5:57. Now it's just after nine, and I'm completely ready for bed. In an ideal world, going to sleep at 9:00 would just be like an hour early for me, but lately, it seems like getting in bed to catch the end of Seth Meyers at 12:15 is a victory.
Tonight, though, when I was leaving the studio at 5:57, I was thinking about how over the last five days, I have been the least busy of my entire semester. It has literally been so glorious. The other day, I went to Books-a-Million and bought a new book IN THE MIDDLE OF A SCHOOL DAY. (Amy Poehler's Yes Please, which you should all read immediately.) Do you understand how rare and wonderful that is? Having time this weekend to relax, and not wake up stressed, is so precious.
It's also given me some time to recalibrate. About a week ago, Satan started whispering little lies in my ear, things that were discouraging and scary and, if I had let them, would have seriously knocked me off balance. You might not care about this, but maybe you might have heard a similar lie. So here's my lesson of the week...
As a creative person, I like working behind the scenes. I don't really want attention or praise, I just want to make other people's jobs easier. I am aware, and so very thankful, that God has given me a gift that not everyone has. (Of course, for the one thing I can do, there are seventy hundred million more things that I can't do. Perspective, people.) So much of my to-do list over the past year or so has been designing things for other people. Which I love. That's what I want to do with my life. But I think that I lived behind the scenes for so long, focusing on other people first, that I started to lose a bit of my self-worth. I thought, "What if people only appreciate me for the work that I give them? If I died, or moved to Australia, would people miss me, or would they miss the designs that I could give them on two hours' notice?"
This, you see, is another side effect of being too busy and stressed. I always say that I know I've got too much on my plate if I wake up worrying, but I realized last week that another red flag is those little devil whispers. And I am so, so thankful for this slow period that came at just the right time, allowing me time to find rest and peace.
It doesn't always happen that way, though. Sometimes your toughest days are also the busiest ones. In that case, I've learned that you have to carve out little moments throughout the day for silence. A thirty minute break from schoolwork to read a quick devotional, grab some peanut butter M&Ms, and catch up on SportsCenter can work wonders. In that time, enjoy the mental quietness, and remember that your worth is so far beyond any work you can produce here on earth.