"Be still and know that I am God."

Managing Me.

After a season of change, renewal follows.  As I go through my new stage in life and continue to submit myself to this virtual surgical detachment from life as it was these past 20+ years, I keep realizing and hopefully learning that I need to take ownership of my new stage, and to joyfully make it work.

I am often reminded that my expectations do not match my reality and it is time, once again, to adjust my thinking. Very small daily changes in my thinking will lead me to huge, uplifting outcomes. Renewal is a process and it takes daily training to steadily enter the road to wellness.

As my season in life was changing I felt the need to add some tools to keep with the current times. I have a wonderful group of ladies that we meet for dinner once a month and we all look forward to this time. We pick a different restaurant each month and stay for 2 to three hours, non-stop talking, catching up with each other’s lives. We all live for this date. Connecting with loved friends is a gift from God and so restful for the soul.

I also belong to a Book Club that meets about every 6 weeks, and the goal is to read books that our husbands probably wouldn’t like, historical fiction many times, and enjoy each other’s company.

My basic survival tool kit includes proper, intentional thinking, enough prayer, rest and relaxation with deep breathing, making sure I process what I am feeling, mixing life up between fun, work, and family time and consciously enjoying what I have, -not dwelling on what I don’t have or lost. There is room in my life to add more exercise. Maybe it is time to find a small group of ladies who would like to walk with me?  

The biggest awareness comes when I accept that I can’t change others or the outcome of any situation, but I can ‘manage me.’ All that means is that I can decide what I am going to do with whatever situation that comes my way, knowing that I am not a victim of my circumstances, but I can choose how I am going to react and what I am going to do with it. My choice. And that is freeing.