Day by Day

I used to be good at drinking water. Then life got busy and I started to forget to be intentional about my water consumption. Sure I still drink it but not nearly enough. It’s been no my list of things to address: DRINK MORE WATER. But somehow I always forget. Yesterday I decided to stop forgetting.

In the cleaning out of cupboards and drawers I also seem to be cleaning out the chaos that I allow to distract me in my day to day. Cleaning out the chaos and distractions is not nearly as easy as tackling a cupboard. It’s more subtle and takes much more attention. It’s not just a one and done activity. It is a repeated process of drawing attention to the dark corners of forgotten ideas and disciplines.

When I clean out a closet I take everything out. I place it in piles and start sorting items together. Like with like and in the process I am able to see what doesn’t belong or is no longer needed. It’s an organized activity and then when I am done I arrange what is left into some sort of neat arrangement. Everything needs a spot. It’s easy to spend time avoiding what needs to be cleaned out and organized. Because our minds tell us that it will be too much, that it will be stressful or hard. And maybe it will. But usually what I find when I am cleaning out these spaces in my life is that it was more stressful avoiding them than tackling them head one.

Making a change—drinking more water, going for walks, eating healthy—is scarier before you start. Sure it may still be challenging once you start but the true fear and anxiety come from avoiding what you know is waiting for you.

So yesterday I stopped avoiding my dehydrated body and accepted maybe it was time to take a few more sips. It’s not a pass or fail change. It’s a slow opening of that drawer I’ve been avoiding, pulling all the items out and slowly putting the ones I want to keep back in. It’s a day by day kind of change. Because day by day is how we are called to live.

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 6:34

If I am present in today without fear of tomorrow I am answering his call for my life.