To say that I am impressionable would be to put it mildly. And when I say impressionable, I mean prone to take on the circumstances and the weight of people, places and things around me. Here’s an example: I watched the movie “Castaway,” and for the next seven nights in a row, I dreamt that I was drowning.
I’m like a giant sponge. I absorb whatever I allow myself to be exposed to. Of course I can’t always control my surroundings and life situations so as to avoid anything negative, but I’ve had a giant wakeup call in the past week or so. I’ve allowed myself to become overly saturated with the cares of the world and the prophets of doom (and gloom). It’s time to reboot my spirit.
Here are the five things I will be doing on a daily basis over the coming 30 days:
- Turn off the TV. I rarely sit and watch TV. But I am one to have it on in the background, all the time. I’m drawn to news and talk shows and you know what that means―all of the troubles of the world playing over and over again. I am taking a 30-day break from politics and news.
- Leave Wall Street. I am not going to check any stock market figures, follow any economic forecasts or look at my own investments. It’s easy for me to become obsessive about things like that. When I load up on too much economic prophecy, I become weighed down with “what could happen,” feeling as though it already has.
- Spend time with God. Rarely am I all alone, in solitude. I am a multi-tasker and do many things at the same time. For 30 days I am going to make time for being alone. I will pray, write in my journal and just listen.
- Go to bed at a set time. I hate to even go into this one, because it is so unwise. I see nighttime as the extra hours I need in my daytime. I often work through the night, or fall into bed at 3am just to have the alarm go off at 6am. I know this is terrible for my mental acuity, my health and my family. I am committed to going to bed at 11:30pm every night, no exceptions.
- Guard my mind. Even with items 1 through 4 above in play, I have one of those minds that can come up with all kinds of thoughts and worries on its own. But guess what? I can control my mind. I can choose what I will think about. So this month I am making a concerted effort to make sure the thoughts on which I dwell are positive, empowering and enabling of good things in my life.
