The Rhythm of Life
Hello all. Wow. A new school year started today. It caught me be surprise. But I appreciate its return. The summer is great….but sometimes structure is comforting. There is something in human beings that needs to mark time. We’ve devised calendars since ancient times, and the church calendar is reflective of that. Those calendars reflect our observations of the changes in the natural world. Unless you garden you are probably some what disconnected to the original basis of our calendars. That’s why I appreciate the church calendar so much, particularly Advent and Lent. They give me markers for my year, and give me structured time to be introspective. Ya’ll probably think that I’m the world’s biggest extrovert, but actually it takes a lot out of me, and I need my down time. We all do in varying degrees.
However, I’m also ambivalent about routine. I remember finding the school calendar stifling as a child. That is our challenge… finding the balance between structure and lack of structure. We need benchmarks to guide us back when we wonder astray. In yoga, our benchmark, minute by minute, is the breath. In my week, my benchmark is Sunday worship.
However, I need daily benchmarks too, and I find myself paralyzed when I think about them. Here are the things I KNOW I should do every day that I don’t seem to:
• Wake up at 6am (But I’m NOT a morning person)
• Floss (Well, at least I floss religiously the week before and after a cleaning)
• Pray/Meditate ( However, I’m really good at 3 prayers: “HELP, HELP, HELP!” ,“I’m SORRY, I’m SORRY, I’m SORRY!!!!!, and “THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!)
• Exercise (I teach 45 minutes of yoga intermittently, when I should practice what I preach and practice even just 15 minutes EVERY day)
• Balance my checkbook (Let’s just say, I have issues)
• Eat my vegetables (This requires planning shopping, menus and cooking, ARRGH)
• Check Callan’s homework (I’m still traumatized by her 4th grade math homework)
• Cook dinner for my family (Cereal anyone?)
How’s that for true confessions? !!!! Then I think honestly about the things I spend my time doing instead:
• Worrying ( EEK!, Money, hurricanes, unlikely freak accidents, MONEY, gaining weight, my kids hurting themselves, MONEY! YIKES!!!!)
• Watching television (But I haven’t seen this Law and Order re-rerun……)
• Web surfing ( Hmmm. I wonder how old that actress is REALLY?)
Easy, easy, BAD habits…..ARRGH.
