The downward spiral...
So often I catch myself defining my entire day by a single moment. I often joked when I was teaching that whether or not I said my day was good or bad depended entirely on how my last class of the day went. As if those 50 minutes somehow negated the previous seven hours.
I have learned since staying home with the boys that my days are filled with moments of joy and frustration, ups and downs, laughter and tears (sometimes mine, sometimes theirs). It's nearly impossible to sum up a day with one succinct word. Not to mention I am currently getting next to no sleep (being 31 weeks pregnant comes with a slew of challenges to tackle) which doesn't help me to respond reasonably to otherwise normal situations.
I recently read Gretchen Rubin's book on Habits and she devoted a great deal of time to the common belief that we all think one simple mistake ruins the day, so we might as well call it a wash. For instance, if you're trying to eat healthy and show up to work only to see that someone has oh so kindly decided to supply the entire office (or teacher's lounge) with a box of donuts, the temptation would be to eat a donut and then eat whatever you want the rest of the day, since you've already screwed it up.
I think I do that with my attitude... I've already started the day on a downer, so my tendency is to call the day a wash and switch to survival mode, rather than allowing myself a "reset."
Calling the day a wash and defining the day by a single moment is definitely not the kind of message I want to send to my kids... and it is far from biblical. We trip and fall and stumble millions and millions of times, only to be assured that we are still loved, still forgiven, and still fully equipped for every good work. God's mercies are new every morning and it's always morning somewhere.
I have learned since staying home with the boys that my days are filled with moments of joy and frustration, ups and downs, laughter and tears (sometimes mine, sometimes theirs). It's nearly impossible to sum up a day with one succinct word. Not to mention I am currently getting next to no sleep (being 31 weeks pregnant comes with a slew of challenges to tackle) which doesn't help me to respond reasonably to otherwise normal situations.
I recently read Gretchen Rubin's book on Habits and she devoted a great deal of time to the common belief that we all think one simple mistake ruins the day, so we might as well call it a wash. For instance, if you're trying to eat healthy and show up to work only to see that someone has oh so kindly decided to supply the entire office (or teacher's lounge) with a box of donuts, the temptation would be to eat a donut and then eat whatever you want the rest of the day, since you've already screwed it up.
I think I do that with my attitude... I've already started the day on a downer, so my tendency is to call the day a wash and switch to survival mode, rather than allowing myself a "reset."
Calling the day a wash and defining the day by a single moment is definitely not the kind of message I want to send to my kids... and it is far from biblical. We trip and fall and stumble millions and millions of times, only to be assured that we are still loved, still forgiven, and still fully equipped for every good work. God's mercies are new every morning and it's always morning somewhere.
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