Tuesday's Treasures - A new way to do your To-Do Lists

A little over 6 months ago, I began a new way to do my to-do list. You see I had just recently hosted the Texas Gathering, a weekend full of art and friendship.  I had planned and prepared for this event for months.  I anticipated a great weekend, I planned a great weekend and I prepared a great weekend…My anticipation, preparation and expectations were greatly surpassed by the love, laughter and friendship that we created that weekend, let alone some amazing art!!  However, no amount of planning, anticipating or “to-doing” would have predicted how much of a lull came the morning after everyone was gone…I had forgotten what the end feels like, when all the hard work, the gathering and the sharing are over…So when I began my morning with quiet time, I knew it would end with my “to-do” list which would involve putting away, taking down and cleaning up…ugh!!  So, at the top of my list, I wrote

To Do -Day 1

 And then the page sat blank…the lines were there, the endless tasks were there, but my pen would not write them there… I didn’t want business as usual, diving into chores, swimming upstream through the waters of daily life.   I began to think that my list needed to start differently- to reflect the day in which I was presently in, to honor the gathering of just days earlier, the feelings I wanted to capture… and from those thoughts began a new way to start my list…It went like this

-Breathe          in and out, slow, to catch up

-Be                   Grateful

-Enjoy              the moment

-Reflect           on the memories

-Smile              at the sun

-Hear               the water

-Savor              the coffee

-Let                  my heart be filled.

As I wrote those words, emotions came quite differently than the usual thoughts from my usual to-do list such as… “Oh today’s already taken. I’m already running behind with all the chores, errands, emails, calls,…”.  Instead of frantic, frazzled and finished – my day began with this…” Breathe (just saying it brings calm…try it, say it slowly, breathe in and then out), Be…Enjoy…Reflect…Smile…”. What a difference my day and my list looked and felt like.   Ever since that day in October, I have begun my lists this way and I can see where my heart lives in each day, my focus on first things and to know that there will always be enough time for what truly needs to get done…seeing others and savoring moments, delighting in today and letting go of yesterday, embracing the daily and encouraging the soul.  Lists have a funny way of finding out what is in our hearts and on our minds, what needs to get done and what can be left behind, what is our purpose and what is living life on purpose.  I hope that in sharing a few of my lists (feel free to make them yours), your “to-do’s” will let you catch your breath and begin to breathe with a new-found way to start you day. Here are Days 2-5 of my journal just as I wrote them. And just to let you know after my first things, the list began to look like this…make beds, get ready, empty dishwasher, etc…Just want to keep it real.  The fascinating thing was (and is) each time I went back to my list to cross off a completed task, I read and re-read my firsts list…how it changed my days! I hope it will change yours...

Until next time, let your list light your path to a breathing-easier, loving-deeper, gratefully-living “to-doing” kind of a day.  Let's savor the coffee and begin a new list...

To Do- Day 2

-Breathe          in and out, slowly, deeply, restfully

-Pray                faithfully, honestly

-Enjoy              this moment of renewal

-Embrace        this day

-Focus             on just today, the needs and cares of this day

-Give                Grace to others and to myself

To Do- Day 3

-Breathe          slowly, meditate

-Be                  thankful for all I have

-Live                in the present

-Do                  not worry about the future

-Be                  forgiving to one another

-Let                  go of what I can’t change

-See                 the beauty all around me

To Do- Day 4

-Breathe          take my time

-Remember     it doesn’t all have to get done today

-Find                time to create

-Be                   thankful for all that is around me

-Take               time to listen

-Know              that I am enough

To Do- Day 5

-Breathe          to find calm

-Be                  present to meet the needs of others

-Listen             to the words being spoken and, in the silence, too

-Believe           I am enough

-Pray                for my “to-do” list (the Lord can handle it)

-See                 the blessings in each day.      

© 2018 Chantal Johnson

The Joy of Journaling - the Opposites

Recently I shared with y'all the joy of journaling with two word lists.  Each morning, before the world begins and by world, I mean, dogs, hens, children, husband and the to do lists, I sit quietly at the kitchen table.  To my left is  my special bag of pens, my gratitude journal, another study journal and my Bible.  To my right, is coffee...always coffee.  The rest of the house is dark and quiet. the light in the kitchen is all I need to see what is in front of me - the Light of the World and the whisper of the Spirit.  I start with my gratitude journal, even on mornings when I am not feeling particularly grateful...I start the same way, each and everyday.  I am grateful for this day, a good cup of coffee, and then the list begins...Yesterday, I wrote some general things and then my mind began to wonder in two different directions, as it often does...and then so did my list.  Isn't that how life is at times?   Full of faith and full of doubt.  Full of laugher and full of tears. Depending on the season of life or even in  the split second like when children are laughing together and then their laughter turns to tears... I thought about the familiar and the new... One adventourous and unknown; the other, known and safe.

Here's a portion of my list..a good way to view life as not one thing or the other.  It's a blending of both, balancing mind and soul and leaning forward...all the while, being grateful for both.

I am grateful for...

*dreams and to do lists
*the planned and the carefree
*the pursuit and the pause
*the do-ing and the be-ing
*Highs and lows
*the new and the old
*the routine and the spontaneity
*the tried&true and  the risk
*my past and my present


Then my list shifted to this...

*The Lord being in all of my opposites
*Life's stages - May I play my part well
*Life's seasons- May I savor and learn from each of them
*Life's Opposites - May I handle them with Grace and Faith.


They say opposites attract and for relationships perhaps that's true.  But I have found the in all opposites there must be a common thread that connects the two.  For me it is my faith in the Lord who has made everything perfect in his time.  In Ecclesiastes, Solomon wrote about opposites and that there is truly a time for everything. Life is filled with opposites. Life is also, filled with connections.  Connections, threads, faith - like cable wires in the ground, they are ever present but protected by the soil.  Buried but most definetly not forgotten.  We need these deep rooted connections to weather the changes, the opposites in life.  We don't want our root system to be only a few inches beneath the surface.  We want it to be well- planted, well-watered and well-protected.

Each morning, as I listen for the whisper, this is where my blending of life and it's challenges happen..through time, prayer and leaning in to what the Lord has to share in the opposites in my life, he'll show me in perfect time how these opposites attract and become part of my root system, my growth, my story. It doesn't happen overnight, it takes a life- time of tending, planting and pruning.

So what opposites can you be grateful for? Start a list in your journal and see how your thoughts become ways to see life not just as black or white but a blending, a time of connecting.  Some opposites are fun like our sons and daughters, new and old but some are a little more challenging such as staying and leaving, risk and routine, and some will take all of our faith to find the connection such as gain and loss, joy and sadness...and what I have found to be true, is that in all of this, the grounding of our Faith will be the right balance for the nurturing of our lives.

Until next time, may you find joy in journaling...

The Joy of Journaling Lists – Two Words

There are many books on lists, making lists,  the top 100 lists, specific lists, a list on how to make lists…all of which are good.  I would like to share with you a simple way to add to your journaling or even to begin journaling.  When I was teaching a Creative writing class, we would do brainstorming in our journals.  It was uncensored, free thinking and I would limit the words to a few, like two.  We didn’t have to think of grammar, the sentence police or write with complete thoughts…they were truly lists of our first thoughts, first instincts, those first ripples in the river that create even more ripples…and then the beauty of fluid thoughts leap off the page into a grandeur picture of what is on our hearts.

Each morning, I take a few moments to write in my gratitude journal.  It is a simple notebook from Target simply titled Notes with the months and the dates listed at the top of each page and you circle the appropriate Month and the corresponding date.  Each day, it starts the same…

 

“I am grateful for…”

I skip two lines and begin to write to the last line of the page.  Sometimes my entries are filled with sentences; paragraphs-  but more often then not, they are lists.   Limiting words, or areas of my life can help me focus on that which I have to be truly grateful—my lists could be endless but my favorites are the two word lists…it gets me thinking of powerful words, feeling, people and even places. 

Here is my journal from today…

“I am grateful for…”

This morning

Lovely evenings

Hearts changing

Thoughts shared

Tears shed

Feelings explained

Healing words

Hugs given

New days

Unfamiliar routes

Road trips

Safe havens

Fresh starts

Happy endings

Journal writing

Mind’s wandering

Hands recording

Love’s story

God’s story

Unending Mercy

Generous Grace

Jesus’ sacrifice

Perfect redemption

Sharing Lives

Soul restoration

Hope eternal

Unlimited promise....

I could see a pattern in my words, the thoughts that came out of where my heart is and who I am thinking of.  You can do this 2 word lists for almost any area of your life.  From light hearted things like Favorite foods…..my list would begin  like this..

Good Coffee

French bread

Eurpoean butter

Fresh eggs

Dark chocolate....

To the power of friendship…my list would start with...

Share Burdens

Celebrate Victories

Listen intently

Cry together

Laugh together....

The focus of just two little words can become light-hearted, thought- filled, or perhaps, fill your heart's reservoir.  If you  are new to journaling and would like to begin ....or if you have written for years and perhaps seem to be stuck, in a rut or out of words, you only need two little words to get you started… Begin Now.

   

Until next time,  Sending Love!!