Two Suggestions to Make Tough Times Easier

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”

           

St. Peter – 1 Peter 4:12

Life is hard.  But sometimes it’s seems a little harder than usual.  Maybe you’re going through a week, a month, or even a year of difficulty.  Bad things keep happening.  And, not coincidentally, the more determined you are to reach your goal, the more bad things seem to happen.  For our purposes here, we will not be focusing on how to solve those problems.  Experience has taught me that even the worst of seasons eventually end.  In the meantime, until they do, I am offering two strategies to make those times easier and to get through them more quickly and more joyfully.

Take care of yourself.

Take care of your work.

First, take care of yourself.  It’s hard to be in your Purpose if you’re sick or sad or discouraged.  It’s not impossible, but it’s hard.  So every day, every single day, do nice things for yourself.

·      Smile.

·      Pray.

·      Seek God as you understand Him.

·      Exercise.

·      Have some fun.

·      Get to bed earlier.

·      Watch a TV show or something that makes you laugh.

·      Drink more water.

·      Consume fewer (or no) toxins.

·      Practice gratitude.

·      Do something nice for someone.

·      Read recreationally.

·      See some friends.

·      See a movie.

You may be asking yourself where you will find the time for it.  My experience has been that we make time for what really matters to us.  If we don’t, we either lose it, or we wind up regretting not taking care of ourselves.

While this may seem contradictory, take care of your work as you take care of yourself.  Often doing our work is the healing we need (though this doesn’t excuse us from taking care of ourselves).   It helps to remember that the Enemy’s job is to keep us from our work.  So when we do our work, we achieve, among other things, a spiritual victory.   Do the following:

·      Do your work no matter how bad (or good) you feel.

·      Do your work every day.

·      Do your best, but focus on getting something done.  It’s not necessary to hit one out of the park every time, but it is necessary to step up to the plate.  Sometimes you don’t even have to swing. 

·      Keep your schedule.  If you don’t have one, create one.  For example, I get up between 5:00 – 6:00 a.m. and write almost every morning. 

·      You don’t need to do everything, but you should do something. 

·      Get Started.

·      Keep Going.

·      Have fun

·      Take care of yourself.

·      Take care of your work.