A Thriving Environment

I was sitting and reading in a little corner of the kitchen the other day and I looked up to see the sun dappling across the floor. It made me happy as it seems to be such a rare occurrence lately.  I was reading there because I needed to get out of my windowless basement.

I spend a lot of time down there as my office is there, as well as our family room. And I'm finding that, combined with the lack of sunshine, has really affected my overall mood. It was a long hard winter and spring isn't shaping up to be much better. 

I'm trying to get outside more, even if it's a drab and dreary day. I'm working on getting more movement into my day because that certainly helps. We have one car and Dan has it much of the time, so while I haven't been able to go hiking like I was, I'm going for walks around our neighborhood. 

I'm also just trying to spend part of each day at my church office, so I'm out of the house. Most of what I do for our district is done virtually, so I spend a lot of time online. However, I've been trying to remember to take a 15-20 minute break every couple of hours so I'm not just staring at the screen for hours on end. If I get up and find an active task to do such as cleaning the bathrooms, throwing in a load of laundry, doing dishes or going for a walk, I am able to concentrate better when I come back to whatever I was doing.

I continue to eat a mostly plant-based diet, but I have noticed that if I eat anything with sugar that my mood spirals downward within minutes. So that has been a reminder to me to stick with keeping it out of my diet.

I'm being more intentional about making a point of getting out and around other people a few times a week. I'm social and isolation is not great for me. I start to get depressed, feel alone and get drained of energy, so it's vital that I make connections for some part of each day (ideally) or at least a few times a week.

My word or emphasis this year was thrive. Last night, I had a great conversation with my brother-in-law about what that looks like. I've been thinking about this lately and I think part of thriving is knowing how to set up your environment to be able to do that. Just as plants need the correct environmental conditions to grow and flourish, so do we.

I'm thankful that I've figured out certain things I need to be able to be content. I need natural light, movement, lots of human interaction or connection points, times outdoor in nature to reflect, spending less time on social media with its constant barrage of opinions and information, and I need to have a sense of purpose to what I'm doing. Without these things I start to feel like a wilted plant. With those things in place, I thrive and grow. 

But I also need to be diligent about having that daily self-awareness, because it's easy to let any of those activities to slip. When I start to feel unsettled or down, I look at the list above and can usually pinpoint why my mood has shifted and then I make the necessary corrections. 

On Mondays, I look back over the previous week and list some of the things for which I'm thankful. Today is no exception. 

💓 The flexibility of setting my own schedule.

💓 Because my personality is what it is, I'm thankful that I've been given the opportunity to do many different things. Life is interesting!

💓 I'm thankful that both my in-laws are in a safe place where we no longer have to worry about them being alone and falling or something worse happening. 

💓 Being able to encourage another woman through the process of ordination. In our denomination, each person going through the process is assigned a mentor who is ordained to keep them on track with the requirements (reading, papers, assignment culminating in a written and oral exam in front of the licensing and ordination committee). The mentor is also supposed to meet regularly with them to listen and be an encouragement. It's a 2+ year process and I'm thankful for my mentee and the fact that she is working hard to complete the requirements necessary.

💓 I'm thankful I had the privilege of participating in a focus group with other ordained women in our denomination about the disparity in pay among men and women. I was one of eight women interviewed. It was nice to have a safe space to talk about these things.

💓I'm thankful that all the details of my upcoming district women's event are coming together. I'm thankful for the team working with me on this.

💓 We celebrated my mother-in-law's 90th birthday with her yesterday. I'm thankful for her life.

💓 I'm thankful for family who are all stepping in as they can to care for my in-laws needs (mental, social, physical and emotional). Can't imagine doing this without all of us chipping in.

💓 I am thankful for the city-wide group of pastors and ministry leaders that meet weekly for prayer for our city and that I was able to participate this past week. 

💓 I'm thankful that Dan and I are leaving today for a district retreat for all of the pastors and official workers in our district. It's the first time in quite a few years that we've both been able to go together. The past 6 years it's been one of us or the other so I'm thankful we both are able to go this year. 

and finally

💓 I'm thankful that I'm having opportunity to wrestle with that word, thrive, and figure out what that means for my life.