Falling Behind?

Hi there! Miss me?

I had a work thing…and then a vacation…and then the return from vacation that sometimes seems more work so we might be tempted to NOT take a vacation BECAUSE we of the uncomfortable feeling of “falling behind.” Behind what? For how long? Why falling? Or is it the sense of falling? Ahhhh, the unstable nature of it all.

The truth is, there are 24 hours in a day. Everyday. If I choose not to write when I have a work trip and then not write while I’m on vacation, then that is what I have chosen. If I set a goal to post to the blog weekly and then don’t…not only did I make that choice but I also made the goal. Why would anyone rather feel unbalanced by referring to it as “falling behind” than to own it for the choice that it is?

To own the fact that I got to spend three days with amazing people who sparked so many ideas for me instead of excusing myself from that moment to sit down and write a blog entry was more than I could do. Spending a week on vacation, real vacation…away from home…reading books…learning new things…eating good food…meeting up with friends…NOT checking emails…not opening a computer…just enjoying what each day brought. What a choice!!

Today I am owning the feelings of joy those choices brought into my life and not allowing them to be robbed by saying I “fell behind” on the blog. If anything, those three weeks enabled me to fill the “well,” to refill it so that there will be more writing in the future! The dust was cleared and I choose to not burden that time with shame or feeling bad for “falling behind.”

Each day begins and then each day ends. No matter what happens between those beginnings and endings, even on days in which the demands on our time leave us feeling as if we have very few choices, we still get to choose how we respond, how we react, how we move forward. There is enough shaming in the world without shaming ourselves.

At the end of the day, if we can say that we loved God and loved our neighbor as we love ourselves, it was a good day. If we didn’t, the day is done and with the next new day we can choose to do better. It’s as simple as that. Each day is God given. There is no “falling behind” because THIS is the day that God has made and provided. At the end of it, if we’re left feeling as if we’ve faltered, forgiveness is also ours. All we need to do is ask the One who grants new life each day…and never falls behind.