What I Know For Sure: Grounded

I’m sipping my coffee today as I type this and a podcast of last week’s worship service is playing in the background. My colleagues and I have been throwing this term ‘the new norm’ all week long, in reference to multiple projects per person. At the home slash personal front, this is fast becoming my new norm --- waking up on weekends to writing tasks, drinking coffee or milk and spewing off word for word. I still have two boxes left unpacked and I’m slowly building other phases of my life such as my kitchen {which I realize, I’ve turned into a library} but slowly, life is normalizing. I’m content today.

Yesterday,my bestfriend and I were taking advantage of internet messaging --- and talked about the things that were happening to us. I haven’t seen her in weeks and we’re both raring to have another round of sleepovers. We touched on the subject of friendships of a lifetime and how we’re lucky to have found that in this one.

1. It’s true when they say it doesn’t matter how many friends you have --- it’s the quality of friendship that matters. When I was younger, I made some sort of effort to add more into the number of people I already had. To me, I thought that the more I had, the more choices I had every weekend that I had free. Call it age, but getting over that ‘fear of missing out’ is paying off. I’d rather choose a quiet dinner with someone I can truly talk to rather than be dressed up to the nines with people who look nice to be in pictures with {yes, this happens} but have nothing really common with me.
2. Find something to ground you. In my case, even if it’s always a work in progress, I am happy to be running to Jesus both when I’m sad and happy. Attributing happiness and sadness to something that won’t go away was the most blessed thing I’ve ever done in my life. In the past, I attributed it to whatever was the cause --- and felt empty when it wasn’t there. 
3. Drama is a byproduct of a mismanaged life. And as a person who’s had more than enough --- I realized that it was of my own doing. I scowl at the thought of those days when I would create my own little drama everyday {especially on PMSing days, ugh}. When I look at all those, I would be aghast at how true that realization was and I would vow not to make any more drama out of my life anymore. So far, so good!
4. Bedmaking 101. Flat sheets go into the bed after the fitted one and before the comforter. I never had to worry about all these things before and now that I have to do all these on my own --- well, let’s just say that Google is truly a lifesaver.
5. More money will not make you happy but it doesn’t hurt to manage it well. I’m at that point where I have more money than I’ve ever had in my life {mostly stowed away, really} and while I’m no Forbes 500 lister, I’m happy knowing that I’ve finally gotten grip on money matters. It is a bit tedious to type every single thing on my Google Drive account to keep track of every cent {except if they’re gratuities or tithing}, but knowing where everything goes gives me that peace of mind that I’ve accounted for everything and that it goes to where I intended it to be. On the flip side, my happiness doesn’t stem from anything that has a currency --- it’s knowing that what makes us happy is not at all money-related.
6. Pray. When you feel tense, insecure, hungry, desperate, happy, ecstatic --- pray. I always knew I prayed at the right times of my life: upon waking up, before meals, before going to sleep. When our pastor spent an hour and a half talking about the benefits of praying, I prayed every chance I could get. Sometimes it’s as simple as uttering Our Father, the simplest yet most complete prayer, in sincerity. And then my days became even brighter, even more grounded and way, way clearer. I literally felt like a wall was being put up between my temptations and me. What a difference a simple prayer can make.
7. Take care of what you put into your heart. Take care of the little jealousies, the petty desperations, the things you give time to everyday. It will make up for the big picture of your life. I cannot stress this enough.
8. Love is patient and love is kind. Most importantly, love is hopeful.

And that is all I know for sure this week. I’m ready for another week of living with intention and finding wisdom in the everyday. I hope you are, too!

xx