Before the content, I’d like to ask anyone praying to lift up Ukraine and its people. The Russian people, as well. Neither are at fault and are victims. Please consider donating to humanitarian missions to help fund safe shelter, water, food and clothing for refugees. I’ve put a link to CARE here if you would like to look into it. http://www.care.org

Welcome to 30 Days of Encouragement – Day 5.  You can check out Day 1 here.

Resistance

I  am feeling resistance today. Fortunately, I am being taught that my feelings don’t run my life or make all of my decisions; hence, I will post anyway.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

I am always resistant to getting out of bed. My feelings and thoughts agree on this. I bring this up because my most laughable feelings/thoughts moment in recent history was when I decided to work out on my rowing machine first thing after waking up.

The day was cold and blustery. Ok. Maybe not blustery, but it was definitely cold. When it is cold, my entire being is that much more resistant to getting out of bed. Not because of any physical limitations, but because my feelings really throw a tantrum. I didn’t give my senses long enough to turn into thoughts to derail me from my intent, though! I was going to row! Proud of myself at this point, I get set up on the rowing machine and begin. Immediately, the internal resistance starts.  I don’t want to do this; why am I doing this?; STOP; this is silly; I don’t want to do this; Stop now; I mean it; stop this instance!; I am going to count to three and if you haven’t stopped by the time I get to three…

The internal resistance continued the entire five minutes I was rowing. Yeap. I had decided to row for a mere five minutes, and even that was too much for my feelings. So what did my feelings do? They sent a ridiculous amount of thoughts on the subject for my consideration. After a bit, I had to chuckle. It was utterly absurd. I did it anyway.

Hooked On A Feeling

It always amazes me how feelings can impact thoughts which impact decisions. Even when I don’t think it is my feelings, I find they were involved. Pretty early on, too.

I wonder how many times I’ve been misguided by a feeling? Fear and anxiety are ever-present and seem to be increasing. Self-doubt stops pursuing interests, whether it be a person or an opportunity to learn something new or a hobby. Most of the time, I leave the things I consider “chores” to whether or not I feel like doing them. My thoughts, being ever supportive, will then come up with rational and acceptable reasons to put them off. Again. Occasionally, this is fine; however, my internal scales tip more toward consistent avoidance than occasional.

As I mentioned above, I am learning that feelings do not have to dictate my actions. They are there and, yes, need to be acknowledged. They are just one piece to the puzzle, though. If I make a decision and stick to it despite my initial resistance, I feel better once I have seen the decision through. Is it always easy? No. My encouragement is to push past the feelings today and do something you know you’ve been needing to do despite them. Something simple like eating a piece of fruit, calling a friend or working out for five minutes. You can do it.

Until next time, 

Rah