Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Little by Little...

Wow! It has almost been another year since I wrote. There are so many things I have in mind to write about...I knew I would never get back to it if I didn't just....start.

I want to write about marriage. I want to write about health and weight and running again. I want to write about my new job. I want to write about getting half-way through my masters degree. I want to write about my family. I want to write about goals. I want to write about achievements. I want to write about what makes me who I am. I want to write about God, His faithfulness, my testimony, His provisions, and all that He has done/is doing in my life.

But most of all, I just want to write! So, while I don't usually have official "New Year's Resolutions," I do have a few things in mind this year, and one of them is to get back to writing. I've missed it, that's for sure. I don't even know if I have any readers left out there...maybe you can leave me some comment love if you're reading! :)

So, as my title says, I'm learning a lot about "little by little" lately. I am one of those people who feels like I have to "do it all." I want to succeed right away and not have to put a ton of effort into learning/remembering things, as odd/bad as it sounds. I usually only see the big picture, or if I'm thinking about the small things, I feel worried or stressed about that day itself. But lately I've been trying things, "little by little." And it has been good for me!

I learned after what seemed like a million snow days, when we finally went back, but had a delayed start, that leisure in the morning can be a nice thing. I thought, "Why not get up just 10 minutes earlier each day and just see what happens?" You know what - even that little chunk of minutes each day gave me just enough extra time to read my Bible, and sometimes even throw dinner in the crock pot or do a chore like dishes before leaving for work. I realized that I didn't have to get up a whole hour early every day and miss a ton of sleep. I could do a little! After surviving a week, I decided to do "just five more minutes" and now I'm up fifteen minutes earlier! I love sleeping in like the best of 'em, but the extra time has been worth it to me.

Another exciting thing for me is running! If you go back almost two years now in my posts or if you were reading then, you'll know I started running and loving it. I even got up to six miles and ran two 10K races! But then life happened, stress happened, and I stopped. I've been wanting to start again for a long time but feeling frustrated that I can only do a little and not just start off at a 10K again. Duh. But it's hard for me to accept that sometimes...until I got a running watch from my amazing husband for Christmas (which could be a whole separate post in itself!), and now as I track what I've been doing on my runs, I see that the numbers are increasing ever so slightly each time - my miles, heart rate, and speed are going up...and I can keep going! Just the motivation I needed, but again...that little picture that fits into the big one.

And writing...so here I am. Writing just a little. A post that's not even that exciting...but maybe it will help you be encouraged. A little goes a long way. And it's so worth it to slow down and take life that way too.

Here's to my goals of writing and running more (doing things I enjoy in general more), and to taking life "little by little!"