Hey! In case we haven’t met yet, my name is Stacy Lowe, here with you from Virginia Beach, Va.
Spend some time with me and you’ll quickly notice my love of all things photographic. In fact, I’m tantalizingly close to the halfway point of a year-long photography project. The goal is to document my life via one picture every single day for … well, a year! And being that it’s a leap year, that’s 366 days straight.
You know how it is when you start something new — you’re fired up and ready to go! The problem is, excitement and enthusiasm rarely make themselves at home long-term. At some point in any journey worth taking, there comes a moment (or MANY moments) where you’ll find yourself dreading the follow-through. And that’s where Habit Two from the #5HabitsBook by Nicki Koziarz comes into play:
“She follows through with her commitments despite how she feels.”
Some days, the hardest part of my project is selecting just ONE of that day’s many images to include. Other times, though … I work late, I’m tired, I don’t feel good, or maybe all three, and I JUST DON’T WANT TO DO IT! The struggle is real! And when those moments come, I can either let my feelings boss me around and walk away, or I can boss my feelings around and keep going.
While quitting this project may not be a big deal, there are other things I could walk away from that WOULD be. And the truth is, even these seemingly inconsequential choices DO matter because what we do in those moments lays the groundwork for what we’ll do in the future when the stakes are higher.
I, for one, don’t want to walk away from something worthwhile just because I don’t feel like it today. I don’t want to look back with feelings of regret. I would rather look back and celebrate and say, “Thank You, God, for helping me stick it out!”
Today, therefore, I make the choice to be the boss of my feelings and keep going. What about you?
P.S. And my project? Day 115- CHECK!
Reflect and Respond:
Observe — As Nicki shares in Chapter 3 of 5 Habits, “Momentary feelings will always try to convince us to forfeit our faithfulness.” What’s one negative feeling you have right now that’s making you want to quit?
Bible — Read Isaiah 40:29 and write it in your journal. How can you use the words found here to combat the negative feeling you identified in the question above?
Stretch — At the school where I work, kids receive a daily learning target beginning with, “Today, I will …” Let’s use this to write personal statements of how we will NOT quit today. For example, “Today I WILL go outside and walk for 30 minutes.” You can also share your answers on social media using the hashtags #5HabitsBook, #P31OBS, and #DontYouDareQuit!