Reminders at 7:38am

There are more than a few things in life that irritate me- one thing in particular I hate, loathe and find having to do beyond annoying. This silly annoying thing left undone, will absolutely put your life at a complete and utter stand still. I find stopping to fill up my gas tank one of the worst things on the face of the planet… Yes, it is that terrible.

I hate having to stop my life in the middle of my life to fill up the tank. I hate having to stop my busy schedule and I hate having to go out of my way. Like clockwork, at 7:38 this morning, my gas light came on and as I stood in the cold waiting for my tank to fill, something dawned me… There are things in life that we have to do that don’t always feel good. There are things that put us out and annoy us but it is these annoying necessities that help us function in a proper and efficient way as human beings.

For me personally, when I don’t take the time to workout and prep my healthy meals for the week, I end up eating junk and my body isn’t efficient in building muscle. While sometimes I wish I was spending time doing other things, not eating clean and not working out has a rippling effect in my life. It effects my moods, my thoughts and my attitude.

When I don’t take the time to pray in the morning and spend time in God’s word my thinking becomes more about worldly desires and not about the truth, grace, forgiveness and love of God that I so desperately need. This is hard for me because I’m not a morning chick, but I know if I don’t do this my thinking gets skewed.

When I don’t take time out of my schedule for others, to help them, to spend time with them, to just love them, my world becomes “me-focused.” Living focused on me would be awesome… If I lived on a deserted island and didn’t have to talk to anyone for the history of ever… But I don’t. I live in a world of people. Amazing, wonderful, beautiful people. It is a gift to be able to interact and be social.

This all brings me back to 7:38am… The dinging gas light. When I don’t take time to put gas in the car, life stops. The exercise, the meal prep, the waking up early, the taking time to love others… When I don’t do those things, life stops for me. When I do achieve these things in my life, it falls into place and it works. It’s smooth and peaceful and full of grace, happiness and forgiveness.

Who knew that a dinging gas gauge at 7:38 in the morning would cause such a stir.

Cheers to doing the (sometimes hard) essentials of life, Dez