Surrender | April 2022

April is nearing its end! What a month. I’m flipping back through my notebook to remember some of the highlights. It was simply a delightful one: full of friends, writing, good books (oh, the good books!!), time outside, and the anticipation of a new season. Now I’m ready to settle in and think about my One Little Word, Surrender, and how it showed up in my life this month. Thank you to Carolyn for hosting this link up!

I struggled with what to write about today, but I surrendered to the fact that something is better than nothing and decided to show up at my computer regardless of the end result. I chose Surrender this year because I wanted to practice accepting things as they are. This post is going to be a good example of that!

+ I’ve surrendered my TBR for the last couple of weeks because I’ve been intensely focused on three sagas. Instead of getting antsy about my next book, I’m able to sink into new worlds in ways that can be difficult for me with shorter books (sometimes). It’s been wonderful.

+ The anticipation and slow arrival of spring reminds me to shift my expectations based on the season. Our homeschooling day looks different thanks to the nicer weather; my own hobbies and interests also shift. I can surrender progress on my stitching projects, knowing that I’m raking leaves and putting fresh plants into the ground. One lovely addition to my day thanks to the sunny and slightly warmer weather: afternoon reading on the front step while the kids play independently outside and we wait for Colton’s bus.

+ I’m working on surrendering unrealistic expectations of myself around the house. I have a small checklist that I work on throughout the day and try to spend 10-15 minutes on a problem area, and then I let it go. What do they say? A messy house is a happy house? Or a sign of creativity and imagination at work? Something like that. I don’t always agree with that idea; I get stressed out by all of the stuff and would like to wrangle it a bit, but I try not to let it rule my day. Try. It’s a work in progress.

+ I’ve surrendered to the fact that regular exercise is the best thing I can do for overall health and my mental well-being, so I’ve been quietly adding more into my life. In addition to spending more time outside and gardening, I’ve been visiting my spin bike 3-4 times a week in April. It feels really good to be working so hard. I’m also try to find ways to work in more strength training, which I think will have an even larger impact for me. Of course – now that I’ve shared this with the world, I expect that I will fall out of my routine again.

+ And, as always, being the mother of a child with special needs forces me to practice this mindset everyday. I’ve surrendered to the fact that there just are no easy days. Which is the case for most people around the world, I constantly remind myself.

---

Surrender has been an interesting practice this year. There are so many situations in my life that could be improved by just letting go of my own control over them. Practice, practice, practice… right?!

I plan to be back on Wednesday with some sort of update on my reading and stitching. I hope your week starts out well!