If you just skipped the writing part, consider going back and filling it in. Remember you can always come back and change it later. Taking time to consider and to write it down is important. Maybe you are rolling your eyes at me and telling me that you have tried a million times to make and actually stick to eating healthy, for example. You just don’t have the resolve or time or whatever you feel limited in. That is perfect because you can spend some time there too. I have included more writing space after this section. Observe yourself here. Ask yourself some questions. Why have you not been able to stick with eating how you "should" or exercising or whatever you are worried about here?
For example, maybe you are like me when I discovered there was actually something underlying that needed to be addressed first with my diet. I always craved sugary, high carb foods. I finally realized 1. I wasn’t eating enough calories for my body’s needs so I was turning to carb packed foods innately. 2. I needed to get rid of the yeast in my body. Between these two discoveries, it has been so much easier to stick with a healthy diet because I feel better. Maybe you don’t exercise because you haven’t found something you completely love yet. I know what I found when I observed myself here, but what will you discover?
I don’t know what you feel like you are up against, but Heavenly Father does! He will help you as you seek Him. Take your Savior into all of this! He already knows better than you do about what you are struggling with and how real that battle is for you. He knows what is underlying. He comes when He is invited, but never intrudes. How can you come to know God through your body by sinking and relaxing? How can you invite Christ here? Take some time to ponder and pray about this.
One of my friends recently shared that she doesn’t learn through books. She learns by someone taking her hand and showing her. If that is how you learn, then pray for God to send someone to cross your path! If you learn well through books like I do, pray for a good book! Maybe consider adding in for good measure as I did while praying with young children for the time for my scripture study, “and help me to recognize the opportunity when it arises.” Ask God to help you have what you need and to recognize it when He blesses you with it. Take everything you learn back to God and ask Him to help you sort through what applies to you. Even if you come back later, make note of anything that feels uncomfortable, impossible, or unreasonable.
In the April 2017 General Conference, Gary B. Sabin told an interesting story. He was on an overnight scout trip. In the morning one of the boys complained he had been cold all night. When he asked the boy about the quality of his sleeping bag, the boy sheepishly reported that he hadn’t even unrolled it. He thought the work required to roll it back up in the morning wouldn’t be worth using it. This boy had been terribly cold all night long, and as a result had probably slept poorly. Now he was complaining about it too! It was a cute story that the audience audibly laughed about, but then Brother Sabin points out how we can be exactly like this. We can have a sleeping bag right in front of us, yet never unroll it because we give into the lies that “It will be too much effort” or “That won’t even work or help in your situation,” “I’ve gotten along just fine to this point,” or whatever variations of lies play or replay in your own mind.
Here we have the opportunity to unroll our sleeping bag and experiment with a personal self-care plan. We also have the opportunity to unroll a second sleeping bag and have additional warmth by bringing Christ with us into these details! Can you see a bit of yourself in that boy who complains to his leader that he was cold all night? Can you see the leader’s amusement, confusion, and wonder as to how that was possible when he had a perfectly good sleeping bag? But when we keep it all rolled up for whatever personal reasons we may have, we will be cold. As we pass through the daily challenges, great and small, why would we choose to be “cold?”
In contrast, as we unroll our sleeping bags---one of self-care and the other of having a Rapha Yada experience by taking Christ with us here---even though it does require effort to roll it back up, even though it will take time, require change, or whatever rolling it back up represents to you, we can be warm! There is no reason that boy needed to lay there shivering all night! There is no reason you should struggle like that either! Everything you need has been or will be provided for you in the details of your personal journey. Unroll your sleeping bag and see what happens and make note of any observations of thoughts or feelings along the way.
Notes:_________________________ etc….
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