Artful Living

This struck my heart this morning. I get disappointed. Some people think that because you have a positive outlook you never get frustrated or angry or upset. That is far from the truth. The truth is what you do with it that matters. This is artful living. One source defines art as "process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect the senses or emotions."  How you move from the situation is pure art, placing life on a canvas. No one wants to be miserable...not truly.  None-the-less the disappointment is often the most difficult to deal with, and most often, I am the disappointer. 

I am disappointed when I forget an important birthday or anniversary.

I am disappointed when I fall asleep on the couch instead of exercising like planned.

I am disappointed when the meal I prepare doesn’t turn out to be a five start culinary masterpiece.

I am disappointed when I am not organized and I can’t find a bill or other receipt.

I am disappointed when I have a few free minutes and I don’t use them effectively or productively.

I am disappointed that there are fur balls on my tile floors and and my baby's knees are doing the dusting.

I am disappointed when I let the laundry get so backed up we will have to eat on TV trays for the next two years. 

SO do you ever feel this kind of disapointement…either in your self of in others? 

Here is an amazing verse I found today from a P31 devotional.

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another humbly in love."
Galatians 5:13 (NIV)

Then I read this: "When I am free from expectation, I am free to enjoy whatever comes."

Wow.

I was struck by a thought that hit like a freight train on jet fuel. I was reminded by my Dad’s gentle reminder and my Mom’s reference to this reminder. 

Lower your expectations. 

This goes against all I've taught and been taught about being your best, being mistake free, being an example to others etc. But as I pondered I realized its meaning is deeper... actually something different. Having super high expectations just sets you up for failure. Because we are human and we are bound by a flawed nature. So the next time I don’t get the kitchen totally clean at night and wake up to dirty dishes (like today) I am not going to stew in fruitless frustration. I am simply going to forgive myself and grab a dish cloth (or a match...ha ha, just kidding). How can this apply? How is artful living tangible in real life? Initiating God's involvement and surrendering to His total control frees you to be creative in how you handle every situation, big or small. It allows you to purposefully plan to work through each situation as an opportunity to be more creative. Beating yourself up defeats this purpose. Artful living is joyful living. And in Christ, it is abundant living.

Tuesday's Top Ten...

Simple but precise. That is what the art of life is all about. Appropriate, maybe not so creative, but with good alliteration. So we'll just call it Tuesday's Top Ten. This may be the only time during the entire week where I am able to focus my brain on a single subject long enough to come up with 10 related thoughts. In living simply, in living artfully, in living abundantly and sometimes just plain laughing at life. That would be right now. Tonight is for fun. Not so much the serious stuff. Drum roll please....

Tuesday's Top Ten
...Reasons I am Avoiding the Workout Video of the Night...

10) It involves so much jumping around, the kids may wake up.

9) I could really use this time to balance the checkbook.

8) I am exhausted just watching the first 5 minutes.

7) The dinner dishes are still on the table.

6) The lunch dishes are still in the sink.

5) The breakfast dishes are still in the dishwasher.

4) "Just do your best" should never be paired with exercises called "sucide jumps"

3) Now I'm going to have to readjust my insulin pump...again.

2) My muscles haven't recovered from last night's workout.

1) I really feel I have enough Insanity in my life without the help of a workout video

With that being said....I guess I better go change clothes. Somehow sharing that with the world makes the all out dig-in-with-every-inch-of-what-you-are-trying-to-get-rid-of effort a little more appealing. Cheers!

On Tuesday

I think that on Tuesday I will begin a top ten list. Sometimes I may not have all 10...but I am sure they will come to me. Perhaps they can even become newsletter material later. This thinking aloud is so therapeutic! You know, they may be things to do with a Food Lion flyer or possibly ho to use up left over chicken. Maybe the to ten things to get done during nap time or the ten best scripture verses for encouraging others. What about 10 favorite meals or vegetables to plant or ten ways to reuse bread bags? Hey, I'll start with what to call these little gems!


Top 10 Top Ten List Names

1. Top Ten Tuesdays
2. Tuesday Tidbits
3. Thinking and Plinking
4. My Favorites
5. It's Tueday Again, Here's the Top Ten
6.  Terrific Tuesday Ta Da or Terrific 10
7. Tuesday's Tangent
8. Ten To Count On
9. Ten to Think On
10. And Then There Were Ten...

Ok, so there are ten possibilities. More later...kids are waking up.