Having a Difficult Time
Dear friends, I've been having a difficult time, our entire family has. We've been hit by one illness after the other, we've been slammed with commitments and difficult situations at work and school, and to top it off we've had a good deal of pain and drama in our extended family. It hurts, it sucks all the energy and joy out of us, and some days I feel like reciting most of Ecclesiastes because it all seems so meaningless.
Finding silver linings
I haven't given in to reciting Ecclesiastes though. Instead, I've been reciting psalms. Oh those sweet psalms, the lamentation and joy sprinkled throughout. They reminded me off looking for silver linings as did another book I'm currently reading, called the Danish Way of Parenting. It reminded me that one of the things we Danes do well is to reframe situations. So I got into action. I started seeing how the family pain and drama has led our little nucleus closer. How all that illness has meant we've shared many more hugs and stories and simple downtime together.
After a few days of deliberately trying to find the silver linings, I feel invigorated and empowered. You know, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Pedal to the medal
About a week ago I finally had enough of feeling sorry for myself and our little family and I got to work. I'm currently taking two subjects (a full load) for my master's degree and one subject is, well, let's leave it at troublesome... I decided to focus my time on tackling the other subject instead. I've never had a subject proving as problematic as the first before and I'm not sure how it will all pan out, frankly 1,5 months into the semester we still don't have a syllabus. We do in the other subject, which is a pleasure to study for and to attend classes in. So, for the time being, I'm focussing on it.
In just over a week, I've read almost everything left for that class. I'm about 200 pages shy of having read it all. For me, this creates space. Space to think. Space to be creative again, to write a post like this, and most importantly, it has created space in my brain to deal with the other subject once we finally know what is expected of us. (Sidenote, a fellow student told me she hadn't slept in 4 nights because she couldn't stop worrying over that subject.) In short, it has given me peace.
Still a long way to go
We still have a long way to go. It doesn't help that we are deciding on some major life changes at the moment too. But we have each other and we are trying to prayerfully make decisions as we journey through this difficult season. So does this post mean I'm back to posting regularly here on Steemit? I honestly don't know. What I do know is that I haven't given up on the platform and I miss the community when I'm away from it. Maybe in my next post, I'll tell you more about those life changes and why I have a new plan in mind for the SBD I earn here.
That's a good approach to take; do what is within your control and step away for a bit on what is outside of it.
That's the plan :)
Thanks for sharing. It's nice to see that you focus on the silver linings, giving encouragement to others who may be going through some difficulties too. I wish you better times to come your way... soon!
Thank you, that's very kind of you. Comparatively, our struggles are minuscule, but to us, they are everything, if you know what I mean. I'm sure it'll get better, someday.