Big Box, Little Box...

It has been a bit of a week! My plans were to take a week off from work and get one or two things done, however that was not to happen!

Once or twice during the week I could have crumbled. I could have chosen to make it all about me and say, 'Why, it is just not fair?' 

There was a time when I would have done that. I am not saying that now, I always make the better choice as I most definitely do not. Instead I am learning that no matter what size box I think I am in, there is always room to think outside it. 

My week off did not go as planned, yet it meant...

...I was not preoccupied whilst I was at work

...there was time to think things through

...when I chose the wrong reaction, I could say sorry and spend time considering my choices rather than burying them away

...actually all the things I had hoped to do could wait - just because I thought I needed to do them, it did not make them a necessity. 

A short time ago, I heard somebody say, "It is not 'why', it is 'what for'?"

I did not ask for these things to happen, however they have. So instead of letting them overwhelm and consume me, I shall try and think differently.

Maybe, instead of putting me (and my reactions or responses) in a box, I will put these things in the box. I shall go to them as I need and deal with them bit by bit - as I need to. I will take it a step at a time. I hope to trust and have faith, knowing it will work out as it should. 

Why is not for me to consider. 

If I look outside the box then maybe it is an opportunity for me to grow, to be stronger and to choose a new way.

Why Do It?

Love is not always the easy choice.
Getting out of bed when it is a day I would rather not tread, can be a struggle. 

Refusing to let others behaviour determine my own can be massive thing to do.

Forgiving and then also forgetting can be so very hard.

So why do it?

Loving against the odds.

Choosing the hard path.

Acting justly and fairly.

Forgiving and forgetting. 

Hard work, yes. It can seem like a mountain to climb. 

Yet it does bring peace. It takes away the need to strive and control. 
Instead, purposefully looking inward at my thoughts and actions is what I should be choosing to do. 

Slow, small, steps in all these things - whilst at times hard and I have to stop myself from running in the other direction - is the better choice.

It will bring the brighter day. 

Things to do...

You may well have already guessed that I like to write! I write first thing in the morning and again last thing at night - although that does not always happen so easily! I like to write my blog. I write to remember things I have heard and things I should be doing. I enjoying writing as a form of communication and I was the one who would always go over my word limit when there was such a thing on a text message!

A couple of days ago I found myself writing these words, 'I need to let go of all my expectations and just do today'.

If I am expecting, I believe something is likely to happen or someone is likely to do something in particular. 

However, really, what do I know? 

I could spend my time anticipating something is going to happen or expecting that someone is going to do a particular thing yet I cannot be certain of anything. 

Therefore if my thoughts are preoccupied with what I think I should expect, perhaps my thoughts are not as useful as they could be. If I could be brave and do as I wrote and let go of my expectations then my 'somethings' and 'someones' will not let me down. I hope that by releasing my expectations I would also be releasing the need to control my 'somethings' and 'someones'. 

Hopefully, tomorrow's sun will bring a new day and by letting go of expectations and just doing the day it may well lead to surprises. The day may lead to bold new steps that I was not expecting to take. A day without anticipation may bring opportunities to reach above and beyond what I thought I could achieve. 

If tomorrow when I wake, I challenge myself to be free of expectations, maybe I might find myself walking through a day that brings freedom, opportunity, peace and even the unexpected!