Monday, April 16, 2012

Dirt: Finding your spot on the horizon

I  took a week off from blogging and my mind is fresh and clear.

I have gotten back into most of my good habits. I am exercising almost every day. Started taking my vitamins again, including fish oil. And, I have a routine for my daily life, which most days includes talking to God.

Life is pretty good. 

Sometimes I feel like I am hanging on by a thread. When I try to put my finger on why, I never can find the cause of my distress. I guess it is mostly being in my own head too much. I am overly analytical and always in need of a "cure". My husband is somewhat the same and I suspect we feed off each other.

In my week of reflection, I came to one conclusion that always seems to resonate with me. 
Calmness is not a place, it is a state of mind. Life is like when you are spinning in circles as a little kid, only then you are trying to make yourself dizzy enough to fall down. The trick to keep from getting too dizzy  in your daily life, just like when you are kid, is to find a spot on the horizon and keep your eyes focused on it.

I have always known my faith is my spot on the horizon. I just try to find something easier sometimes to focus on. But in order to have balance, to have calmness in chaos, I need God. 

 
via 

So,in my quest to get my mind right last week, I went searching for Him. My conversations with Him have been spotty. I never seem to get to the end of them without losing my stream of thought. But I finally made it about mid week.
 I also read a book, Girls On the Edge, by Dr. Leonard Sax about raising girls in today's society. One thing he touched on that seemed to be God speaking to me directly was statistics that stated girls raised with some sort of faith/religion in their lives are less likely to be depressed. They are less likely to fall apart when their lives don't go as planned, such as career ending sports injury or not getting into their top tier school. These statistics really spoke to me. I am the religious leader in my home and I struggle with keeping my girls engaged.  My own personal experiences through my youth confirmed that Dr. Sax is right. Faith carries you through the hard and dizzying times when life is trying to pull your feet out from under you.

I am trying to find the "hook" that will help me get my girls on track to having their focus spot be their own faith. Maybe it will be friends who share the same religion. Maybe it will be hearing God's voice and knowing that it is truly Him. Maybe it will be me, sharing my struggles with them.

I am not sure what it will be, I just know that the calmness that comes from having it is something I wish for my daughters.

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