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A Room Called "Today"

 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)

          Yesterday, this verse came to mind. I should think in day-sized packets, not getting all twisted around about moving north and starting my spring and summer “half-life.” The first assurance I gave myself about this idea is that it doesn’t mean not planning. There’s not a thing wrong with discovering that my desktop planner doesn’t have my seasonal “to-do list” in it – my laptop does. There’s nothing wrong with setting up a set of tasks that need to be done in order to  make the journey north as stress-free as I can. In fact, I’ve started considering the idea of making a stop along the way where I can take pictures.

          The problem is when we start worrying, fussing, stressing, or otherwise trying to deal with things that don’t help. I can’t pack the truck, because the stuff that I’d pack would be the same things I’d need to pull back out, or they’re things I don’t want jouncing around in a truck for three weeks before I leave.

          Other people may not face the same struggles, but it seems to me that my mind is like a puppy or a toddler. If I don’t keep a pretty close eye on it, it goes wandering off into cupboards or closets, chewing on shoes, drawing on walls, or drinking or eating things that aren’t good for it or figuring out how to get outside and go on an adventure!

          One of my self-appointed Herculean tasks for this season in Florida has been weeding – just in case you haven’t heard. I have had people suggest that I should just kick back and relax. The problem is that kicking back and relaxing is precisely when my mind gets itself into trouble. Idle hands are the devil’s workshop, as the saying goes, and I suspect that an idle mind is his playground.

          These are some of the things that weeding does for me. It uses the emotional energy that might otherwise be wasted on worry. It focuses the mind just enough to keep it from wandering off as often or as far. In a sense, it gives peace. Crafting performs the same function.

          Someone has said that faith and fear cannot happen at the same time. Others have talked about choosing which wolf to feed. What do you do to focus your mind, to keep it from heading off in directions it shouldn’t go? If you can’t think of one, may I suggest you find something creative, practical, or useful to keep your wander-prone mind in the room called “today”?

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