It’s the end of the day, and you failed. You didn’t do what you set out to to that morning, your to-do lists left forgotten and crumpled in the back of your brain. You procrastinated. You still have the same amount of worries and troubles, possibly even more. Things are not getting done. Your bright hopes of optimism are gone, and you are left in a puddle of lethargicness on the floor, trying not to feel guilty at all you had left behind. The day was a failure, an absolute waste. The day is over. And you didn’t take advantage of it. If you had one of these days before, or are having one now, or even had one yesterday, congrats. You are a real, alive human, who makes mistakes just as I do. In fact, I have those days all the time. It’s the days after the New Year’s Resolutions are made in excitement, when the goals no longer seem important and the now is for doing what you want. The days when you push back the things you know you should do, and spend your precious minutes on the wrong things of selfishness.
This kind of phenomenon most often happens on Saturdays, (it’s scientifically proven! maybe) when you actually have time to do things that you need to do: cleaning, writing, weeding the garden, getting caught up on schoolwork, editing that video, practicing that instrument, chopping down trees, I don’t know. The day when productivity can turn into sluggish, youtube-watching, delirious on-the-floor depressing laziness. But this can happen every day. Those small hard things you know you need to do, writing blog posts, having devotions, praying, researching for that research paper, exercising, those small things that you need to do consistently to reach the long-term goal, need to be done EVERY DAY. Because you can’t reach the goal now, you can’t get abs in one workout, and you can’t build Rome in a day. You have to do one little hard step at a time. Every day, week, month, whatever. And when you procrastinate on them, you probably, like I do, push back the guiltiness and ignore them until the inevitable comes. You have failed in your goals and there is no point in trying anymore. You give up. You’re never going to be that world-famous musician or that New York times bestselling author or that bodybuilder workout trainer. Because you failed today, you can’t go on, you whimper. There’s no point. And you lie down in disgrace and click on youtube again. Wait, what? No. Don’t say that. You can’t give up. Seriously. This article isn’t supposed you feel better about failing. Nope. Because you know what you need to do, and if you’re not doing it, that’s called procrastinating. I’m not saying that you need to stop being busy, I’m saying you are probably busy with the wrong stuff. In my case, I am too busy watching youtube videos about cleaning, videography, and packing instead of actually doing them. Are you too busy thinking about living than actually living? Are you too busy doing things that won’t matter in the long run? Are you too busy reading about Doing Hard Things instead of doing them? (ouch) Because you know what you need to do. I can’t tell you, because I don’t know. But you do. And if you failed today, I know exactly how you feel. Your broken pieces of dashed hopes lay scattered on the imaginative pavement, never to be put together again. In fact, my New Year’s Resolution was to not just be a list-maker, but a list checker-offer. Because that’s one of my faults. I get so motivated that I make all these goals and plans, then I get tired and never do them after a few days. I know what I should be doing, but I’m too busy…Ain’t nobody got time for dat. Actually, if I just did the things I was supposed to and cut out all the random time-wasters (even if they’re good things), I probably would have the time. But I failed. So I don’t have the time anymore, the time from today I should have used wisely. Don’t let this happen to you. If this did in fact happen to you, and your New Year’s Resolutions are already down the drain, gone and forgotten, your checklists never checked off, your cleaning never done, your whole day wasted, this article is for you. The next two points are stolen from the song “Great is thy Faithfulness,” because the Lord truly is faithful, his mercies are new every morning, and they rather fit very well. Strength for Today Today is the worst day ever, you cringe at yourself. My mistakes are too much, I’m too far gone, and my goals will never get done. Your weak muscles have let you down too many times. You’re not up to it, you say. I have said the same thing. My weak muscles are too weak to obtain strength. My energy too low, my depression too lingering. First of all, you can’t get strength without pain and torture. I know this for a fact as I have actually attempted pushups before. You can’t get muscles without endurance. You can’t get there without work. If it was easy, everyone would do it. So do it. You’re responsible for your own self. My band teacher always says, “I can’t practice your instrument for you.” It’s your fault if you can only play one note on the trumpet after ten years in band. “If your ship doesn’t come in, swim to it.” But I know, you need strength and motivation to swim to it. Whatever it is. Writing a book for Nanowrimo or making a short film. Cleaning the whole house. Doing your online class (they are so hard!). When you feel depressed and guilty, it’s so hard to continue on and do the small hard things. So take your guiltiness and ask forgiveness and say “I can do better than this!” Because you know if you haven’t been using your full potential. You know if you are being lazy. You know what you need to do. To energize and motivate you today on this busy day of life wherever you are in your dreams, I would like to share a few tips that help myself to get done the things I need to do. Motivate yourself. Get your favorite beverage, coffee or tea or water. I like to add a little lemon slice to my water as it makes me feel like an actual real healthy person, more energized, and ready to take on the day! I also secretly (well it’s not such a secret anymore) like to wear cool exercise clothes to make me actually want to exercise. It’s probably a scientific fact, so try it, it might work for you. Feeling healthier makes you more motivated. Exercising is a great way to boost your energy. Also, eating actual healthy foods really does work in making you less tired and less sluggish and lethargic and whatever you are. If you still feel lethargic, listen to music. Seriously, listen to some kind of upbeat music that motivates you to jump up and check off those lists and make you want to dance while dust your furniture. Like Alone by Hollyn. If you want to feel majestic and royal and dramatic, listen to Narnia: The Battle Song. Or, if you want to feel sentimental and torn as you float around the room swiping that feather duster across your dresser, listen to The Last Goodbye by Billy Boyd. My favorite song. Listen to it. Another way to get motivated is to get accountability. Tell your mom you’re going to clean your room and not to let you do anything else until it’s done. Or, (this is even scarier) tell the whole world that you are doing whatever it is. Like write a blog post about writing a whole book in a month. (that’s what I did…) It will motivate you to not let your expectant readers down. Also, giving yourself goals and telling other people about them helps. Like, “Hey random person! I’m going to upload one youtube video every Monday! Watch out for them!” will actually make you do it because you don’t want to disappoint them. Trust me, this works. Finally, having the right mindset is super important. Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.” My to-do lists should be written in light of this fact - It’s about God. My attitude should also be framed in that aspect. It’s for God. The way I work, live, and everything else should also be based on that. It’s for God. You get the point? In “This Changes Everything,” an AMAZING new nonfiction book for teens written by a teen, the 18 year old author Jaquelle Crowe said, “Don’t let comfort make you complacent.” She is absolutely, convincingly right. It’s not about you or me, you see, it’s about God. It’s not about what you feel like doing, it’s about doing what’s right. Do everything for the glory of God and you will be satisfied, fulfilled, productive. Live to the fullest in your most potential you have. And God will give you the strength to go on. Hopefully these tips will give you strength for today, doing whatever it is consistently, and picking yourself back up. Even if you failed, you can always start again. Being the best you can for God. Right now. Today. Bright Hope for Tomorrow As Miss Stacey, the best teacher role-model ever in Anne of Green Gables, says, every day is fresh with no mistakes in it. Yet. Every day is fresh. So inspiring. Wow. My favorite quote ever. There’s still hope for you my friend. You see, you may have failed today. But there is a new day tomorrow waiting to be fulfilled, waiting to be pounced on with your new energetic motivation you hopefully just got. All those to-do lists are meant to be checked off, fresh with anticipation for your hard work. I bet you’re so excited to finally use that pencil or ballpoint pen, swiftly running your fingers across the page and swishing a crisp checkmark on the box you have worked so hard to fulfill. If your goals are realistic, you can make steps to do right now. And there is nothing as rewarding as looking down at your customized planner with all your life in it and seeing the checkmarks below, the steps fulfilled one by one. There are bright hopes anew and afresh waiting for you. Don’t let the failures of yesterday pull you down, let it motivate you. When you don’t feel like it, remember the terrible feeling of guilt and despair you never want to feel again. And remember, God is there to help. You can’t do this thing on your own, you can’t do ANYTHING without Him, so ask him to help you and change you and mold you into his plan. His mercies are new every morning, the best time of day when you sit out on the deck, admire the sunrise he made, and anticipate the productiveness to come. Every day is a time to start over, a clean slate wiped of any past faults. You failed, but God can forgive, your heart can be made white as snow. Your laziness can turn into working hard for Him. You don’t need to look back at the past now but look ahead at the future, to the days where productivity and check-marks abound. There still will be days where you make mistakes, I assure you. But remember to pick yourself back up, dust off the injuries, and confidently take up that broom. Or that pen. Or that basketball. Get on that treadmill and start again with a flourish. It’s not the end of the world. Because even if you didn’t, you still can.
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about the authorAs a 21 year old aspiring teacher, Karissa loves to write, travel, play piano, and read. Many creative things have her heart. archives
November 2021
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