First, I want to say thanks for your patience as I graduated college, moved back home, and didn't post for a month. This month has given me time to focus on a few different things, and while I'm no closer to actually "knowing what I want to do when I grow up," I have been able to reflect on the more important things, such as determining how I want to live.
I've been reading the book Choose to Win by Tom Ziglar. This book emphasizes the reality that, in many ways, we are in charge of how we live. We may not get to choose our circumstances, but we do get to choose our attitude. We get to choose our habits. We get to choose our reactions.
We may not get to choose our circumstances, but we do get to choose our attitude.
I'm in the perfect position to start making new habits. A period of my life has ended. I'm done with my undergrad, and unless I go to grad school, for the foreseeable future, I'm done with my schooling. This has been a large part of my identity for the part of my life I remember.
So, as I relearn who I am and rediscover what makes me me, I also get to choose what makes me me. I get to choose if I'm a coffee drinker or tea drinker. I get to choose if I will get up early or stay up late. I get to choose when I work. I get to choose when I play. I get to choose what all of that looks like.
And the things I do most regularly--eating eggs for breakfast or eating an apple for breakfast--will become my habits.
This also goes for my spiritual life. I am in a position where I get to choose what media I consume. Will I listen to Christian podcasts? What radio stations will I listen to? What books will I read? What movies will I watch? What TV shows will I enjoy? Will I read my Bible every day (as I know I should?) Will I read a devotional book instead? How would that affect me in my daily life?
What media will I produce? Will I write more devotionals? Will I continue this blog? (For the time being, I intend on continuing to post this blog on Fridays, but when I get a job, things may change. I'll keep you all posted.)
In one of my conversations with my mentor during the last semester, I confessed that I hadn't been reading my Bible daily, knowing a lecture was coming.
While I did get a lecture, one question she asked me stood out most.
"You wouldn't starve your body, would you?"
I had to admit that, no, I wouldn't intentionally starve my body.
"Then why are you starving your spirit?"
So this is my goal, as I relearn who I am and choose who I'm going to be. I want to build a habit of getting into God's word daily. The habits I start now are the habits that will stay with me as I go into the rest of my life. I'm choosing what my future looks like now. And while that is a lot of pressure to put on my choices now, it's also incredibly freeing to know that I get to choose who I'm going to be.
Reflection question for you this week:
What habits do you need to get into or get out of in order to better be the person God has called you to be and you want to be?
J. J. Hanna is a writer and reader who loves God and wants to help encourage others with what she knows and what she's learning. Answer her questions with a quick note and connect with her on social media. She's excited to hear from you!
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