Turning Fifty-Nine and Learning New Habits

On Sunday I begin my last year of being in the 50's!  I have never let age be a problem.  I've never thought.......Oh no!!!!  I'm like 59 and I know what comes after that number!!!!  I really don't think about it until the typical symptoms of stiff joints, flexibility something I used to be able to do comes up that I can still do, but I have to do it differently.  Still, I have made the adjustments and continued on.

I remember one Birthday year when I was in my 40's.  A friend had a Birthday just a couple of days before mine and I had taken a gift over to her to wish her a Happy Birthday.  I remember being filled with so much joy that day.  My heart was filled with so much gratefulness.  Even though I had walked some rough roads and still was walking in some of them I still had my joy.  My husband had been watching me walking down the hill and when I came in to the house he told me that I looked like I had the world by the tail!  He liked what he saw and I liked what he noticed!!   ;)

Lately I have felt like I have gotten a little too comfortable in some areas of my life.  I've been thinking that this is a good year to start breaking out of some of those bad habits that seemed to have become a permanent fixture in my life.  Some of my habits have been holding me back from living an even fuller life than I am at the moment.  Changing things up a little is good.............right? 

I knew that I would need some help with redirecting my old habits to make room for some new ones.  So I contacted Joyce Meyer and told her that I needed some help.  Well........she went out and wrote this book.......just for me!!!!  It's called "Making Good Habits Breaking Bad Habits!"   Well.......that's not exactly true.  She did write this book and I realized it was just for me because I needed to make the changes in such a way that I would have victory and not defeat!

A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.    Lao-Tzu

The biggest thief of success is procrastination.  I can think about doing the right thing, plan to do it, and talk about doing it, but nothing will change in my life until I start consistently doing what I need to do.  Someone said, "Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of."  (Joyce Meyer)

Procrastination is a thief.  It steals my time, my potential., my self-esteem, my peace of mind.

Here are a few quotes on procrastination that are in Joyce's book:

"Procrastination is like a credit card, it is a lot of fun until you get the bill."  Christopher Parker

"There are so many things that we wish we had done yesterday, and so few that we feel like doing today."  Mignon McLaughlin

"If you have goals and procrastination, you have nothing.  If you have goals and you take action, you will have anything you want."  Thomas J. Vilord

"Procrastination is the kidnapper of souls, and the recruiting-officer of Hell."  Edward Irving

"Procrastination is the seed of self-destruction."  Matthew Burton

"When there is a hill to climb don't think that waiting will make it smaller."  Author Unknown

"Procrastination is suicide on the installment plan."  Author Unknown

Many people will say, " I'm just a procrastinator," as if that were their identity.  We are children of God, joint heirs with Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, anointed by God, gifted, talented, and able to do whatever we need to do in life through Christ (Philippians 4:1)

Today is a good day to make my list of what I know I need help with.  I will take one thing off of that list and work on it.  I know that by changing a few habits I will automatically add hours to my day.  I want to decrease the stress in my life so that I will be a better wife, mother and grandmother.  Let's face it, some habits come with a lot of excess baggage!

Today I will also make a list of the things I would like to do if I had the time and energy to do them.  God's Word encourages us to be active, and by being active we shut the door to laziness, procrastination, and passivity.  If we start doing the right thing, there will be no room for the wrong thing.  I like that!  What greater gift can I give myself?    :)

"This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it!"  Psalm 118:24

Blessings.........

Walking by Faith,

Deb