-Monday’s Mantra

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and Trench Classes United, and our Monday’s Mantra, written by our friend Jenn Woosley! Trust me when I say you are going to love this blog! Come on in.

At yoga last week, our instructor spoke with her usual insightfulness. "In order to find peace, you have to let some things go." Her comment echoed thoughts that have already been spinning in my mind.

I call myself a recovering perfectionist. The pictures I share below are of my house this week: a messy table, laundry in the dryer since Monday (gasp), dishes that I did this morning but they sat in the sink all night…and a bed I left unmade as we hurried out the door this morning.

There was a time in my life that I could not have handled any of this. It would have caused me anxiety. Or, now that I know better, it upped anxiety that was already there. I have always cleaned and organized when I felt most chaos internally. I've only understood this in the past year or so as I've begun to allow myself to feel in the moment, name the emotions, allow them to surface and deal with them appropriately. When I can sit with my feelings, without stuffing, fixing, ignoring or covering them, I no longer have the same need to control my environment.

For as long as I can remember, I've tried to find peace. I know all the Bible verses on it, I've learned certain tricks that supposedly bring it about. I bought into the belief that appearing perfect outwardly was part of the answer.

Now I know, peace is not something I strive for. It's not what I get when everything in my world aligns properly. Oh no. It is there when I allow God to come in and quiet the chaos in my soul. I let Him show me what I need to let go of. I let go of it being about me. So many things I get upset about are because of how it affects ME..what will people think if my house isn't neat all the time? What will people think if I have messy emotions? How will I deal with those imperfections?

This is merely an example from my life of how I've learned to let some things be. For you, it might be something else that you need to let go of. May you ultimately find peace in your journey

Jenn

P.S. Join Evinda on Thursday for Coffee Hour Live on Facebook at 10:00 PST for more of the Loving the Unlovable series, Step 10! www.facebook.com/EvindaLepins