I’m currently reading the book Win The Day by Mark Batterson. I’m only on chapter 2 and it’s already rocking my world. It’s not anything I haven’t heard before but there is something about the willingness and openness to hear it with fresh ears. Waiting on the message you are meant to hear that will some how radically change your life.
We think that reading one book will be the book that signifies all that we want to change about ourselves and yet we close the book and end up where we were before we picked it up. That’s the hope in reading anything for me. I want the a-ha moment that dramatically shifts my limited thinking as to what’s possible. I put so much expectation on drastic transformation that I forget the hard work that happens to make it a reality.
It’s so easy to get ahead of ourselves. So easy to dream the big dreams, but when push comes to shove, we cower at the enormity of the tasks. That’s where this book meets me today. Win the Day. The title makes it pretty easy to understand what the book is about. One day, not a week, not a month and definitely not a year. One day. 24 hours. 1,440 minutes, 86,400 seconds.
At first glance I thought, well duh. The only way to win a week, month, year is by winning one day at a time but as life has it, we can be consumed by what happens next and what happened before. The constant battle between then and now and what’s to come. I don’t know if there is anyone who can fully live presently in any of those perspectives but we often try.
As a mom, I am constantly planning for what’s next. My days consist of getting up before my son to prepare for the day, nap times are for preparing for the evening. It’s hard not to think ahead about what developmental milestones he is/isn’t hitting and lets not get into the idea of school. The possibilities are endless when it comes down to his future. But with all the added pressure of doing the right thing it’s hard to live in the right now moments of what he is doing. When I finally do slow down to appreciate where he is at now, I am often reminded of what was before. The first time he rolled over, when he started crawling, when he started walking. The memories are endless as well. The moments I want to cherish forever.
So do you see the dilemma in winning the day. It’s a pendulum swing from the past to the future with a glimpse of the right now. How do we win the day if I have trouble taking in each moment.
Now I’m not saying it’s not possible. I just can’t say I have mastered the skill but I did something today that actually gave me more hope for what’s possible. Defining success. What does win the day represent to you? What would be the win?
There are a few things in my own life that allow me to feel like I won the day. I don’t do them perfectly everyday because no one goes undefeated in life (if you are, then maybe we gotta get a bigger challenge for you) But here is where I’m starting to define my wins.
1- Getting up when my alarm goes off. Yup, there are days where I am the Queen of Snooze. Thankfully for myself, I do not have to report anywhere by a certain time so there is a lot of grace thrown around here. I just know that I prefer to get up before my son so that I can get the house ready and have a hot cup of coffee by myself without the toddler running around.
2- Getting 30 minutes of activity. This one is a non-negotiable. It can be anything from a workout on my Tonal, a walk around the neighborhood with my son or a core workout while watching tv. It’s simply intentional movement to get the blood flowing.
3- A journal entry. This is a practice that allows me to process what’s going on in my head and my heart. It’s unfiltered, unedited and truly clarifying in understanding the way that I think about the situations and circumstances in my life. Some days I find myself complaining, other days I’m halfway in tears and other days I’m joyful and hopeful for what’s to come of the day.
These are simple practices but when I do them I tend to feel like I have conquered the world or at least thinking I could. Winning the day doesn’t mean accomplishing your life goal everyday. It’s simply a matter of finding what fuels your soul to keep going.