reconnect
I can be sort of a planner nerd. I like my days organized with stickers and glitter and pretty pens. It started during a season of my husband working rotating shifts(LEO), myself on weekend night shifts, and a new baby. Coordinating our work hours was a necessity for functioning.
Earlier this year, a group of writer friends decided to dig into Atomic Habits by James Clear. We spend weeks in self-reflection, dissecting our motives and motivators. The book has practical takeaways in each chapter. The author shares about the one degree difference and how it can transform our lives long term.
I made ten goals for the year, wrote them in my pretty planner, each attainable if given consistent effort. I started pushing into each goal with one degree and within a month, one of those simple goals was already met. I kept going, momentum rallying me further. Our group held each other accountable and motivated each other daily. We celebrated victories and rebooted each other through unexpected losses.
We were headed fiercely into 2020...then COVID-19 rolled up. Things changed. Autoimmune disease sheltered me in place by early February. I stood frozen observing the rest of the world, waiting and watching, holding breath as the news paved panic more than it prepared us.
My heart ached. This little group kept cheering me on.
Our group, sprinkled all over the states, shared how we were struggling with our habits. Collectively, we decided that we needed to pause for peace to enable us to reconnect to our hard fought for habits. It was a collective radical rebellion from fear to build shared grace. This out of the box idea- that despite my radical emotions, I can lean into a radical grace. It ushered peace into the valley.
It’s been done through virtual movie nights, Voxer encouragement, cheering each other on in the little ways each of us are revisiting our habits. We each are striving to pivot back, one degree at a time.
Our chosen habits haven’t changed, we’re just approaching them from a different perspective, with greater grace for ourselves, with greater grace for others, remaining firmly patient through it all.
If 2021 rolls around and my nine remaining goals aren’t fully completed, reconnecting to my habits has allowed me to get unstuck, giving a freedom that the four walls around me cannot provide .
