On a scale of 1-10 my week has been horrible. It’s the first week back at work from my blissful 2 week holiday with my best friend in America. We went out, we created a set of in-house jokes that Hollywood comedy writers would be envious of and we shopped. It was heaven. It was perfect. I had so much fun I didn’t know what to do with myself.
Then I got back home. To reality, I guess. Responsibility, I suppose. My inbox flooded with emails. There were countless projects I needed to catch up on. Conversations I had missed out on. Jet lag which left me downing 3 coffees a morning in order to get out of bed.
It’s safe to say I was feeling a little sorry for myself.
Then I got food poisoning. Oh yes, the real deal hold the toilet bowl while your body makes sure everything that it has consumed in the last 24 hours leaves as quickly as possible. I thought I might die. I couldn’t stand up. My hands shook. I was the colour of an off onion. All I could do was sleep and stumble towards the bathroom.
It took me two days to recover. Once I was better and returned to work I ended up sitting in one of the worst discussions I have ever had. It was uncomfortable, personal and highly unpleasant. It made me cry for the remaining day of the week.
See, I told you – it was horrible. All of Saturday I couldn’t shake this feeling which was a mixture of hurt, raw emotions and irritation at life. I even went out with friends on Saturday night, but I didn’t feel quite myself.
On Sunday I resolved that I had to do something about this. I decided to do something different and shake myself off. I went to a yoga class and sweated a lot. Then I went for a run by the sea. Then I made myself lunch, showered, lay in the sun and went to church.
There is always something powerful about taking time out to do the things that help you to de-stress and make you come alive.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the everyday monotony of life. It’s so easy to miss the beautiful moments because we are so consumed with the demands, deadline, bad weeks and tough conversations. Get to know yourself and make sure you know how to de-stress. It’s different for everyone.
There is something about church, positive people and a message of hope which will always put you back on a good road. We weren’t made to do life alone. We weren’t made to have no support and have tough weeks where nobody cares. We were made to lean on each other and encourage each other and pray for each other.
It’s always easy to forget God’s perspective when you get so caught up in your own little world and way of seeing things. It’s easy to forget that God is big and capable and your problems are just that, problems that within a week or two will go away. They are simply bumps to make the road more interesting. Nothing more. Nothing less.
It’s easy to get angry at God and ask Him why when things go wrong in your life. The thing is He never promised us 52 good weeks. And He never said it would all be easy. It’s not. But He does promise to be with us through the tough weeks and He does provide support and people for the days when you don’t feel your best. And He does send the Holy Spirit who comforts and guides you through it all.
If you’ve had a tough week try these two things: 1. Do something nice for yourself. 2. Ask God for help and hang out with some positive people.