Ugh…I can’t stand feeling like it’s midnight when it’s actually 5:27! I’ve had trouble with Seasonal Affective Disorder in the past so I’m always proactive when the time changes. A couple of years ago, I bought a “Happy Light” by Verilux at Sam’s Club. The broad spectrum light helps keep the winter gloomies at bay. I sit down in the big rocking chair by the front window at 4:30 to write my post for the next day. I turn on my “Happy Light” that is strategically located to shine directly on me. Then I read and write until about 7-7:30. This extends my light exposure to the average day and really helps my mood stay stable. I also keep active. I’ve been maintaining my weight loss so my carbohydrate intake is low which also helps. I take St. John’s Wort daily as a natural mood stabilizer and keep an active social calendar. I travel at least once during the winter and this year I am going to try to get someplace warm where I can stick my feet in the sand and get some warm sunshine in late January or early February. That’s my recipe for feeling good all winter. Now, we’ll see how that pans out.
I’ve been busy with winter preparations here on the farm. I brought in straw bales to make kitty shelters on the porches. Yesterday, I cleaned and put away the patio furniture from out front, put fresh light bulbs in the outdoor fixtures, swept and cleaned the front porch, and moved the old ironing board I use for a kitty perch over to the living room window so I can see out the window in front of the rocking chair. I cleaned out the food from the pantry in TOW-Wanda and brought it into the house, tossing anything old and out of date. I got out my combo crockpot/pressure cooker/steamer and my George Foreman Grill and got them cleaned up, and worked on cleaning out kitchen cupboards. My next big chore is buying a steamer to clean all the floors. There is linoleum in all the living areas of this old farmhouse and a painted cement floor in the bathroom, all of which need a really good deep steam cleaning. Once the weather keeps me indoors, I’ll paint and decorate.
And then…there’s this. We have a new president. Maybe your candidate lost. Maybe your candidate won. This is where grace comes in. Grace if you are on the losing side…and grace if your candidate won. Here’s the thing…I don’t put my faith in human beings. I put my faith in God. He has a plan. He doesn’t make us privy to His plans. He has plans to prosper us, not to harm us. So…here’s where you can demonstrate grace. Pray for the winner…by name. If that winner is not your candidate, pray twice as hard that God will touch hearts and minds and remind our president that the rest of us are still out here. 2020 is already in the works. Get involved. Do your best. Don’t live in fear, dear ones. There IS goodness out there! Go find it. Go make it. But don’t hide.
My fervent prayer is for peace. I always pray for peace. I will not leave. I never leave a fight. Today…we are Americans.
❤️
“Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many. Everything to come is meaningless. You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.”
Ecclesiastes 11:7-10 NIV