Sunday, April 26, 2020

Reset and Recalibrate

Staying healthy and whole or working towards wholeness in isolation.

Some people are home and loving it, the extra time because they don't have to travel, the new hobbies or crafts or whatever they are now finding time to do so relaxing etc etc.

Then there are the parents who I know love their kids like crazy - some love having them around - spending time etc. - others are struggling with a whole new set of routines - one mum told me that between her own studies and that of her kids, she's had to learn a number of different educational platforms to find where the work is and how to access it etc. So no rest and relaxation there.

For those who are no longer working - there is a whole lot of unexpected challenges relating to finance etc. How to fill time, missing colleagues, missing friends.

So in the midst of this - how do we maintain our well-being and work towards wholeness and wellness in our lives.

Wellness
what are we doing to stay well

wellness
noun
the state of being in good health, especially as an actively pursued goal.
"measures of a patient's progress toward wellness

What is the difference between wellness and wellbeing.

According to psychology today
Well-being is the experience of health, happiness, and prosperity. It includes having good mental health, high life satisfaction, a sense of meaning or purpose, and ability to manage stress. More generally, well-being is just feeling well

So in the midst of uncertainty, when anxiety is high, we might have a level of wellness, but our well-being may be struggling.

I certainly don't have an the answers. The situation is different for us all. The stresses and pressures are different. Staying in contact with friends and loved ones, though possible through FaceTime options, is not the same.

I have struggled with my own well-being over the years (including now) but here's some thoughts, ideas and tips that I've used, and might be useful for you too, in managing life at the moment, and setting a new direction towards well-being.

Isaiah 43

Isaiah 43:15-19NLT
I am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel's Creator and King. [16] I am the LORD, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea. [17] I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick. [18] "But forget all that- it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. [19] For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

I love this scripture. God always seems top highlight it to me at moments of change and challenge.

What can we learn.
God is doing a new thing - forget the past - forgetting the past - not living in past glories- past victories - be open to the new thing that God is doing.

He tells the the people of Israel - see I'm doing a new thing, can you perceive it, it has already begun.

I think there is a strong tendency in us to think backwards to what was (pre lockdown) instead of forward to what could be and then recognising that it's in the now, the thing that God is already doing that is important.

The people of Israel remembered the amazing things God had done for them. God basically says, don't focus on those things.

So for us, focusing on what life was like before isolation and lockdown isn't helpful.

We live in the now and not in the past
We are in a new season. A new way of living. Can we perceive it. Do we understand the times.

Are there things we actually don't want to go back to.

Are there things that are not actually helpful for us that we can leave behind.

Sometimes we feel good because we are busy, but spending our lives in busy nothings are not helpful. We look for happiness, but research suggests happiness is found not in the pursuit of happiness but in having some kind of purpose.

Eph 2:10 God's workmanship created to do the good works he planned in advance.

If we are too busy we can miss this.

Maybe this season is to redirect us to a new purpose in life. Maybe that purpose is to do less and in doing less, achieving more. One of the paradoxes of life.

I actually don't want to go back to the past - there are things I'm planning on not picking up again.

What if during this time we rethought what is truly important and made a decision to leave behind what was not?

What if God was deliberately removing some activities from our lives?

God works for the good

Romans 8:26-28 NLT
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. [27] And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. [28] And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

We can focus on what God is doing, even if we can't see it properly yet. We cam be confident that God is at work, even when we are not.

Prayers - deep groaning - when we are really troubled or unable to pray, at this time, let the Holy Spirit who is there to help us, let him take the burden in prayer. - feeling unsure, feeling fearful, let his Spirit take control.

God's desire for our well-being is important. He says let the Spirit of God take control. I'm in this, I'm working everything together for you and for your good.

So, some quick tips.

Reset - what is God speaking to us about where we can reset - priorities - What is really important.

We begin to discover, when all is taken away what is actually truly important to us.

Isaiah 43 - stop focusing on the past at what it was like, how it used to be.

Know the times, know the season. What season are we in. What season are we moving too. Is it time to do a reset to be ready for the new season that is already upon us.

Do a reset - on the phone - a reset removes everything on the phone - the extraneous pieces of information to start again, to renew and refresh. It removes the junk, the garbage and what you don't need or want anymore.

When we do a reset, we don't then fill our phones with the same old information.
Let's not fill up our lives with the same old stuff. We only put back on the equipment what we need and what is helpful.

We can choose to include in our lives, only what we need and is helpful for our well-being.

God says to the people, see it has already begun, can you not perceive it.

Is our perception today caught up in what was, what we think it should be, or is it perceiving the times and understanding the times.

As I mentioned earlier It is a new season and for some it is hard, for all sorts of reasons. But we can't go back to what was. We can find piece and rest in what is, by understanding the season, only taking what we know is helpful into the new season.

We can acknowledge the difficulties. They are real. We see them. Acknowledge them as reality, without dwelling on them and giving them power they don't have.

Recalibrate
We might benefit at this time by reflecting on where we might need a slight adjustment, a recalibration. Not a major change, an adjustment.

I think about my car - wheels out of alignment (maybe hit one to many kerbs) or it meds a mechanical service because of wear and tear.

It still drives but I know something is not quite right. It just doesn't feel or sound right.

It's not helpful to leave it with the wrong calibration. It does damage to wheels and to the workings of the car. The longer it stays that way, the more damage is done. So I take it to be recalibrated - weights right, angles right Engine and mechanical parts put right.


Is God asking us to use this time to bring recalibration?

What's God highlighting for us that has gotten out of kilter in our lives.

Are you struggling with thoughts, feeling isolated.

Please get help.
An holistic approach to your well-being is important. Organise to see your doctor, in case there are physical reasons underlying how you feel. Organise to see a counsellor, or psychologist to talk to, and work with them. All of these are important ways to bring recalibration.

One of the great things I have found through receiving this type of help, is that they are really good in helping me see where I might need to recalibrate, where my thinking is out of kilter, where my thoughts are being unhelpful.

The other go to is God's word.
God's word helps brings recalibration

When you recalibrate something, you don't second guess it. You check it against a standard.

What standards can we recalibrate against. Ron mentioned some last week - speak nicely to people. Col 4.

Here's a couple more for contemplation later.

1 Cor 13 - love - patient, kind, does not boast

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud [5] or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. [6] It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. [7] Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Note: If you are in a relationship marked by violence and abuse. That is not love. You do not need to stay in that relationship. 


In a loving relationship we work on recalibrating our self, not others. 

Galatians puts this well.

Galatians 6:4-5 NLT
Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else. [5] For we are each responsible for our own conduct.

Gal - get on with your own work instead of comparing yourself to others. So much angst in life come from comparing- home schooling is a case in point - on FB we see what others are doing - easy to compare. But remember, your kids are not their kids.

Mummas, you are all doing a great job with schooling your kids. They will be ok.

What recalibration might be necessary and important to you in this time? It will be different for everyone - your own well-being, your kids well-being etc.

Remember, recalibration is adjustment, for health, adjustment to promote well-being. Small steps, small changes.

Matthew 11:28-30 NLT
Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."

Interesting that the rest is both physical rest, and emotional rest - a refreshing to gather strength.

(Thayer's Definition
to cause or permit one to cease from any movement or labour in order to recover and collect his strength
to give rest, refresh, to give one's self rest, take rest
to keep quiet, of calm and patient expectation)

Are we taking time to find rest in Jesus, both physical rest and emotional rest.

How's my thinking - does it need recalibration

We don't have to entertain every thought that enters our head.

We can choose to let it go. We don't have to make it part of our ongoing thigh life.

Restore - time for reflection - restoration - putting in place for wellness and well-being

We can't do it all. That's ok. Parents - your kids will be ok even though you are schooling then at home at the moment.

We see many priorities changing around us.

We see lots of ways on FB about what we could be doing to enrich our lives at this time.

To be honest, I'm sick of seeing them. Because Maybe, just maybe, we don't have to. Maybe we find restoration, by simply reflecting and recalibrating what God highlights.

Stuff happens in life - we struggle finding peace in a busy distracted, overwhelming situation.

I'm my situation, I realised that there are some things I can do. I can reset, I can recalibrate. These things are helpful but as I reflect on psalm 23 we see God who restores the soul.

Restore -
He restores my soul
He leads me in green pastures
He makes me lie down

He restores.