A Bad Day Fishin’

The new challenge for my CBD business started this week. I always do these challenges with the participants and so I started on Monday also! I have actually been exceptionally well-behaved in the food category. No sweets. And I have really watched carb intake after lunch. I had a salad two evenings and meals with lesser portions throughout. I am really pleased and feel more “with it” than I have in quite a while. 

On Friday morning this week, my husband, Wade, and youngest son, Franklin (Tank), loaded the car with their sled, fishing poles, lawn chairs, boots, bait, coats, pants, and other warm gear to drive into the mountains and participate in an ice fishing tournament. Ice fishing is something that has been on Wade’s bucket list for a long, LONG time. Fishing is on Tank’s list ALL the time. Any type of fishing. On any type of day. Anyway, this past Christmas Wade wanted ice fishing gear for his present and then he entered himself and Tank in a tournament. Off they went for a “boys weekend” while I stayed home and held down the fort. They had a great time. On Friday after they arrived, they were able to get on Grand Lake and fish a little and try to figure a few things out about the fish in this lake and strategize how best to catch a few of them. They ate out at a BBQ place and enjoyed just being guys together. They woke early on Saturday morning and checked in to the tournament at 6 am. They set up and waited for the “lines in” call to come at 8 am. Tank drank coffee to keep warm. They hand-drilled through 24 inches of ice to find the water where they would “drop” their bait. The excitement was palpable, according to Wade. They couldn’t WAIT to get their poles out and put lines in the water, although Wade’s next investment will likely be a motorized drill to drill the hole as after hand-drilling through that ice their arms didn’t work very well. Haha. They finally had the “lines in” call and dropped their jigs into the icy water. The tournament ran from 8 am to noon that day. Wade said they saw three fish caught by the hundreds there on the lake with them. And none of those were on the end of Wade or Tank’s poles. I was giving them both a hard time about my needing to show them how it’s done. Then I told them I was sad that neither of them even had as much as a nibble. Wade said, “Hey, baby. It’s all right. A bad day fishing beats a good day doing anything else.” It hit me later as rather profound. I have heard that saying before, and many of you may have as well. But I got to thinking about it and had some ideas I wanted to share with you.

I have shared it before but I think it bears repeating again and again . . . as many times as it takes to REALLY sink in with everyone hearing it. Life is too short to be stuck in something that doesn’t absolutely make you happy and feed your soul. That isn’t saying that sometimes God doesn’t place us in things that will make us uncomfortable and stretch us. It’s always in the times of “uncomfortable stretching” that our biggest growth takes place. Please know that’s not what I am talking about. I am talking about pursuing passions. Pursuing dreams. Whatever it is in your heart that you wake up thinking about and whatever it is in your heart that you go to bed thinking about. That. I want you to know that God put it there. And He meant for you to pursue it. And I have said this before, also. Just because you are pursuing it doesn’t mean you’ll catch it. However, life is all about the process, right? The journey as I wrote a couple weeks ago. We have all heard that life isn’t about the destination, it’s about the journey. I believe that. And I believe that even more the older I get. Life is about the people we encounter. It’s about the places we walk through and the things we do. It’s about the kindness we impart and the joy we share with others. Being a blessing to others is far more important to me than what I have or don’t have. That will always be true for me. 

Life is too short NOT to do what makes you happy. As for me, at this moment, I am happy with what my life has brought me. I am working for myself. I am able to take my mom places when my dad isn’t able to take her. I am painting regularly. I am blogging. I am doing things that I never thought I would. And I am happy in this moment, right here, right now. The thing that I have realized recently is that I want to take care of myself so that I can continue to enjoy these things, and MORE, for as long as God sees fit to let me. Taking care of myself has changed so much in the last few years, and the last two years in particular. I have realized the importance of getting my weight under control. I have placed new priorities on my mental health and my spiritual life. I can’t do any good for anyone around me if those things aren’t properly cared for. It takes work. Definitely. It isn’t easy. But it isn’t easy to stay in a large frame and have aches and pains. It isn’t easy to live with depression and anxiety. And I am working on managing all of those things. And with God’s help, I am better in those areas now than I was two years ago . . . shoot, even just a year ago. I feel like I have grown in some tremendous ways this past year, especially. I will never feel like I have “arrived” where I need to be or where I want to be for that matter. But that’s okay. I know God knows I am working on myself every day. And just like the others around me, I am not perfect and won’t be this side of heaven. But I am done judging myself for things I have or haven’t done in the past that led me to where I am right now. I have forgiven myself for all my shortcomings. If God can forgive me, I can forgive myself. I have stepped forward onto a new mat . . . one that says “WELCOME” in big bold red letters, perhaps. Yeah, that’s it. I have learned to welcome myself into my own life. 

I think I am trying to say that I have learned that there was no “good” day when I struggled with depression and anxiety. So a bad day doing something I love definitely beats a “good” day fighting depression. I can definitely relate to what Wade was saying. A bad day fishing beats a good day working, or dealing with cranky children, or helping someone you love deal with something difficult, or any other thing we can name. I know I have to continue to spend time every day working on myself. I have to eat right, sleep the proper amount, pray, read my Bible, meditate, exercise and on and on. I have to do those things to make sure I am able to do the “fun” and “exciting” things also. For me, a bad day painting is better than a good day doing anything else. Truly. 

I know these thoughts aren’t new to anyone reading them, but sometimes, if you’re like me, you need the reminder . . . the reminder that you are loved; that you can take time for yourself; you can pursue your passions; you can pursue happiness. What do you have to lose? And speaking of that, I firmly believe that there is no such thing as losing. Either we win or we learn. I think the only time we truly lose is when we don’t try again. We don’t fail if we get back up. Just as doing push ups will make us stronger, when we get knocked down, we will end up stronger when we are standing again because in the process of standing we gain strength. Some of those gains are huge and some are less. But they are gains, nonetheless. I am encouraging you today to gather what you need to have to go on the “fishing” trip you want to go on. Remember, though, you can’t catch anything if you don’t put your line in the water. Sometimes, you won’t catch anything even if you DO have your line in the water. But a bad day fishing beats a good day doing anything else. And you ARE worth it.  

#loveyourjourney #youreworthit #bettermewithNewYouCBD #Endo30 #itsuptoyou