It’s a different kind of summer here at the Cotter House. We’re looking for extra jobs here and there, trying to live out our plan B.
My mind has been going a million miles an hour just trying to fill in this plan B. In fact, my mind has been going so fast these past few days that when I woke up this morning, I forgot what day it was. No joke.
But I digress.
My point here is this……………thoughts can consume us. Worry can consume us. Life’s curve balls can, well, confuse us.
Breathe.
Slow down.
Sit in Silence.
I did just that this morning and read this, my morning devotional (letters from God).
Did you catch that?
Discipline your thoughts. Trust. Pray about everything. Do not FEAR!
So I did just that.
Prayed about everything, then let those worries go.
I am THINK FREE.
Until tomorrow.
When I will get up, quiet my mind, pray about everything, then let it go.
That is my goal.
In fact, it’s my month long goal.
You see, Jenn (PB and Jenny) is doing a July Blog challenge. It starts today. I don’t blog everyday, but told her I wanted to hop in here and there. She said sure!
So today’s challenge?
Write your goals for the month.
I have three little ones wrapped into one big one. Which i mentioned above.
To think less, pray daily, trust more…. LIVE.
Vague?
Yes, but if I wrote down all my goals it just might cause be to think more. haha.
And with that being said, I’m off to place…
Yoga
to think even less. Oh savasana… how I love thee!
Cheers to Think Less Monday!
LC
p.s.
What are your goals for the month? Don’t THINK too hard now. 
I need to try this! I can use think-free.
Just a quick note to say how much I love your processing, writing, and thoughts – especially today. Not much to add from myself except thanks for sharing with us – gave me great things to think about today! Love you friend. 🙂
love it! and i love your goals. i, too, can get completely wrapped up in my thoughts and in my own head. i’ve been really trying to just stop, marinate in it, and let it go – marinating in it is kind of like savasana for me, just letting it surround me so that i can be free!
oh i like that word, marinate. Marinate so that it will so flavor your life… after you let it soak. oh ya!
I like your idea of not thinking too hard 😉 God will take care of it all no matter what, so why worry!
yes, worry less. So much easier said than done. but we can!!
WOW! That blog challenge looks great. I love stuff like that. Structure, lists…ohhhh…dangerous for me 🙂 And I hear ya…savasana…I miss it. My goal is to do more yoga this month!! And maybe order some healthy bites? I need to get on it!! 🙂
yoga and healthy bites sounds peeeeerrrrrrrfect to me!
Ah yeah… something I need to do better. Fear less. Think free. Love it!
yes m’am. think free, trust in HIM. amen!
I love your thoughtful posts Lindsay–you really have a gift for writing. Thank you for sharing the challenge. Slowing down…3,2,1, now.
oh jess, thank you! i often think that these posts are not what i should be posting (no workout, recipe, etc.) but they are on my heart.
i overthink everything! so i constantly have to remind myself to slow down. i think this month’s goal is all about balance…i want to be ready and prepared for my move, stick with my fitness training and goals but also enjoy the last precious moments i have with friends here in Utah:)
you will be! Trust in yourself, youre ready! p.s. hope you are safe!!!
Amen to less worry! Thinking about the worry takes up so much of our time. I’m going to replace my worrying thoughts with positive thoughts. I even made a list of positive affirmations and bring them with me everywhere. Everytime I hear a negative voice or irrational thought I take out my list and take something I wrote and think about that instead. Works everytime 🙂 I’m in a much better mind state now! Hope all is well Linday!xo
i love this list idea! i want to copy that. Yes!
Absolutely love this post! Thinking too much is what often gets us in trouble and brings on unnecessary stress. We have to trust and have faith that everything happens for a reason. We don’t always understand it but we have to look at the bigger picture sometimes. Thanks for sharing this today…errr yesterday! 🙂
yes, bigger picture indeed! Oh gosh friend, thinking and praying for UTAH! hope you are safe.
Girl, I NEED this too, big time. Think less, pray more, live more, have more faith. I love that you spend each morning quieting your mind and finding your faith. I’m going to need to follow your lead here too..you know how much of an overthinker I can be!
oh yes, i totally get it. It wastes so much energy. I know you feel so behind and overwhelmed now, but DON’T. Start fresh, let every breath count, you are freakin awesome! love you!
LOVED yesterdays. LOVED.
“Living well is both a discipline and an art form”
That is going to be swimming in my head for a long time to come. Which is okay…sometimes it’s okay to be consumed with thoughts. The right thoughts. (0:
the right thoughts are always good for pondering. Keep on keeping on! <3
Think LESS. YES. I need this too! I think it goes back to letting go of control and just going with trust and faith. You, my dear, are right where you are meant to be, even if it’s not exactly where you think you want to be (plan B wise!) xoxo
yes! those thoughts. Oh how we know them so well. Thanks for always encouraging. Glad you are back!!! <3
Yes, let it go, let it go! God will take care of you! Still…wouldn’t we all love a little spoiler into the future of the book He’s written for us?
i would love a spoiler, but then again, we’d be missing out on the present if we did. Right?
Okay, now I’m just leaving you the link for the whole devotion:
http://www.proverbs31.org/devotions/re-routed-2012-07/
I feel like a stalker now ;o)
Nicole
OH my gosh i just read that this morning too! Its one of my favorite online devo’s! Gosh, why can’t we just live closer and do this together each morning with coffee?
xxoo thank you!
Wouldn’t that be nice! Of course, I don’t know that I would want to trade the beautiful 75 degree weather we are having this week so you would have to live here : )
Right after I commented I opened my devotions to this and thought I would share it:
“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths… I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” Isaiah 42:16 (NIV)
Girl, I’m right there with you! Thanks for sharing and letting me know I’m perfectly normal : )
I’ll be praying for you knowing that when we pray together God is there with us. BTW, I think yoga is on the books for me too!
Nicole
I love the idea of praying for everything and then letting it go. I tend to stress about things when really, so much is out of our control. Even though I’m not particularly religious, we can all learn to have more faith. Thank you for this!
i agree. I am not religious per se. I am a woman of faith (Christian). Faith is good for our soul!
I love that idea for a blog challenge. That would be great for people that are stuck in a rut or stuck without ideas.
Also, this sounds a little like the post I sent to my “super secret blog” (aka web diary) yesterday. lots of spinning thoughts. Sometimes it’s hard to stop thinking and just breathe.
oh i bet your web diary is just full of good stuff. hehe. Writing it out helps. Spinning thoughts just need to let go in order to be still, present, and trust. Right?
xxoo
Exactly! I always feel so much better after writing it out.
and maybe throwing a few things, haha. jk.. kinda. 😉
Oooh good challenge – I knew you couldn’t sit still for long:)
That devotional was really inspiring this week, a beautiful post to bookmark.
agreed. I need to bookmark this for LIFE!
Love when we submit our thoughts to Him and He takes captive those worries, doubts and fears and fills us with faith, hope and promise. So cool that His word spoke so clearly to you through your devotional!
i love it when God knows what i need before i do, which is always!
Ahhh your talking about one of my biggest problems– worrying and thinking to much HAHA :-). I do this constantly & I swear it keeps me up at night. That is something I also need to work on. And I’ve never tried Yoga before but I want to… kinda scared LOL. Worry less think less right??!! HEHE love this blog 😀 God Bless!!
Right on Kanoelani! So glad we found each other for encouragement! thank you for reading. And GOD BLESS! now go do yoga. haha
I want to go to yoga with you.
some day it will happen! xxoo
Thoughts can definitely be all consuming…in a negative way. Thinking of y’all! Take your advice and words to heart and relax…things will work out. Easier said then done, I know.
Hugs Linds!
Miss you btw <3
i am taking my own advice, about time too! haha.
i need a pretty sky text from you. <3
thinking too much is something I really need to fix!!! I need to think less 😉
goals for this month is to enjoy each day, smile everyday, laugh everyday, and count my blessings each day!
you know what? I think smiling everyday is key! p.s. I LOVE JAX!!!
My goal is to only use my internet (smartphone included) when my kids are napping. The iphone makes it way to easy to sit in their playroom and check blogs or check email. I want to spend every minute i can really spending quality time with them and enjoying every moment!
i love that goal lindsay! one to savor for these precious years!
I have two goals this month. To get organized, and then stay organized. I’ve had a ‘routine’ for a while now, but not a routine. know what I mean?
oh girl do i get that! i need someone to come organize me and set a routine. Wanna work together? haha
Oh girl I know all about that over-thinking. It can really get in the way can’t it. There are some things you just can’t control, and others that you can change, but dwelling does no good if you’re not making a plan of action. Yep, I could do a little less thinking myself.
are you reading my mind? oh yes, you are. you know me too well. Less thinking, more just being!! Thinking of YOU and your family. <3
I have been focusing on slowing down my mind too. It’s easy to get caught up in all our thoughts but when we take a break from them it really helps to refresh our minds and even see things from a different perspective!
yes, a whole new perspective indeed tara. Time to refresh this summer. Refresh and renew!
Yes to thinking less. I got so consumed with worry that it causes so much stress, anxiety, bad moods…no bueno.
This month my goals are to finish unpacking and organizing the entire house (this means the basement that has become filled with boxes to eventually go through – haha), run 30-40 miles/week, have more patience with my son, and unplug more at night to spend time with my wonderful husband.
i wish i could come help you unpack and have fun worrying less with you! Now that would be a fun summer!
I need to fit more yoga into my life – it always makes me feel better!
I find it really easy to fixate on stress and worry – and focusing on controlling food is often how I divert my thoughts. I need to learn to let go of the worries I can’t deal with and try to deal with them with food.
Good luck with plan b – just when it starts to feel normal, it’ll be time for plan a again!
you are so right laura. Plan b will feel normal soon and then we will plan A again. I love it. lets go do yoga together!
My goal is to stop sweating the small stuff. I need to let go and trust that things will come. I seem to fear that safe place and dangit, I really want to just enjoy it. I have my boys back, so it’s time to have a little summer fun!
dang it, i do too! no sweat, just be, and trust!! AWESOME! love it sarena!
I think my goal is to be more present!! Totally need to work on that one
that’s always a good goal, and one to savor! love ya friend.
Maybe my goal should be to think more because I have a tendency to not ponder on things too much. Which actually can be a weakness for me. Examples: It I go to a restaurant and the menu has too much to offer I can’t focus and think about what I want I just ask the server for what is the most popular. Another one happens to be goals. I never really set any monthly goals ever. After this post I realized I prbly should 🙂 I could go on and on. Ha!
i think thats your creative side. YOur mind is so free and easy going, allowing all that creativity to just flow. I love it! keep it!
YES this is JUST what I needed today! Worry can be so evil and consuming– just gotta remember to give it over to God and realize that those tiny frets don’t matter in the long run. 🙂 Thanks for posting this friend! Have a wonderful week!
yes, i love how we are on the same page today! surrender!
Love you! YES to yoga and yes to less worry! <3 Worrying doesn't get you any where, it only makes you lose precious time.
amen to that, lots of precious time. Love you!
Is your devotional book by Sarah Young by chance?! Because I read the EXACT same thing this morning 🙂
We have FREEDOM in Christ!!! WHOO
yes yes! it is. I love this book! Amazing!
I love the book as well 🙂 someone gifted it to me in May and I have been reading it every morning since 🙂
Sometimes it scares me that we lead parallel lives frequently. We could have been drinking coffee and letting our minds run marathons together 😉
hang in there friend, and let me know if there is anything I can do!
yes, we live parallel lives, always. and yes you can do something…..MOVE HERE!
I’m working on it. Small glitch- y’all start school at a different time than we do! We don’t start till after labour day here in Ontario, but every board I’ve looked at has a start date of August 1st…
No hard and fast rules around goal -setting, just whatever works for you! 😉 Sweet savasana always works some magic…
I hear ya on trust more!!! good luck!
thanks Heather. Gotta love the good ol’ trust sign. xxoo