Structure & Flow
You can have a form without a flow, but you can’t have a flow without a form” -Bishop Brian Keith Williams
If it isn’t “flowing” it’s not genuine. If it’s planned, its fake. If you have to schedule it, is the passion really there?! We hear it all the time. That whatever “it” is, a friendship, an event, a new hobby, a learned skill; that if it doesn’t just happen, it’s not genuine and it’s simply not true.
All too often we stress ourselves out with this mindset. We go cold turkey with diets. We go head first into fitness journeys. We do bible in a 3 months challenges all to start and stop in two weeks. This lesson always rings in my ear that whatever “it” is in my life, it is a process.
This is especially important now that a lot of people are transitioning out of the quarantine. Do you want to preserve what you gained during these last 2-3 months? When life gives more normalcy, will we stay in process. Maybe you need a routine or plan for it to become a consistent flow. Maybe your next lifestyle change will happen not when you do it on a whim, but through a process. It’s not fake, its strategic. I’ve been pondering situations and lessons in my own life and I have three nuggets I want to pinpoint about this topic:
We need discipline.
Researchers have proven that it takes 21 days to form a habit but honestly, I’ve seen people get to 21 days, do well and plateau because the consistency outside of the dedication stage was not there. We have to be dedicated after the initial excitement of change. The way that has been helping me is through consistency in a plan. We all quote “a dream without a plan is just a dream” Well, it’s the same with a new lifestyle.
If you want to be more fit, eat healthier, be more consistent in showing up for family and friends it’s going to take the d-word= Discipline.
Biblically speaking, there were things the Lord told the Israelites to do in order to remember what He has done. One of them being the Passover Festival. Without the Passover festival they probably would have forgot all of the significant events that the Lord had done for them. If they had a “why cant we just remember it on our own” mindset, they would’ve forgot. We’re people. We mess up, get tired and don’t always want to finish what we started but having things in place helps us to reach the goals we have and mark what’s important to us.
You’ve Never Done This Before
When I was rebuilding my relationship with a family member, I had to literally start from scratch. I was not in their life at all, and I barely knew what life was like for them now. However, I knew I wanted the dynamic to change. So we started putting structures in place. Holidays, Birthdays, events, I would show up. I would be intentional about calling and checking up on them, even finding things to do monthly so they knew the support was there from me. Its in those moments that I’ve learned the basic fact that Its new and I’ve never done this before. If you want things to change you have to be willing to try anything. If it doesn’t work, try something else.
Make the investment:
Get a counselor
Get a trainer
Get a tutor
Find a church home
Reach out and set aside time for friends and family you want to build with.
Invest time, prayer and sometimes money into what you want a true harvest from. You have to start somewhere and sometimes it takes a little extra to make sure you get to the end of whatever your goal is. Want to be intentional about your emotional health? Get a counselor. Want to truly be fit? Get a trainer. Want to excel academically? Get a tutor. It takes time, but it takes intentionality.
God Bless and until next time!
Jess