The other day I was journaling and wrote down:
“I would like to have a normal life. I wonder what that would look like?”
I decided to go on a search for a normal life . . . a reasonable normal life. A life consisting of less stress, frustration, feeling overwhelmed, and a life with less exhaustion. I’d like to invite you to take a walk with me, with my thoughts, as we explore and try to find a reasonable normal life. A life in which peace, contentment, and joy can be found in the most unusual places within the struggles and opposition.
What would a reasonable normal life look like to you?
How could you find the reasonable, normal, rational, sane, run-of-the-mill standard for this kind of life?
By whose standards, could you petition your current circumstances and present your challenges to find some resolve for a reasonable normal life?
The questions above can be disturbing, and moving forward amid such tension will require some reflection to find an ordinary normal within. You will need to find a quiet place and make a focused effort to be honest with yourself and find the treasures of peace, contentment, and joy that God so lovingly wants to give you.
Have you ever been in a situation that does not seem to have a resolution?
Sometimes you are stuck in the middle and feel like both ends are closing in on you.
Do you feel as though you lack the ability or resources to move from here to there without great exertion and fatigue? Your tank is empty. You are all used up and feel bone-dry with weariness from trying to remain patient. Why do these relentless waves of emotions smother your entire outlook on life and leave you feeling overwhelmed? Where can you find some normal sanity for the quiet and peace of the soul? You long for a resolve to nourish and bring health back to your body, with paths of peace and a place to rest.
Reasonable normal . . . where are you?
If you would bring up your past, would you likely say, “Forget it. It’s too painful and it’s buried for good.” Or would you say, “My past is so terrible that my feet and mind are stuck, as though they are cemented together. I cannot budge.” The thought of dredging up the past surely would sink you. Where is the lifeboat that you can get aboard to keep from drowning?
Do your questions have answers?
You might ask God, as I have, “How do I deal with my day-to-day life that is living the daylights out of me?”
There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t run into someone or hear about something through family, friends, or news concerning “things” in their lives that are causing havoc in their daily existence. Some people are just barely getting by living moment by moment. The question I proposed at the beginning of this journey of thoughts about trying to find a reasonable normal life is valid and in need of an answer, of understanding, and resolve. Would you not agree?
Or we could just let go and let the question have no earthly answer, leaving the outcome to God for His wisdom, solution, and divine intervention. This is where trusting in God comes into place, believing that He is still in control and things will all work out for good in the end.
Can you allow God to be God and give Him your questions, your tears, and the secret longings of your heart and mind?
I know you are probably saying, “I’ve been there and done that. I’m still alive, but . . . existing and getting nowhere, it seems, on the quest for the reasonable normal.” I, too, understand your exhaustion and lack of energy to continue the search for a peace that passes all understanding, giving way to a reasonable normal. During times of trouble and conflict, laced with exhaustion and the muddy water of despair, your view and perspective can be altered and, therefore, leave you unable to recognize your existence as a reasonable normal life.
I have a favorite verse in the Bible from the book of Proverbs, chapter 3, verse 5-6, that has been an anchor to me and has given me a reasonable normal life. I’d like to share it with you:
“Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.”
Before my mind takes off and my feet hit the floor in the morning, I contemplate the above verses with my eyes closed, all snuggled up peacefully under the covers. You all know that sweet, cozy comfort of waking in the morning before the alarm goes off.
All is quiet.
All is calm.
All seems good.
Then up and off we go to the day ahead.
As I close this journey of thoughts with you, we have together investigated the reasonable normal life. I feel I have the reasonable normal life, and I am living it out daily. Following the above verses allows us to live it out in spite of the storms that may come.
Enjoy your journey. There is light in the middle of it.
By the way, I also start my day out with a coffee mug that says “Breathe” on it.
I pray the same for you.
Breathe.
