Little Tools

It seems to me that God has given me little things, little tools, that I can use to calm down, be happy and direct myself back to God. He's given me little things that make it easier for me to pursue Him. He knows how weak I am and so helps me out a little extra ( As if the sacraments, saints, and His own body, blood, soul and divinity weren't enough ;) but I am weak and He wants success. I thought I'd just write up a little list of the things for which I most often say "thank You".

Running: Running gets me out of my head and gives me something to focus on. It helps me de-stress (yay for endorphins!) and feel better about myself. My body and body image has always been a huge struggle for me -- it quite often consumes me -- so anything I can do to boost confidence and feelings about my body is really wonderful. Also is gives me a great sense of accomplishment: "Yes! I pushed myself 5 mins longer!" "I finally made it to my 30min goal!" even if it's just "Well, I didn't want to start, and I wanted to quit the whole time but I pushed myself. I did it." They're small accomplishments but they do me alot of good. So running is a great little tool for me to feel better about myself sometimes some suffering to offer up ;)

Writing: This isn't always as constant as running. I will always feel good about getting out and running, even just for 5 mins. But writing... meh. Sometimes I completely give up. I think I'm an incredibly terrible writer and so I quit. But there are other times when writing makes me happy. It makes me feel like I have a skill to give back to Him.

Good Company: A night of discussion or talking, joking and goofing off with friends makes me feel united. We are all broken, all trying for the same end goal and we all need others' help.

Pretty Little Things: A pretty skirt, a good hair day, good coffee, pretty flowers... I'm a girl, okay? Little moments of beauty or calm can totally reshape my day.

Moments of Quiet: A silent, peaceful morning or just a moment to breathe and reorient oneself with the world: "I am here and He is all around."

Music, Art, Nature... : Now this one applies for every single person.  Beautiful art, music and scenery cannot help but direct ones mind to the Origin of such beauty. Same applies to poetry which often appeals to me more than prose because of the emotion and feeling often more effectively expressed. 
This is a song I just found and love: Hero by Abandon

God Bless,

Liz