Week TWO - SAMEtember

Two weeks into it and I have realized I’m nowhere near to being as balanced as hoped...

At the beginning of September I decided to take note of what I was filling my mind with. I knew it was mainly netflix, TV and movies. So I thought I would try to make my reading time the same as my screen time - 30 mins TV + 30 mins reading. Well if there is one thing I have learnt this week, it would be that Mind, Body and Soul really are entwined! Each one affects the other.

My wife has had a bad case of sleep insomnia over the last few weeks, but this week has been particularly bad. For obvious reasons this has affected my sleeping patterns and regular weekly rhythms. I have been averaging about 3-4 hours of sleep a night - with nights full of prayers together and deep conversations, while days are filled with work, caring for our 2 year old and trying to keep the house in order.

Here is what I have become aware of this week.  As my body becomes more and more worn out, my mind wants to zone out even more than usual. Physically - I haven’t been eating well or even exercising this week. Mentally - I haven't had the head space to read heavy content/information or even the strength to keep my eyelids open as I’m reading the bible. This obviously has implications on my spiritual growth (soul). Because of my physical and mental exhaustion this week, I have taken the easy road and stacked up a heap of screen time while missing out on the reading time.

Now here is the kicker! The very little rest I have found this week has not come from my many moments in front of the TV. I have only been refreshed as I have stopped and listened to the spirit, meditating on his words even just for 15 minutes here, 30 minutes there. You would think then that I would seek more of that time, finding true rest, right? Well for some reason I kept turning to unrestful, waste-of-time tv shows.

Being brutally open and honest… I think I was hoping that I would smash this out all month, getting better and better at this (inspiring others in my victories). But God in his wisdom has decided to use this as a great humbling moment! If my motivation to reading his word was just so I can write down more minutes, then it would not be a true motivator. In other words it would fail and I would choose something else. That is what has happened this week.

My week did not reflect the SAMEtember ethos as I had hoped. In my tiredness I thought “forget SAMEtember, I’ll do what I want to do” and in doing so I forgot the motivation behind the “who idea” - to spend more time with the only one who refreshed, to find rest in my maker and to soak up his inspiration and energy as I face this world. That is what my soul needs and that is truly what my mind and body also need.

WEEK two results of SAMEtember:  Mon 7th - Mon 14th.
TV Time - 8 hours 45 minutes
Reading Time - 3 hours 50 minutes

Next update will be in a week. I wonder if you could try it for a week? 

“Let us strip off every weight that slows us down 
...And run with endurance the race God has set before us.” 
- Hebrews 12:1