Soundtracks (a term coined by one of my favorite authors, Jon Acuff) are those repetitive phrases that invade our thoughts. They can be positive soundtracks that serve us, or they can be broken soundtracks which do not serve us and often hold us back from achieving our goals and becoming who we want to become.
Learn more about overthinking and the basics about soundtracks here.
I’ve learned that I have both positive and broken soundtracks that I listen to, so I’m trying to turn any broken ones into positive ones. And since 99.5% of us fall into the overthinking trap—we listen to broken soundtracks, hopefully the soundtrack I’m sharing today can help someone else who might be listening to a similar broken soundtrack.
I’ve had this soundtrack on my favorite soundtracks list for a while, but I’d have to say it wasn’t in my top ten because I really didn’t need it at the time. I had been in seasons of life that were pretty constant and routine, but I knew it was a good soundtrack, so I kept it on my list.
As the new year came closer, I had some business and personal goals I wanted to work on. I’d made some plans for these goals, and I was starting to put those plans into motion.
Then life changed.
And this soundtrack was moved to very close to the top of my favorites list.
Why?
One of our 4 year old grandsons, Braden, was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) the beginning of March. (I’m sharing more about this experience here.)
Then we decided a couple of weeks ago (after a LOT of conversations and thought and prayer) that we needed to move to Utah to be closer to our kids and grandsons and to be more support for Kamala and Steven and their family as they navigate this 2 1/2+ year long leukemia treatment for Braden. Since this will be our 4th cross country move, I knew that this would be a completely different season than I’d expected back in December. Or even in January and February. Moving is hard. Cross country moves are so much harder.
I found myself in a new, very unexpected season of life.
When a new season hits, especially if it’s a season full of lots of changes, it can be tempting to want to keep things going as they were in the past season, especially where plans, habits, and goals are concerned. Or even where “normal” life stuff is concerned. I know I can be a bit stubborn that way. It’s also tempting to want to use the previous season’s scorecard for plans, habits, and goals and to gauge any progress in this new season against the previous season’s progress. Which is doable at times, but not realistic at other times depending on the season…something I’ve learned the hard way sometimes.
I think (hope) I’ve gotten a bit wiser over the years because I’ve learned through experience that each new season needs its own scorecard that fits with what’s going on in that season. Yes, each scorecard will look different, and that’s to be expected. Depending on the new season, I can’t expect myself to be able to do the same things I was doing in previous seasons, and that’s totally okay. As hard as it can be to navigate a new season, especially if I have plans, habits, and goals I’m excited about, I can be sure that every season ends, and there will eventually be a new season where those plans, habits, and goals will be a better fit.
Just to be crystal clear, I’m totally not saying that I put all my plans, habits, and goals to the side in a new season. I work the ones that will fit into that season as I can, do the best I can, make changes when needed, and give myself lots of grace.
What season of life are you in right now? Are you using the correct scorecard for this season? Those are important questions to ask and then answer.
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