Lethargy

I woke up today feeling quite drained. Couldn't put my finger on it at first but managed to later. The exhaustion, unmistakable; the strain - specific.

Post Menstrual Syndrome. Gah.

My monday mornings are usually spent doing accounts for my father. It's not such a drag anymore cause i'd made a little spreadsheet form to help with the calculations, tabulations and equations. I never liked numbers, so after a little push from my best friend, i decided to put the few "Excel" formulas i had to good use. I've not regretted since.

However, the counting and the numbers are still horribly daunting and i do wish at times i didn't have to do it. So today, i decided to slack on work a bit. Leave the accounting for another day. Afterall, i had a perfectly good excuse, I thought.

"I'm suffering. Going through a severe case of post menstrual syndrome."

Big, fancy words.

Anyway, right after i decided to abstain from any mental or physical work today, I opened my little journal, penned some thoughts down. I usually did that to prepare myself for quiet time. To get myself into a more focused zone. When i was ready, I was going to flip over to a chapter in Psalms (I'm on this bout to finish the whole book) but a verse caught my eye.

Proverbs 6:6-11

6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!

And then OF COURSE I had to go ahead and read the rest of it! Not unlike a spider's web waiting for a pathetic little phoebe-bug to fly gab-smack into it and get tangled up in it's shimmery grasp.

7 It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,

8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?

10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest-

11 and poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.

What apt timing! I thought. The day i decided to be lazy, the day i claimed as my own, the day i succumbed to lethargy. I could've laughed it off. I mean, surely that happened out of pure coincidence.

I took this myself!

But even if it had happened coincidentally, I had too receptive a conscience to let it just flit by unattended. Just reading those verses made me disappear into my thoughts. And the thoughts never left me.

"Consider its ways and be wise."

I decided to just read up about ants then. And I learned a thing or two today from the ants, which is more than i ever thought i could. I'd always wondered about it before. I may have waved it off when i was younger, thinking that was all that was to it. That ants were hardworking cause it just worked its butt off till it died.

Browsing websites, this were some of the facts that i learned:

"The ants are to be admired for their discipline and for how each chore necessary for the successful running of the nest is assigned to various colony members, and for how these chores are meticulously carried out." Strike One!

"Sometimes when catastrophe happens, the ants respond quickly by adapting their duties to overcome the problem." I hadn't realized how human they were! Strike Two!

"The ants constantly educate their young, teaching younger ants the tricks of the trade." Strike Three!

"It has been estimated that an ant's brain may have the same processing power as a Macintosh II computer." And I was OUT!

Jokes aside, I decided that since i could let myself choose to play the sloth today, I could also let myself choose to be a little more productive and do what was needed of me. If I didn't do this, my dad would have to postpone his trip to the bank and tomorrow would end up a maddening rush of chores.

Lesson #1: Be disciplined and do what is needed of you today.

The ants could adapt themselves to situations, changing skills and duties to fit circumstances, responding quickly to any problem that arose. Instead of even trying to adapt to my tasks and chores to better suit the circumstances, i chose to not do it at all.

Lesson #2: Be flexible. Don't resolve to quit before you've even tried. Phoegure out ideas to best suit conditions.

Even the ants knew that educating th new generation was essential as the future of the colony depended on its continuity, whether it be tending their aphids (like cows), scouting for food, ensuring security, cleaning, etc.

Lesson #3: Teach somebody what i know so that they can take over when I couldn't do it anymore. This can also avoid unnecessary stress.

Eventually i realized, God was indeed speaking to me. In way i could never imagine. If i didn't update the accounts today, then nobody would; heaping more work for tomorrow on top of the errands and journeys I would have to make on Tuesdays anyway. At 6-ish in the evening, my tummy still kicking up a fuss, I began my accounts.

I found out that if i put enough pressure on my tummy, the pain subsides. So i set up my laptop on the floor, and layed with my tummy on a cushion and did the accounts that way the whole time. And it helped. A lot.

I also got my sister to stick around and explained formulas and instructed her as to how to utilize the spreadsheet form. She caught up pretty quick. So today's accounting session was memorable and somewhat more enjoyable to an extent.

I even had enough strength leftover to do a bit more for the church noticeboard and other small errands. I still feel invigorated and inspired. I'd best write a bit in my journal and turn in for now though. It is best not to run on borrowed strength anyway.

Oh by the way, how was your day?

Thanks for the extra fuel I needed, Lord.