Get Up... Dress Up...Show Up

Daily Gratitude Year 5-Day 24: Today, I am grateful I can choose to get up, dress up and show up, no matter how I feel.

Add this to my quote file:

"No matter how you feel, get up. Dress up. Show up." -Regina Brett 

I like adding, "And, never give up.

Pat Braun Schroeder, I blame you... I mean thank you.  I learned to love words and vocabulary sitting in your 6th grade class. I discovered that music lyrics were poetry and words can be powerful. It may have been the year I started writing down quotes and collecting them. 

Smart, witty and insightful quotes have been like a power source. When a good scripture fits with them, even the hardest days are more manageable. 

Some days, I don't want to get up and get out of bed. Some days are hard. Still, the decision to not be defeated comes more from intentional behavior than from feelings of strength and readiness to face each plot twist in our life's story. 

Feelings and emotions add a richness to our lives... like spices to a meal. I savor them at times, but they can not always be trusted. Feelings and emotions can be the very thing that causes me to take my eyes off my Lord and doubt what I know to be true in the deepest places of my soul. 

My God is always with me. That never changes. 

My feelings are going to ebb and wane... but "I, the Lord, do not change."  He says, "I am with you. Always!" A promise and an insurance policy. 

Now, I believe in gut instinct. I have reaped the benefits and suffered the consequences.  Still, that is not exactly the same thing as "a feeling". Watch children and dogs assessing a situation. They are great at the work. They have amazing instincts. Feelings and emotions heighten our senses, but they muddy the waters. 

The power of decision to do what we need to do and not what we want to do... or what is easy... that is where strength is found.  

My college had a dress code. We could dress up or simply wear dress clothes. On test days or presentation days, the power of dressing up impacted how I faced a test or a challenge. It was more for me than any audience. I was able to lasso my fears and control them better when I knew I looked like I was in charge of the day. It was a choice. A conscious choice. 

Intentional decisions when in the midst of a challenge, a struggle or a hard day, that is where we tap into unknown courage. Remember... our God is with us until the end of the age. 

Joshua faced opposition, trials and challenges. He got up every day. Dressed to lead. Took a stand. And, lead his people with success into the promised land. 

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” -Joshua 24:15

Don't let emotions and feelings make too much of a situation that is merely a decision. Pray up. Power up. Get up. Practice improves success. 

Today, I am grateful I can choose to get up, dress up and show up, no matter how I feel.