What I Learned: November

As we enter into December and the Christmas season consumes our lives, I wanted to pause and reflect on November and what I learned this month. As I explained last month, this is a series I am doing to participate in a link-up with Emily P. Freeman.

My first “What I Learned” Post for October as well as further explanation about the heart behind these posts can be found here.

I could never live in Seattle. It rains SO MUCH HERE in North Carolina for this Texas girl. I’m so accustomed to days of sunshine and blue skies that days upon days of hovering storm clouds, pouring rain, and the dreariness that accompanies these seeps into my bones and toys with my mental health. We have been told this is an especially wet fall for this area so I am hoping these weeks of gloom are the exception not the rule. Until the clouds break, I will continue to take extra vitamin D to help my brain’s grumpy reaction to its decreased supply of sunshine.

My mind needs frequent rest from the internet and the constant stimuli that is social media. I wrote two posts this month about the social media fast we did this summer — part 1 and part 2 –and working on these posts this month made me realize I needed another break. The loneliness of moving to a new area, the upcoming holiday season as well as the culture wars that occur daily now is a combination that makes me vulnerable and easily emotionally drained. Another break this month was a welcome relief.

Siri and her “Name that Tune” Abilities. Did you know that Siri will identify the song that is playing on the radio for you? I found this out and it’s so fun! Simply hold down the main button as you would to talk to Siri usually and ask her, “What song is this?” while holding your iPhone close to the music source. She will “listen” and then report your latest favorite melody (with an option, of course, to buy it from the iTunes store).

Stomach Viruses ALWAYS strike in the middle of the night. Why is this? Why do our bodies think that 2AM is a great time to surrender to pathogenic invaders thus causing us to lose the rest of that night’s rest and feel behind the remainder of the week? (If it’s a Sunday night, you can wave your hand and say good-bye to productivity for the week! Just hypothetical, of course, not speaking from experience, but if I was — well, gosh, I felt SO old when it took me four days to recover from one missed night’s sleep!).

Fear multiplies quickly in the dark, but light comes from all different sources. The chaos and horrific acts across the globe this month were so sobering and mind consuming for me. My empathy is so strong and imagination so vivid that my fear knew no bounds. I found that the more I tried to act like I was was doing ok emotionally, the worse I struggled. When I finally shared with my husband and a wonderful friend, the fear diminished significantly and positive thinking could flourish once again. I’m still concerned, obviously, about what is going on around us, but as my loved ones reminded me – we have hope in the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.

***

What have you learned this month? I would love to hear!

Check out some other bloggers’ What I Learned Posts here! 🙂