Just a couple of days left in the month of February, and it’s time to hold myself accountable to the decisions I made at the beginning of the month. This month, I chose to develop the habit of self control – particularly in 3 areas: food, internet & my mouth.
My Mouth:
I am happy to report, I’ve made good progress in managing my mouth. I suppose resolving to speak positively in January did help me rein in my mouth. Over the past month, I have exercised control over the words I speak. Rather than rushing to vocalize my every emotion, I have been able to take a moment to think before I speak. Some things I have learnt to consider before opening my mouth…
- Do I have to bring this matter up right this instant, or can it wait?
- Does the tone of my voice convey a different meaning?
- What do my facial expressions and body language convey?
Internet Usage:
I have exercised some control over my internet usage this month. Although I did err a couple of times by staying up way too late in the night catching up on other blogs – and regretting it the following morning! Let me tell you, it is SO HARD when you’re working beside a closed laptop and everything within you wants to turn it on :). I recently read the ebook “Tell Your Time” and I was able to apply some of the strategies I learnt, so that helped a bit.
Here are a few things I do to manage my time online:
- Do not switch on the computer until certain tasks are completed (Bible study, prayer and morning chores).
- Limit myself to only one online activity at a time – Facebook, email and WordPress dashboard should not remain open when I am paying bills online.
- Login to WordPress to blog (or reply to comments) only thrice a week.
- Check email only once a day and reply to emails immediately.
- Limit Facebook time (personal & blog’s page) to 1 hour per day.
- Subscribe to favorite blogs in Google Reader and read only when kids are asleep or playing together.
- Do NOT mindlessly click links and read articles that are in no way beneficial to my intellectual, spiritual or physical well-being.
- If I do need some time to relax and let loose – set a timer for 30 minutes and stop when the time is up {unless husband dearest is home ;)}.
Food:
Errr…. Umm…. Food… not so good :(. In all honesty, I admit… I didn’t exercise much restraint when it came to food. I did cut down on chocolates, but ended up satisfying my craving with a lot of sugar. And would you believe it – a handful of broken cookies the kids leave behind adds up to a LOT of sugar?! I’ve got a lot of work to do in this department :).
All said, I think it was an OK month… Atleast I’ve manage to control myself when it came to things I said and time I spent online. I recently read somewhere (I really wish I remembered where) that self control is like a muscle that is strengthened when exercised. Which means, every time I exercise restraint – my will is strengthened… and over time, I believe it gets easier.
Developing self control is a mammoth task. It would be unwise to undertake it by ourselves. But God is good and when we turn to Him – He is there to help, guide and strengthen our will. With Him, I believe I can work through it and get better in establishing the habit of self control.
To Do: Maintain a running list of areas where self control needs to be developed; pray and begin to work on it.
To Read: It May Be Hard, But Never Too Hard
To Ponder:
“…one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.” (Titus 1:8)
“…But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (I Corinthians 9:27)