No Hustle, No Sleep, No Repeat

“What do you do when you’ve done all you can and seems like it’s never enough?  Child you just stand when there’s nothing left to do.  You just stand.  Watch the Lord see you through.  After you’ve done all you can, you just stand.” – Donnie McClurkin

I posted a picture of a newspaper article announcing my husband’s new position.  I do not know the date nor the time of the article.  I have never actually seen the article, only a picture that my husband forwarded to me at my request.  So I made him my #mcm…6 months after the actual position was offered and accepted.  We had already made our social media announcements.  I posted it just because I love him, and I am excited about the upcoming football season.  I expected nothing.  The response I received – breathtaking…

But what do you do when the response is not so breath-taking, when you hustle, sleep, repeat and see minimal change if any at all?  What do you do when you are exhausted, at the end of your rope, and the results do not reflect any of your hard work?

I look around me, and I see all these bloggers with huge followings who started way after I did.  I see people who graduated after I did who are doctors, and nurses, and engineers.  They are running in the Olympics, coaching state championships, leading schools.  And I wonder how I got so far behind.

What did I miss?  I work so hard.  How am I so far behind when I spend all day running trying to catch up?  Where exactly am I supposed to be?  Am I doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing?  Is my best good enough?  What if I continue to put in all this effort, and no one notices?

So I pray.

It is who I am.  It is how I get through.  And the response I get is more breathtaking than all of the belated congratulations.

1. Would you continue doing all that you are doing if you knew it would only save one person?  Is hustle, sleep, repeat worth it if only one person’s life depends on you?  What if all of your writing, and your classroom, and your coaching, and your lifestyle only changes one person?  Is it worth it?

My answer was a resounding yes. I will blog once a week, spend hours in lesson planning and organization, post inspirational messages, hustle, sleep, and repeat forever if I know it would save the life of one person.

2. So He went on this time asking if I would do it for Him? Would you do it for Me?  Or the universe?  Or to make the world a better place without impacting anyone specifically simply because it was who you were called to be?

I responded that He can see me.  He does not need me to write, or teach, or post, or minister.  He knows my thoughts. But that yes, if what I am doing is what He wants me to do, then I am ready to do it. Even if the only person who sees it is Him.

3. So He continued by asking if I would do it for me? Would you do it for you?  If I told you I did not need you and neither did the universe, would you still do it?  Would you continue to write?  Would you continue to be exactly who I ask you to be if the only person you save is yourself?

And immediately I understood.

Sometimes, we are called to do things outside of our understanding. Some of you call it the universe. Some of you call it fate or destiny. I call Him God, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. Mr. I am that I am Himself.

At times, our assignments do not make any sense because we are not seeing the success we see in others. We wait on miracles as a result of hard work and direct instruction…

I was recognized for an award today, the Blogger’s Recognition Award from DiviNation. Some would call that coincidence. Others would call it luck. I say it is God way of letting me know I am walking in the right direction.

I reached a new record for likes in one day on a post.

In the middle of a conversation with my sister about just where life was going and whether or not she would ever see the benefits of her hard work, she mentioned that she saw a lady bug. She said that one of the explanations for the random appearances of lady bugs is to say, “let go, and let God.”

We kept chatting, but before we could change the subject, my son interjected, “Look mommy. The rain is about to stop.”

The rain is about to stop.

My advice to bloggers, to anyone venturing into new, uncharted territory, to anyone who lives by the hustle, sleep, repeat mantra is to ask yourself three questions:

1. Would you still do it if only one person noticed?

2. Would you do it if that person was God?

3. Would you do it if the only person saved in the process was yourself?

Find yourself.  Love yourself.  Then, be yourself.

No hustle.  No sleep.  No repeat.

Just day in and day out discovering the extraordinary in your in ordinary.

What are some methods you use to keep from overworking yourself in a hustle, sleep, repeat world?  Comment below or connect with me: Facebook,Instagram,Twitter, Bloglovin.