Mindfulness is a virtue. It is one of the reasons I love writing on Odyssey. It forces me to take a step back and look for inspiration in everything throughout my week. I like having the accountability to force my self to really think about what is going on in my life and how I feel about it. Being mindful helps me work on not having such a full mind.
I have always been a note taker. I own more colored pens than you could count and in every shade of every color. It's a passion. I also am an agenda gal. My planner might just be my best friend. I spend time each weekend laying out my week and reflecting on the previous one- all color coded of course.
While working at Camp Glisson over the summer, I spent a lot of time with kids having the best week of their lives. A popular way to get kids to talk about their week was to use the 4 J's. Outpost counselors thrived off of this method and it forced the kids to truly reflect on their time at camp. When starting college, I wanted to do the same thing, so at the bottom of each week I wrote out my 4 Js. Every Monday morning, I think back and write down anything that comes to mind. It has helped encourage me to think, to reflect, to focus, and to spend time focusing on how I'm doing.
Joy
This is your highlight of the week. This is what you liked most, what you enjoyed.
A couple of my Joy's from college: seeing camp friends at Freshley, saw one of my favorite bands perform, Austin came to visit me in Athens, the best night out for my birthday, beach weekend with my friends, an awesome semiformal, getting closer with friends, free food at Tate
No matter how small or how little, the joys in your life matter, and you should acknowledge them. You should go about each week with the mindset of waiting for something amazing to happen. It keeps you looking out for something worthy of the pink pen. It's important.
Junk
These suck. These are the bad things. These are the things you hate about your week, your lows. Even though it's not as fun to talk about, we all have our bad days and those are worth reflecting over too. It's how you overcome them. It's how you move past them. It's how you improve.
Some of my rough moments: my friends fighting with one another, drama, my friends leaving to go home for the weekend, a boy screwing over my best friends, forgetting about an assignment, midterms, sleeping in the study room, a bad grade on a Spanish quiz, being sick (yes it's been 4 months since I was healthy), a dawg loss (shhh we don't actually acknowledge it happened), general stress, etc
Big or small: shit happens. We forget about it. We move past the one bad grade that doesn't actually control our future and we make up with our friends who made us mad on our off day. The worst days are only 24 hours anyway.
Jesus
This one is my favorite. This is where you saw Jesus in your life during the week. It can be big or small. It doesn't have to be in a church. It can be anywhere in any aspect of life. It is important to see these. To be mindful so that you can be looking for Him. Acknowledging where the Lord is acting in your life is essential to him acting in it.
Some really cool places I've seen Him: in DZ bible studies and the community that fills them, in daily devotions that speak too close to home, in the BYX boys leading us in small group, in getting a good grade I prayed too hard for the night before (I got a 100 thx Jesus), in the message at freshley that showed me my worth, in my friendships with people who show the Lord's love to me, through the change in seasons, through North Campus in the fall, through answered prayers, through the life change that took place in Russell Hall and Delta Zeta.
The Lord is everywhere if you open your eyes to look. See him in people. See him in places. See him in experiences. That comforting feeling he brings is present outside of your pew.
Jelly
This is where you embarrass yourself and your friends. This is the funniest part of your week. This is where something crazy happened. This is where you felt like you got abs from laughing too hard.
I wore crocs downtown. I went out with my parents. My dad sang every word of Usher songs no one knew he knew. A crazy man came on campus to inform all the girls that "It is hot. Don't be a thot." Charles had to look up what "a hat without a top" is because he didn't know the word for visor. I almost got hit by a car at a crosswalk. One of my friends balanced a pizza box, a bowl, and who knows what on someone sleeping who didn't notice. I went on a date night and my date answered the phone "is this big sexy?" (referring to one of his friend's nicknames) but it was actually Papa Johns.
Life is a trip. Being able to laugh at yourself sporting 12 jibits on your crocs daily and falling down the huge staircase in MLC in front of everyone is just part of it. Keep a note of the funniest parts of your weeks because these will be the memories you want to keep track of and look back on in a couple months.
That it. Those are the 4 J's of my weeks. The 4 J's that encourage me to make sense of what's going on and to embrace it. Here's to the colored pens that keep track of everything I would normally forget in a few days. Here's to the memories that flood mindfulness. Here's to being aware of what is affecting your life and why it's important. Here's to the 4 J's.
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