And I felt proud. Proud. I smiled at myself like I was a freakin' genius. Why have I never thought to talk animal-to-animal before? There was a day when I would publish an article that culminated weeks of work. And now I deserve a Nobel Prize for grasping my primitive nature.
This is the stay-at-home stage I am at right now. Friends in similar predicaments knew it would come; they watched patiently as I spouted ideas and dreams, promising to write a book, do a book tour, invent something and travel the world within my first month of freedom.
Now I sometimes convince myself to do push-ups and sit-ups in the living room. It happens when you look down and your stomach seems to audibly say: "Remember when you said if you didn't work, I'd go back to circa 2005?"
I have gotten 5 push-ups in and Minnie decides to lie underneath me and scratch my stomach every time I go down. In a way, it was quite motivating. I knew one failed plank could smash my beloved puppy child. So I pressed on.
This is my life now. Sometimes I'm cool with it. And sometimes I'm not.
Sometimes, lathering my hair in the peppermint-infused salon shampoo I got for Christmas is the most exciting part of my day. I stand there and take several deep inhales. There is something about $20 shampoo that makes you feel extravagant.
I have had a few new friends reach out to me during this time; who have helped me fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a mall walker. I soak up their motherly wisdom and watch as they weave these complicated cloth wraps around their bodies like an intricate child-holding spider web.
And I've realized something.
Being inspired doesn't always mean you have the perfect blog topic to write; being inspired doesn't always mean a showcase of productivity; being inspired isn't cranking out a novel and backpacking Europe.
Do I hope that one day some of these things will come true for me? Of course. Hello, Italian Gelato.
But I've got to focus on what God wants from me now.
Micah 6:8 may have some insight:
"He has told you, o man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"
Asking someone to strap on their tennis shoes with you fits this category. Sending a thoughtful text fits this category. Having the guts to write a letter to someone you don't know fits this category (I got one last week and it MADE my day).
You may, like me, occasionally get the feeling that daily inspiration has left the building with Elvis. (Thanks, thanks a lot). Maybe some of your dreams seem to be flushed down the toilet with your car keys and superhero action figures.
But I encourage you to dabble in new ways to inspire until the timing is right on the others.
So buy you some tennis shoes. And start walking humbly (and avoid the food court).
