MARCH REVIEW || Life Lessons for April

Hello Royalty.

A super happy new month to you!

I’m sure it’s pretty obvious that March was not a super blogging month. If you ask me what happened, for sure I’ll tell you, “I don’t know. It just happened.” And you know the funny thing? I thought about it every day – I told myself, “Oh Alex, you need to put up something nice on the blog. You need to get to work.” But did I?

It was almost as if every time I picked up my pen or my laptop to do some blogging, everything called “worth-it-writing” just vanished from my memory, and I didn’t push it. I just let it happen. And to a large extent, I’m glad I did. If you follow me on Instagram or the Facebook Page, I’m sure you would have realised that I wasn’t totally silent. I did some writing and yes, some spoken word too. One of them was at the Women of the God Kind Conference on March the 18th.

March was eventful! And yes, March taught me every day that life is about taking one step at a time and keeping focus while at it. Strolling down memory lane, I remember how the month started. I had stayed caught up in school work here and there – it seemed overwhelming trust me, I mean it always does – but I stayed strong.

Here are some highlights of March:

13th March, 2017

I went to the bookstore.

If there is one place I like to go with or without some money, it’s the bookstore. I love the smell that tags along with the books and the aura it leaves in my mind. I never go to the bookstore with some money and come out of it with the same amount. There would have been a minus somewhere or a total ‘erasure’. So on this day, I told myself, “Let me just feed my eyes”. Oh you bet I fed the bookstore’s finances too. I got there and bam, they had new journals. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The journals were so beautiful. I bought 7 of them and on my way out; I began to think, “Why? What have I done now? Really, Alex, Really?” but did I return them? Not at all. With every iota of pride, I hugged the books when I got to my room.

Lesson 1:

In one of the journals, I read something striking about focus. It was the story of a man, Dan and his wife, Christine who was diagnosed with terminal cancer and had been given a short time to live. Christine was asked one day by her husband’s best friend, “What does it feel like to live each day knowing you are dying?” Christine replied with a question, “Joe, what does it feel like to live each day pretending you aren’t?”

It hit me. I mentioned that my school work was overwhelming me, right? So right there, I put my highlighter over Christine’s question and I asked myself, “What would I do differently knowing that I could actually have an extra year if I do not study?”

I also asked myself, “What would I do differently if today was the last time I could do my stuff?” No I was not predicting death for myself, but just like one of my Literature lecturers would say, “Today is in your hands. Live that which you are conscious of today.”

And guess what? Tomorrow is only a product of today. No today, no tomorrow.

Almost immediately, my focus came back to life. I saw things from a new perspective. It was hilarious and beautiful too…

21st March, 2017

It was a friend’s birthday! So I got up early and went to her room…I got there and she said, “I’m not talking to you.” I’m like...”why?” But I knew why and she knew I knew why so my question was pretty much rhetorical.

Want to know why?

I had been keeping my friends at arms lengths, unconsciously. I was kinda too caught up in myself that I just assumed they were all fine. I got back to my room, messaged another friend of mine and her reply was pretty harsh. You guessed it? She was angry I had been “far” for a while. So guess what? I sat and wrote to God in my journal – I pretty much poured all of my frustration in there and made a resolve to be a better friend. I’ve taken some baby steps after that also that are making things better…and I would also welcome your tips (comment section).

In case you think I’m fussing over just two of my friends, no o, there were more than two…yeah, it’s a serious something lol.

Lesson 2:

So, March taught me more than ever that it is very important to focus on the quality of our relationships. Maybe it may take a little while to be obvious, but I resolve not to be the friend who assumes the well being of others sometimes, but who seeks to actually know the state of their well being. I choose to be the friend who is not just there when her friends are in trouble or something, but who is there even when there is nothing to talk about. Are you that kinda friend?

Lesson 3:

This was a lesson in the whole month of March. I really learnt that life is ONE STEP AT A TIME. As I said earlier, March was pretty overwhelming with school work, finals’ project and all of that. At some point, I just felt like owning a ticket and flying to an island for about two weeks – to run away from everything. Apart from school work, there were events to attend, a blog to keep up with, spoken word lines to master, and all of that. You feel me? You would agree that when there are a lot of important things to do, it can be hard to have a priority list. So one day, I sat down and I was talking to God like, “I can’t do this anymore. You actually have to help me. What do I do? How do I handle all of this?” Then it hit me like a new discovery, Jesus is the priority! So I did this – I put God over all of those responsibilities. I had a resolve that every day, I have to commune with God first, read my Bible, get myself settled spiritually before I face the day.

Newsflash: IT WORKED.

So after that, I prioritised my responsibilities. Before that, I attended a class in school and the lecturer taught on the 10 Action Signals that come from Emotional Issues. The ninth action signal was Overwhelm/Overload. The lecturer described it in terms of grief/depression which could come as a result of having unrealistic expectations and ‘balloonic’ dreams. And the solution? Decide the most important thing in your life and focus on it. Focus on what you can control.

You might not be able to control your situations and responsibilities, but you can control your FOCUS.

So I rearranged my responsibility list and I realised I had ‘unrealistic deadlines’, hence when I do not meet those deadlines, I become overwhelmed. So I set realistic deadlines and before I knew it, March ironed itself out like I was never stressed.

Hence in April, all of these lessons have helped me to start the month in a blissful way.

Any lessons for March you wanna share? And how is April going for you?

Goodbye Royalty,

With Overflowing Love,

Alexandra Zion.

About the author
Christocentric. Academic. Writer. Poet

4 Comments

  1. To answer your lesson 2 ?…..Yes i am that kinda friend….Alex this is such an amazing thing u have going on here…I’m so glad i subscribed ..its very enlightening and never boring to me….n i dont even like reading…..KEEP IT UP GIRL!!! AM A HUGGGEEE FAN OF YOUR WORK!!

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