Prayer of Examen for my Aging Angst

This prayer helped me focus on the positives of my aging experience. I found gratitude in the following:

-        - I no longer feel the need to have a “career” when a job will do. Thank you.

-        - I no longer have the energy or the need for things to be “perfect”. Hallelujah!

-        - I no longer need to do a task by myself when it is better to share tasks with others.

-        - I no longer need to always find something to do; it is okay to sit and play or read for pleasure.

-        - I no longer need to go at life with a frantic pace; a slower pace helps me enjoy life and the tasks are easier to complete.

-        - I no longer need to work hour-after-hour and day-after-day looking for a job; I’m trusting God to bring the opportunities to me, and He did in due time.

-        - I no longer consider a nap a waste of time. Hallelujah!

-        - I am learning to center on Christ with the help of the glorious nature in my yard and the view out my window of Golden Lake.

CHALLENGE:

My friend Anne has cancer and she has maintained a daily journal on the Caring Bridge website. All her friends find much encouragement from the daily blessings she finds in her “new normal” of living with cancer. She delights in the smallest thing, be it a blooming plant or a visit from a friend’s dog or making a meal. She also finds pleasure in accomplishing various tasks as she continues to work at her job as a librarian, despite frequent naps to revive her energy and despite the accomplishment taking longer to complete than before cancer. From her story, I feel her energy expands because daily she sees many blessings to count before God.

Consider the song lyric:  “Count your many blessings, name them one by one.” Ask God to help you see the blessings hidden behind your current struggle.