' “Do not let your hearts be troubled. 
You believe in God ; 
believe also in me. ' 
John 14:1
New Year brings promises and Hope for no one knows what is ahead:
While I look around the trove that is very much guarded, 
As I stand looking around
The treasure that I hold in my hand is 

‘Guard Your Heart’

If one thing I have learned over the years is 
“Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts” 
Proverbs 4:23 GNB

It goes without saying that we only have one heart and one brain 
so protecting them is critical if we are going to make the most of life.
 
Imagine you are given a phone and that is it 
you have to use it for the rest of your life. 
You can not change that phone (the body) 
but you can upgrade the software. 
How well will you treat the phone?
If it was me, I would take very good care of it. 
Not wanting to drop it or break it.

But in life accidents are unavoidable
This is why it is important to learn different ways to protect ourselves. 
So how do we keep the phone updated? 
Upgrade the software, otherwise it bound to fail, 
get malware and viruses so the software 
needs to be up to date to avoid damages to the internal structure
And so is our body, mind, heart and everything.

How do you get it up to date? 

Learn something New:

I found that I look forward to learning something new, 
the brain lights up and my face lights up with a smile. 
I mean my mood change and perception changes and 
I look forward to something different.
 
Never underestimate the power of learning. 

We are never too old or too young to learn and 
it frees the mind when we are not so focused 
on the situation at hand. You are present in the now. 

What can I say? 2020 has made me learn to 
braid my own hair and even trim it, 
I tell you the afro hair is very high maintenance 
and made me appreciate what those hairdressers go through. 
It is also very exciting to sit and just do something new on a Saturday 
and have a conversation with others of something new to talk about. 
Sharing cooking ideas or snacks that you made.
Learning something new is exciting and a gift

and we appreciation it more when we share with others. 
It also brings people together

The Bible is is the best source of information and 
getting lots of practical advise daily  

When we learn we use our senses:
The eye is the door… so when it is open what do we allow in? 
The ears are our windows… What sound do we let in? Think about it.

What we let in through our eyes and ears to see and listen 
would eventually either bring us closer to God or 
harden our hearts to the things of God. 

It is easy to watch, read anything because they are easily accessible 
Should we watch everything? I will let you be the judge of that!

Sleep
We have so many choices in life BUT sleep is not one of them. 

It is not a choice.

If you want to focus better and have a clear thinking 
then make sure you have a good night sleep. 

Decisions are best done when “you sleep on it” 
great ideas come from a good rest or sleep.

According to National Health Service (NHS): 
Quality sleep, get enough of it by keeping regular sleeping hours and 
this programmes the brain and internal body clock to get used to a set routine. 
Most adults need between 6 and 9 hours of sleep every night. 
By working out what time you need to wake up, you can set a regular bedtime schedule.
The key and important information is trying to wake up at the same time every day.
While it may seem like a good idea to try to catch up on sleep after a bad night, 
doing so on a regular basis can also disrupt your sleep routine.

We have so many tools to help us these days and 
it is only a matter of knowing which is good and then using it. 
In my experience the hardest is weekend getting up the same time as weekday, 
is hard but durable with lots of practice and worth it. 

Find ways to upgrade your systems
Before it gets out of date and becomes 
very slow... 
Think of a slow out of date phone 
what do you do with it? 
Before you say, just throw it away and get a new one
Great idea but not an option. Upgrade the software
And I will leave that to your imagination ...

Thank You for stopping by. 

Inspired by the Ragtag Daily prompt

The Lord Jesus will remain forever
His throne from generation to generation 
The circle of love is full of everything that life briings

May the light in you shine bright always
May the Name of our God be glorify
Have a restful weekend
In the Name of Jesus
Amen

© Hannah Michaela Vandi