A Mug & Personal Accountability

Happy Monday, friends!

Today was a good day.
Today I successfully worked out and spent time with the spiritual practice book I mentioned yesterday. This is a serious victory. I generally am pretty lazy...I'm not good at holding myself accountable to things, but today after work I did 20 minutes of yoga as part of a Wellness offering at work, went grocery shopping, made dinner (pizza from scratch!), did a quick 15 minute full body workout in my living room, and then spent some time with my spiritual practice book.

I'm both excited about the fact that I followed through, and nervous that I'm going to let myself down and not keep this up. BUT, today I did follow through and tomorrow I'm going to do my best to do it again.

I don't need to workout every day, but I do plan to keep up with my spiritual practice book every day.

The book I'm working through is called "The Cup of Our Life: A guide for spiritual growth."
My friend Sher gave it to me when she visited in early October, and I am so excited to work through it.

Spiritual practices have become something I'm increasingly engaged with at work and increasingly interested in for both personal formation and the formation of the students I work with.

This book is taking me a through a six week practice centered around a cup. A mug in particular.

This is the mug I've decided to work through this practice with:

The idea is that, like a cup, we are vessels that can be poured into, poured out, and filled with the living God; and because of that, there are a lot of things we can learn by doing spiritual formation practices with a cup in our hands. 

Today's practice began with this quote from Macrina Wiederkehr, "You are a dwelling place for the Source of all life." The practice centered around the idea that God goes with us wherever we go - we carry God into every relationship and experience. Part of the reflection asked me to hold the cup and look into the space within the cup, and then consider the space within myself, and acknowledge and consider how it is filled with the Divine, Loving Presence of God. It's a pretty cool visual and thought (and truth). 

Plus I'm on board with any spiritual practice that has to do with a mug. I think mugs and the contents you put in them (tea, coffee...) are things that bring people together, and that's a holy thing.

So that is what I'll be doing the next 6 (ish) weeks. Reflecting around a cup, and working on my personal accountability. And hopefully I'll get into a routine and continue beyond that time as well. 

Is there a spiritual practice you enjoy? A book that's been life giving to you? A workout that has been energizing? Share it with me! I'd love to hear about it 😊