In which I celebrate discipline | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

On Yoga and Following Jesus

Anita Mathias — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 09:20:07 +0000

I returned home from boarding school in Nainital in the Himalayas, aged ten, to find everything in my father’s life had changed. He, aged 56, had taken up yoga. And so our mornings became dramatic with simhasana, the lion’s roar, which punctuated the hour long yoga session, which was precious to him, and soon became […]

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Every Prison has a Door… (and We Usually Have the Key!)

Anita Mathias — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 22:01:21 +0000

From Practice to Mastery Image Credit: https://guitarsquid.com So, not being a super-disciplined person, I’ve struggled all my adult life with a few things, surprisingly common struggles for those for whom discipline is problematic. I carry more weight than I should. Okay, I have lost 47 pounds over the last few years as I […]

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Leaving “A Little Juice”—One Secret of Persisting in Running, Writing, and Living Well

Anita Mathias — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 20:35:33 +0000

Eric Liddell: When I run, I feel his pleasure. Haruki Murakami has a strange and […]

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On “Defining Decisions” Rather Than New Year’s Resolutions

Anita Mathias — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 12:03:08 +0000

Image Credit Mark Batterson, in The Circle-Maker, a fascinating book on a prayer, praises “defining decisions,” that set the course of your life, sort of like choosing whether you drive to Slovenia (which our family did last summer), or to Scotland (which we might do this summer). I made three defining decisions in my twenties. […]

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In praise of tiny goals

Anita Mathias — Thu, 28 May 2015 13:35:40 +0000

I know many people who want to write books they haven’t completed—and I, alas, am one of them. The standard advice for writing a book? Ray Bradbury, Stephen King or Donald Miller recommend 1000 words a day. If people did that, they’d publish 4-6 books in a year, Miller says. More commonly, writing gurus recommend […]

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Goodbye to Everest

Anita Mathias — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 18:34:46 +0000

When I was six years old, I wanted to be the first woman to climb Everest. Well, I won’t be. That was Junko Tabei, a Japanese woman–a record which will forever be hers. And neither will be I be the oldest person to climb Everest. That’s Yuichiro Muira, who climbed Everest aged 80. Nope, not […]

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One Work Goal for 2105: Focus

Anita Mathias — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 10:54:12 +0000

I enjoy the One Word project. Instead of a resolution, one asks God for a prophetic word as a guide for the year. My word for 2014 was alignment. I have chosen Joy as the word to return to this year. When I find myself stressed, distressed, angry, worried or simply sad, I am learning […]

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My One Word for 2015 : Joy

Anita Mathias — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 14:04:31 +0000

I had wanted to choose “Accelerate” as my One Word for 2014 but God impressed “Alignment” on my heart, and it proved to have been useful through a tumultuous year—a cancer diagnosis, and surgery, the death of my beloved border collie Jake from cancer, a burglary. And some nice things too… being invited to Cambodia […]

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The Creative’s Planner, 2016

Anita Mathias — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 20:13:12 +0000

I have designed my own 2016 Planner to plan and organise my creative work, and the other things I want to keep track of. I used the blueprint in 2014, and found it brought clarity to my day and increased my productivity. Here it is if you’d like to order a copy. On Amazon.com and on […]

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A Spiritual Late Bloomer, I Learn from Failure in my Messy Beautiful Life

Anita Mathias — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 19:00:01 +0000

When my daughter Zoe was born, twenty-one years ago, frazzled between nursing, and impractical plans of still writing, I made a mental prayer list to pray through as I pushed her stroller round our neighbourhood. And blush: All those items are still on my prayer list. 1 Losing Weight. I still have 12 pounds more to […]

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