waking early | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

On Quitting Things…and Breaking Free

Anita Mathias — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 17:43:57 +0000

I’ve read that Indians catch monkeys by placing a peanut (called “monkey nut” in India) in a bottle. The monkey plunges its slender paw into the bottle, grasps the peanut, tries to withdraw its clenched paw clasping the nut, but cannot. He thrashes around; the noise alerts the homeowner, who captures him, as a pet, […]

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The Best Way to Develop Shiny New Habits

Anita Mathias — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 20:34:21 +0000

Blogging almost daily for three and a half years has led to self-awareness. I have grown bored of boasting of my weaknesses. There is a time for self-analysis, and a time for acting on that analysis, and that time came! And so I am in the process of developing shiny new habits. These […]

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How Circling Prayer can Convert a Vicious Circle to a Virtuous Circle

Anita Mathias — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 11:57:10 +0000

Have you ever experienced a vicious circle? You know: Feel sad. Eat chocolate or sugary treats. Feel hyper or aggressive. It wears off. Feel sad. And grumpy and defeated about the weight gain. Eat chocolate to help you feel better. And then… Or: Get stressed and tired. Let things lie where they fall. House gets […]

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Fail Better: Only Do Not Go Backwards

Anita Mathias — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 10:20:51 +0000

Image Credit The aged Abraham sends his servant back to Ur to get a wife for Isaac with these instructions, “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. “Only do not take my son back there.” (Gen. 24:8). Straight ahead lay the land of promise, the land to which he […]

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Decluttering: An Easy Way to Start a Virtuous Circle in Your Life

Anita Mathias — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 20:09:00 +0000

Vermeer, Music Lesson, Until 2008, one of our greatest sources of sadness and irritation was the fact that we were rather messy and disorganised. And, as for the girls, well, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. But we have gradually changed. If you show up unannounced, or better still, with 15 minutes […]

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In which I Resolve to Wake Early

Anita Mathias — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:04:00 +0000

I remember a talk by Jack Miller of World Harvest Mission which made fun of Samuel Johnson (Dr. Johnson’s) resolutions to wake earlier. “I am resolved to wake at noon tomorrow. Though it be late, it is still earlier than the time I work today–which was noon” And so it goes, through the decades, going […]

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