~1~
It’s Friday, which used to be the highlight of my week. Lately, though, Friday is just a herald of two days where I do a different kind of work to a different pace. I think there’s an attitude problem, and it’s mine.

~2~
I’ve been reflecting, in the last few weeks, the ways my blogging has changed recently. As I consider it, I can’t help but note how my life has changed in the three years since I first started this little corner of cyberspace.

~3~
I’ve been balancing between my “must be done” and my “want it done” lists. I’ve found, especially in the last two weeks, that I draw strength from some of the new prayer practices I’ve adopted.

~4~
One of those prayer practices is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I sit for 15 minutes with a clear mind, sometimes with a prompt from Scripture or a reflection on a mystery of the Rosary. I can’t tell you how I do this; I’m not very good at it. But it’s bearing fruit in ways I can’t fully articulate yet.

~5~
And, speaking of that new prayer practice, I’ve cut back from the 5000 things I tried to squeeze in. This was hard (I’m a “more is better” kind of gal), but it too has been very helpful.

~6~
While we’re on the topic, I’m gaining an appreciation for how much I need silence and stillness in my days. I have a crazy-busy-loud life. That makes the silence and stillness, tucked into the beginning and sometimes the ending, and every once in a while into the middle, of my days gives me strength to get through the craziness-busyness-loudness.

~7~
My spiritual director told me, this week, that I’m too hard on myself. Then he told me I should read The Spirituality of Imperfection, which we happen to have in duplicate in our parish library. See the sidebar over there? There are eight books on my Nose Inserted list (one of them is an audio podcast, so I guess it might not count). But, that said, the last book I finished — The Handbook of Spiritual Perfection — was just what I needed (and possibly the best book I have ever read for spiritual growth) and was handed to me by said SD after he finished it. Hmm. Guess I’ll be adding a ninth book…

Jen at Conversion Diary is the founder and hostess-with-the-mostest of 7 Quick Takes, and you can read more over at today’s round-up.