Here we are at the end of a busy Friday and the beginning of a drippy weekend. But there is still some time to participate in Five Minute Friday.

Why?

Because it’s important to me … but you know that already. You also know the drill. We get a weekly prompt, let the words surge from our heart, soul and mind, post, link at Kate’s place (http://katemotaung.com/2017/05/04/five-minute-friday-should/) and scan through the incredible work of my fellow writers. And, as I always say, you should try it as well — both writing and contributing or at least visiting the sites of this talented crew.

I’ve also been sharing other takes on the value of the exercise, taken from snippets found in Five Minute Friday: A Collection of Stories Written in Five Minutes Flat. Here’s Crystal’s take.

“Five Minute Friday taught me the Internet is full of kind, gracious, funny women {yes, most of the contributors are women — Joe} who choose to cheer for one another instead of compete. The weekly discipline of writing gave me courage to share my story and the encouragement from the community made me brave enough to try again each week. It’s fellowship and friendship around the written word.”

So there. The prompt this week is SHOULD and the time is set for five minutes. Let’s GO…

There are a lot of things I should do …

I should spent more time on my knees. Yes, I have a pretty special relationship with the Lord but I would not classify myself as a prayer warrior. I am more apt to just start talking with my Savior than carving out time to formally spend time with Him. I do try to start each day with time in the Word, not on a rigorous “read the Bible in 365 days” routine but through a deeper investigation through the Interpreters Bible, although I will be the first to admit I often have problems following these scholars. I mean, how you write a three page essay on four lines of text? I’m currently working on the 12 prophets — Zephaniah ben Cushi to be specific and, while I sometimes have no idea what he’s trying to say, I think I’ve been able to weave certain themes … themes that go beyond his day and are as relevant today. I also try to share positive thoughts with my family and friends during these daily and weekly exercises.

I should communicate more. That’s a tough one for me. One of the zingers I got from Karen was I wasn’t always the great communicator. Of course, when I told her I talked all the time, … STOP

… she would counter, talking isn’t communicating. “Open up to me,” she would often say. “Don’t bottle things up. Share what you’re thinking.” Ouch. It’s a regret I have.

I should take care of myself better. It’s not that I’m reckless and I am doing a lot better at carving time out for myself, but I would certainly not consider myself having a good lifestyle. It’s not uncommon for me to compress 40 hours of work in three days, including many overnighters. There was a time I could recover fairly quickly, but it now takes me a couple of days to return to “normal”.

I should eat better. Duh. I am eating better with more fish, fruit and veggies in my diet and I can’t get enough peanut butter {legumes} and jelly {fruit}. I can’t drink fat free milk but I’ve weaned myself down to 1%. And don’t get me started on soy, almond or other “milk”. But,if you give me a choice between sausage & peppers and quinoa or humus, want to guess which I’ll choose? I may have an adventurous spirit, but I kind of steer away from anything I can’t pronounce.

I should be better organized and plan more. Okay. Who are we kidding?

I should wrap this up. There. I just did.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built an ark. Professionals built the Titanic.