Shalom Mishpacha, it’s Hadarah. Praise Yahuah! Finally. I’ve regained my focus on Yahuah’s call for my life. I want to share how I got to this place, and how focus is helping me to feel alive again. There’s one simple trick that’s helped me. It has to do with setting my timer lol. But before we get there, allow me to share the background story. This is a long post, but prayerfully, if you’re struggling with something similar, it can help you to focus too.

Slow down

Focus

Submit to the will of Yahuah

Sweet Submission.

When all the pieces in my life fit together, it’s usually because I’ve made the decision to slow down, focus, and submit to the will of Yahuah. I’ve learned that submission always brings me back to a sweet spot. Yahuah is The Most High after all, and truly, He knows what’s best for our lives. When I finally stop running from my calling, truly, there’s nothing else like it. Submission and obedience brings me to a place of fulfillment that nothing else does.

Keep Pressing on.

This past week, for the first time in far too long, everything fell into place. I recorded a new single for you 🙂 It feels really good to be recording again. The single will be out on all the streaming platforms in just a few weeks. I just have to do a little more mixing and upload it for my distributor to get set up on the back end. If all goes as planned, the new single will be here for you by March 31st. If you haven’t already, you can sign up with your email to stay connected, and I’ll let you know as soon as it’s available.

It’s been over a year since I’ve officially released any new music. My plan was to do SO MUCH more music last year, but I struggled to find the balance and consistency needed to actually do the work until now.

“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of Elohim in Messiah יהושע.”

Philippians 3:14 

Finding a way to Focus.

Typically, I’m an all-or-nothing person. When I’m into a project, no matter what it is, I tend to go hard until it’s done. Doing things this way can be productive, but exhausting. Even when I’m feeling super passionate about what I’m doing, I find I have to recover from what I was doing the next day, simply because I’ve just done too much of it. And sometimes, it takes me several days to recover. Leave a comment below if you’re an all-or-nothing type of person too. I know somebody out there knows exactly what I mean!

In spite of my all-or-nothing nature, I’ve finally found a way to focus, and a schedule that allows for balance in my life. The way I used to approach both music and gardening, my two main areas of focus in life, would often leave me feeling completely spent. I used to make excuses and allow the exhaustion to continue on, because I believed whatever project I was working on at the time was totally worth it.

At a certain point you have to ask yourself,

Am I just doing too much?

For example, I used to try to fit music in first thing in the morning, long before the crack of dawn. I’m talking 3:30am or 4:30am. Remember those behind-the-scenes videos from last year? Yeah – that was all happening WAY too early. I was doing that because it was quiet, and the world was completely still at that time. My home studio isn’t sound proof, so you can hear when neighborhood dogs are barking outside, and when people are mowing their lawns. That’s just normal life. So I figured working on music early before the world woke up was the best solution. 

I was wrong. That idea worked for a while, but I quickly grew tired of waking up so early every single day. Even though I would go to sleep early, I was still physically exhausted. I really had to push myself to do it, and I could tell it wasn’t going to work long term. Creativity just doesn’t flow for me when I’m exhausted. So I knew something needed to change.

Now I start most of my days at a reasonable time – around 6am, latest 7am. I usually spend time with Yahuah in prayer, and listen to the audio Bible while doing some light exercises, like deep squats and stretches, to wake up my body. Then I’ll do a few things in the kitchen, set up my lime water to infuse for the day, have some fruit for breakfast, and head out to the garden. 

This is the key.

I used to spend all day in the garden. Now I give myself limits and structure so I don’t do too much of anything at once. Truly I’ve learned how to focus. Instead of spending the whole day working outside, joyfully choosing to exhaust myself by doing a million different tasks – all of which I deemed absolutely necessary in order to make progress, of course – now I limit my garden time to 2hrs a day. I’m actually more productive with my garden in less time now. And I don’t need an entire day to recover from it.

Here’s the trick

The trick is, I set an alarm, center my focus, and just do one task for 1hr. SO SIMPLE. But it works. When that hour is done, I’ll set my alarm again for 30min, and do a smaller task. Then I choose to be completely done with garden work for the day. There’s always more to do, but that’s okay. I choose to be focused, and setting an alarm helps me get there. After those two tasks are complete, I allow myself to enjoy the garden for another 20min or so, just pausing to take in Yah’s creation, then move on. Time to shift my focus to the other equally important areas of my life.

Are there any areas of your life that are out of balance?  

Is there anything taking up too much of your time?

By focusing my time, and setting daily limits on gardening, I actually get to garden every weekday which I love even MORE. I used to just garden 3-4 times a week due to exhaustion from going all day. The REAL bonus is now I have more energy to devote to music on a daily basis too! My body and mind feel just right now, because I no longer over extend myself. The creativity is flowing naturally, and making music doesn’t feel forced anymore. I’m resting properly at night for the most part, waking up at a reasonable time, eating in a way that makes me feel energized, and it just feels SO GOOD to be alive!

With my new schedule, after my gardening is done for the morning, and I complete the rest of my household chores, I actually PURPOSELY take time to rest and relax for a couple of hours. Allowing myself this rest period is key. It helps me to go into music-making with a new kind of energy.

After having a good solid meal with my husband at some point during my relaxation time, I’m able to devote myself to making music from 5pm till 9pm. I’ve never tried this before till now, and it feels SO good – making music in the evening after intentional relaxation is almost like an extension of the relaxation instead of a chore. I’m using my heart and mind to create, but the creativity is relaxing because of where my mind it at. It’s relaxing and invigorating at the same time. Praise Yahuah!

The Renewing

I haven’t felt this kind of balance in a very long time. Dare I say, I’ve never felt this way in my entire adult life. This new schedule is balanced and repeatable, not draining, so I can finally be consistent. Thankfully I don’t hear dogs barking or lawn mowing happening during the new time I work on music either, so it’s perfect for recording. I’m so grateful to Yahuah, not only for the new single that’s about to be released, but especially for the fact that I can see the potential behind the schedule that allowed me to created it.

As I continue to keep this structure for my days, Yah willing, I’ll continue to be renewed, and more and more music will come.

There’s so much music that I’ve already written that just needs to be made full and recorded.

Yahuah’s will be done.

Accepting that I need limits and structure is part of submission to Yahuah. The structure actually creates more space for Him to renew my heart. Praise Yahuah for bringing me to a place where I can truly submit to His calling on my life. Praise Yahuah for being patient with me! Praise Yahuah for the renewing. For renewing my heart and mind as he promised He would in His Word.

Now, what about you?

Take some time to consider your own life.

Are you reaching your full potential?

Do you approach your days from an all or nothing perspective?

How is that working for you? 

Do you feel completely exhausted at the end of the day?

Or do you have space for creativity? 

Do you feel you have to suppress part of who you genuinely are in order to be all that you are called to be? 

“Delight yourself in יהוה, And let Him give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalms 37:4 

You were created to create.

We are made in Yahuah’s image, that means we are designed to be creative! If Yah is calling you to create, but you’re not making space for it, I just want to encourage you to ask yourself why you’re not doing that. Don’t suppress who you truly are. Try to understand who you are.

Yah created you to create. He made you who you are for a reason. Embrace it. Put reigns on it, yes, but embrace who you are- all of you! Allowing yourself to simply “run away to the garden” because you “feel free” will keep you from being all you are called to be for the Kingdom of Yah. You don’t have to be one dimensional. Ask yourself how you can use your passion to fuel your day.

Can you be focused and create structure around your passion so that you can have room to be more creative?

If things are not working out for you right now, please don’t give up. Keep pressing on. Do all you can to shift things around in your day until you find a schedule that actually allows you to thrive and focus on what you are called to do. 

The order and intensity at which you do your daily tasks shouldn’t have you feeling completely spent. Pray and ask Yahuah to help you find the order and intensity that will have you feeling well rested. This will help you feel alive again. You deserve to feel energized, creative, and most importantly, renewed by Yahuah, The Most High.

For we are His workmanship, created in Messiah יהושע unto good works, which Elohim prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

“Trust in יהוה with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

Know Him in all your ways, And He makes all your paths straight.”

Proverbs 3:5,6

I hope this blog post resonated with you. Let me know down in the comments below.

Especially if it helped you in some way.

I hope to see you back here March 31st when the new single drops! It’s the full, complete arrangement of “Let Your Ruach Fall.” I put my heart and soul into this one, and I think you’ll truly be able to feel it. I pray you’ll be truly blessed by the song when it’s here. Yahuah’s will be done.

If you’re new here, and you haven’t yet heard my music, the version of “Let Your Ruach Fall” with just the melody and acoustic guitar is right here on YouTube for you to enjoy.

Let’s keep on looking to Yahuah, mishpacha! Trust in Him.

Let’s allow Him to keep our hearts set apart.

Let’s Stay connected.

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