Live Like You Mean It!
So here we are. Another new year is off and running. I hope you are finding it fulfilling and energizing. I want to share something I hope you will take with you into this year to help you get the most out of each day. Live your life on purpose!
There is a trap I often find myself falling into. It is the “just getting through each day” syndrome. I’m sure many of you have been there. You feel as if you are merely fighting to keep your head above water from day-to-day. Fighting just to stay caught up (or to catch up) and not really making any significant progress in the areas of your dreams, vision, and purpose. But the fact is, once a day is gone, it is gone. Each day is a gift from the Lord, and once we have spent it (or wasted it) we can never get it back. We have to learn to make today count! We have to determine to live with intention and purpose. Live like you mean it!
I remember well contemplating these things one day just before Christmas six years ago. I was thinking about the calling I know the Lord has placed on my life, and how little progress I had been making lately. At that time, I had a potty-training two year old (who wasn’t making much progress of her own!), one on the way, and a very “active” dog who made cleaning seem like a never-ending task. I found myself saying, “It is just where I am in life right now. I LOVE being mommy, and I’ll accomplish something once the day-to-day “stuff” doesn’t consume every second of my day (or at least the part I have the energy for).”
Now, don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place to give yourself some grace, but I realized this had been an easy excuse even before kids! The fact is, everyday life “stuff” will always be there. Once one thing is no longer necessary two more will take its place. So here I was, cleaning the kitchen for the 5th time that day and planning to “someday” accomplish something when the Lord clearly said to me, “Never use life as an excuse for not living!” WOW! And OUCH!
Let the above statement soak in over the next few days. Write it on a note card, and place it somewhere where you will see it often. Take some time to evaluate how you are filling your time. Are you wisely spending it, haphazardly wasting it, or sitting down at the end of each day and wondering where it went? (I still most often fall into the last category.)
As 2018 rushes on, I hope you’ll take an intentional break in the day-to-day, and sit quietly with yourself. Consider your goals, dreams, passions, and desires. How can you align your time (even if only for a few minutes a day) to begin chipping away at the things you want most out of this year?
**Practical Tip: I determined early last year that wanting to be a reader but never finding time to read was not working! I developed a system of committing to 10 pages a day. That’s it. Some days I get more in, but at the very least I get in 10 pages a day. That’s easily over 12 books a year, which is far more than I was accomplishing with my old method of planning to someday find the time!
One of my favorites to help you get a jump-start is The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness
Happy New Year!!!
