Your circumstances are not as powerful as your choices. Just look at how you spend your time. Is your life “too busy” or complicated or stressful? With few exceptions, no one is forcing you to make your life more complicated. You have the power to simplify your life, take responsibility for your schedule and choose how wisely you’re going to spend your time.
You have the same 86,400 seconds in the day as everyone else, a renewable bank account with no option to save those seconds for another day. There is something called “the tyranny of the urgent” where immediate issues have to be dealt with before you can focus on the important things. This puts you in a pattern of always running out of time or becoming stressed because you’re unable to complete your projects.
If you believe in God, are you focusing on your mission and ministry, and if you don’t, are you focused on your personal vision and goals? A great quote that I recently read stated “a lot of things are not necessarily wrong, they are just not necessary.” Many of you are asking yourself each day, “am I going to do something good or productive today or am I going to do what is best.” Think about it; what is causing you stress in your life? Do you allow yourself time to breathe, let alone exhale, before you’re off to the next event or chore?
It is not a sign of weakness to ask for help, from God or from a friend, or to say no to someone, or even to just create a schedule and prioritize your commitments. An organized mind is not a sign of mental illness, but “chance favors the prepared mind” (Pasteur). Try focusing on the things that are necessary; take time to allow margin in your life with play, meditation or prayer, and allow yourself time to rest and recuperate. The world will not fall completely apart if you don’t get everything done today. Choose wisely, be happy. Dr. Ben