Friday, March 20, 2009

Jane, Stop This Crazy Thing! Part 2

There's one, there's another, and another... They're easy to spot. Especially if you have been one! Been "one" what? A woman running on the "busyness" treadmill, and going nowhere!

She'll be the one looking a bit tattered and torn. The spring in her step and the sparkle in her eyes are gone. And the load (she once carried with ease) she now drags behind her. But the tell-tale sign is - when her eyes glaze over, the one's closest to her will RUN FOR THE HILLS!

In Part 1, we have already admitted (if we are honest) we have ALL been there. In Part 2, we will examine ourselves to see if we are headed in that direction again, or perhaps already there.

I was recently challenged to write down how I spent my time during an average day. Sounded easy enough, or so I thought. What I expected to take a only a few minutes ended up taking a few weeks. It was one of the most difficult things I have ever been asked to do. But one of the most enlightening.

When I sat down and tried to compartmentalize how I spent my time each day into neat little segments, I realized it was an impossible task. In frustration, I began to write - - I simply respond to whatever is screaming the loudest!

Over the next few weeks, I took an honest look at how I got so out of balance. As a woman that works from home, I have flexiblity in my schedule. With that flexibility, and because you are known to have flexiblity, it is sometimes tempting to take on things that need to be done simply because you can. Needless to say, this is not a wise way to go about your day. And needless to say, that is what led me to the dangerous treadmill of "busyness" that had gotten me so out of balance.

Had I not been asked to give an account of how I was spending my time each day, I might have continued in the pattern of distraction by the things screaming the loudest. And missed out on hearing the things most necessary, the things spoken in the still, small, voice.

I will end today by giving you the same challenge I was given. Write down how you spend your time each day. Where is your time going? Spend some time this week (honestly) identifying how you go about planning your days.

Join me next week for Part 3, as we look at some examples given to us in God's Word on the "Yes but, How?" to live life on purpose.

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