STOP! My World is Moving Too Fast!
“Sometimes when I spin really fast, the kitchen looks like it’s going to fall over!” Carly (5 years old)
Perhaps you can relate to little Carly’s words. I can. I do. Often. But in reality, it’s your world not the kitchen that appears to be falling over.
Ever feel like your world is moving too fast? Sometimes I move so fast I lose perspective, thinking the world needs to stop. But it is actually me spinning!
There will always be one more place to go, person to meet, phone call to return, or email to write. Are you the type of person whose “reach constantly exceeds your grasp”? Do you chalk this mindset up to being visionary, diligent or responsible? All of us have our personal justification. (I am not telling you mine.)
Tweet This- Am I living my values? If I have not taken time to determine my values based on my biblical principles, then that likely needs to be my first action. When everything in our lives has equal value, there are no priorities. In his book Essentialism, Greg McKeown says,
“Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done.”
Defining our values and putting them on autopilot is not an option. With all the distractions of life, frequent evaluation is necessary to ensure we have not veered off course from living our values.
- Am I more concerned about doing than being? Paul’s life was filled with activity yet we find him on his “farewell tour,” in Acts 2o communicating the foundation for his life and ministry. In 18 he reminds the people of the way he lived. This is a reference to his “being, not his doing.” He shifted the focus from the external to the internal.
- Am I listening to the right voices? Do I have people in my life willing to tell me the truth because they care more about me than what I think? We need accountability partners willing to speak truth into our lives.
- Am I willing to make necessary adjustments? This may require giving up stuff we like, enjoy or justify. One of the things I have said for years is, “I love everything I do: I just have not discovered how to do everything I love.” Too often I have used this as an excuse to justify my overactive schedule when it should have served as a wake-up call.
One of the books I either re-read or at least review often is Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud. From the book I created a two-page personal evaluation of hard questions I periodically ask myself concerning activities, tasks or projects I may be doing that need to end.
I find what I call “calendar creep” to be an enemy needing constant evaluate. BTW…I don’t always enjoy these times of evaluation. Remember, I love what I do. Sometimes taking time to evaluate is painful; but streamlining life and ministry always helps me be more effective and efficient.
Carly thought the kitchen was falling over. Maybe you think your world is falling over, that it is going too fast. Perhaps, the real issue is we need to stop…not our world!
