Life wastes itself while we are preparing to live. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
If you had one week left to live, would you still be doing what you’re doing now? In what areas of your life are you preparing to live? Take them off your To Do list and add them to a To Stop list. Resolve to only do what makes you come alive.
Bonus: How can your goals improve the present and not keep you in a perpetual “always something better” spiral?
(Author: Jonathan Mead)
My first approach to this writing challenge was to answer each question separately but I realized as I delved deeper into it that it cannot be picked apart and dissected but must be embraced whole. If I had only one week left to live would I be doing what I am doing now. . . I can answer this on different levels, first in my career I can say, yes! After years of chasing after my idealized dream of my career to be a rural country vet with my own practice I came to realize through a strange series of events that what I really like to do, what I am good at, what I am meant to do is surgery and not just any surgery, spay and neuter surgery. I may pursue surgery in greater depth later but not I am content and happy with my career. Now if I ask the same thing of my personal life I would say, no. Not because I sacrificed it for my career as a lot of people have done but because at times I am emotionally distant from my family. I think it is because I often feel overwhelmed by my 4 boys and feel that I need some space. I love my boys and I know that they love me so much so that they have to be in my face all the time and with me. It gets overwhelming sometimes. I was finishing up reading Wild at Heart by John Eldredge; and it stirred in me some desires of mine that I have long denied and one is being outdoors mostly near water. Growing up and even at college some I felt the most at peace was near a body of water in kind of a "wild" atmosphere. I guess that part is hard to explain but I do know this, that if I find time to enjoy some time alone outside and even with my family (for example I am writing this sitting outside on my patio while my boys play outside or when we take walks by the river), that I will be more calm, more at peace, and a better mother for it. Going along with that are 2 other passions: photography and writing. I used to love to take scenic photographs and since I am not outside much I am not taking pictures as much either. I also love to write but in order to really write, to imagine and to create I need to be stress free. My life is anything but stress free. I have enjoyed these challenges because they have forced me to write and I really do enjoy that. Look at how much I have written already and I am not done yet.
I have to ask the question again: if I had a week left to live would I be doing what I am doing now, in terms of my spiritual life? This ties in very closely to my personal life since the family is essential to our Heavenly Father's Plan. The answer to that question is not yet. The answer will never be yes, at least not in mortalility because it is also part of our Creator's plan that we come to this life to grow. I can say this that I am on the right path but there are still many obstacles to overcomes and many stumbling blocks, but I am on the right path and I have the "iron rod" to hold fast to and to follow. So I can say that I am not where I need to be by any means but I am getting there.
Now I need to think about what areas of my life to take off my "To Do" list and to put on my "To Stop" list. First on the list is to stop worrying about being a perfect mother and wife, this is a great source of stress in my life. I need to stop worrying and have faith that the Lord will guide me in the right direction. He knows the desires of my soul and the needs of my heart and all other things will fall into place. So I guess that is the list - to stop worrying and to replace that worry with faith.
Resolve to do that which makes you come alive. I guess I have answered this before too but I need to get back to some of my passions - being outside (alone and with my family), photography and writing, and reading. I need to expand my mind and soul again and I need to find the time to do it.
How can these goals help me improve the present and not keep me in a perpetual "always something better" spiral? By helping me to focus on the present, to appreciate God and all the beauty of nature, to help me feel gratitude for my blessings by helping me to renew and recharge my soul, by helping me to become the person I truly want to be.
Today's Sentence: Why does the spirit of contention feel so strong on Sundays?
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