Time management has been a topic that I have heard repeatedly over the last 2 weeks. Think God is trying to nudge me? Um, yeah. Actually He has probably been nudging me for much longer than that it's just that for the past 2 weeks I have been paying attention. As I approach my 32nd birthday I am seeing more and more the value of time. Time seems infinite when you are younger but as soon as you get a few years on you along with a little life experience you realize that Time needs to be respected far more than we do. Not that I'm this old maid who thinks life is a downward spiral after 30 because I truly have felt more youthful since I reached the milestone. But I think I have enough maturity to confidently say that how I spend my time is something I need to pay more attention to because it slips by ever so quickly.
I learned a lesson from my treadmill this morning. You see, I bought a used treadmill from an associate about a year ago and all has been well with it. However just about a week ago the belt started to shift. This is a common issue with treadmills; over time the belt stretches and shifts too far to the left or right and needs adjustment. I have been kind of frustrated with it because at 4:30 am you don't want to have to fiddle with adjusting the belt. You're trying to convince yourself your not crazy for being awake at that hour and just get on and get the workout over with. Messing around with a minor malfunction has seriously put a wrench in the early morning workouts. But something different happened this morning. Instead of getting agitated at the fact that my workout was interrupted once again, I simply made a minor adjustment to the belt, got right back on and kept moving (life metaphor coming on...). I thought to myself that there is no need to get all bent out of shape over the small happenings in life; those unexpected snags that seems to put a kink in our “perfect” worlds. What I discovered was that even though a situation may not be ideal (my treadmill isn't state of the art but it works) and it may need a little work every now and again, all I have to do is pause, make an adjustment in thought and/or behavior and keep moving forward. Why would I allow a small thing like a slipping belt to stop me from running? I could ask myself the same question about other areas in life. Why should I allow the unexpected things in life throw me off course? I mean, do I not have a “spirit of self-control, power and love?” I learned a valuable lesson from that dusty, belt-slipping treadmill. When things come into my life that threaten to rob me of my peace I need to first step back, readjust my perspective and keep moving forward. Strength over time equals power and nothing can take you out unless you lay down for it first.
Living Authentically,
G
No comments:
Post a Comment