Image via WikipediaThere is a story of a man clinging to a horse that is galloping at breakneck speed down a country road. Another man walking along the road calls out to the rider as he whizzes by, "Hey, where are you going?" To which the rider yells back, "I don't know, ask the horse!"
Do you ever feel like you are that rider and your life is that horse? If you have not identified your mission and begun setting goals in your life that pertain to your mission, then I bet you do too. Wouldn't you rather be the man walking down the road, knowing his destination, making progress toward arriving at it and having the time to ask someone else questions?
When we fail to be intentional about where we are going in life, one of the consequences is often a life out of balance. Generally, this means that we invest too much time and energy in one area and neglect other equally important areas. For instance, we may invest in our work, and neglect family or friends or our spiritual growth. We may invest in our family, but never set aside time for our own spiritual and personal growth. Our lives are never perfectly balanced of course and certainly there are particular seasons of our life that call for some sacrifices in one area or another. However, if we consistently starve one area or role of our life of our time, our attention, our energy, then we will one day discover that we have created a situation that may be hard to restore.
One of the best ways to insure that this does not happen is to set goals for each of the major areas of our life and then make regular deposits of time and energy into those areas. When we neglect to set goals in all the areas of our lives, it is then easy to cheat those areas out of our most important resource; our time. The end result is often not only a life out of balance but sometimes the loss of relationships that are significant and meaningful to us. Living a life that is not intentional and goal oriented is often a life out of control, much like riding a runaway horse. You’ll be moving quickly toward a destination, but you’ll have to ask the horse to figure out where you are going.
What about you? Is your life out of balance? Are you living a life that is intentional? How do you make sure that you don't cheat certain areas of your life?
One of the best ways to insure that this does not happen is to set goals for each of the major areas of our life and then make regular deposits of time and energy into those areas. When we neglect to set goals in all the areas of our lives, it is then easy to cheat those areas out of our most important resource; our time. The end result is often not only a life out of balance but sometimes the loss of relationships that are significant and meaningful to us. Living a life that is not intentional and goal oriented is often a life out of control, much like riding a runaway horse. You’ll be moving quickly toward a destination, but you’ll have to ask the horse to figure out where you are going.
What about you? Is your life out of balance? Are you living a life that is intentional? How do you make sure that you don't cheat certain areas of your life?
Excellent advice Lynne. I know I’m not on the runaway horse, but I could use more discipline with working on the book I started weeks ago. I tend to get sidetracked by other responsibilities that may or may not be fruitful. And fruitfulness is what I’m all about. If something is nonproductive, I’d like to let it go. And during Lent, I hope to seek clearer vision. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI agree it is so easy to get sidetracked! I am eager to see the book you are working on! I'm sure it will be terrific!
ReplyDeleteHi, Lynne!
ReplyDeleteI am just preparing to write a devotion on "being too busy" in our lives. Your post here brought me some great focus and food for thought. It is so true, as Debra said, that we become sidetracked by one thing or another; these keep us too busy and we end up, as you wrote, living an unbalanced life. I am trying to live much more intentionally, especially during this Lenten season.
Thanks for this terrific post!
Blessings!
Martha, thanks for the comment. I have made living intentionally the watchword of the year. It makes such a difference in my life since I too am easily distracted by so many things!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story and learning, Lynne. My life is not out of control but I need to focus a lot more on what I really want to and need to do in life. Thanks for the reminder ♥
ReplyDeleteHi, Lynne! ~
ReplyDeleteGood stuff! I have divided my life goals into 9 different areas, based on the 'guas' of feng shui. I re-visit my goals daily.
Keep up the great work ;-)
@ Corinne--I have to remind myself to live intentionally on a regular basis as well. thanks for the comment!
ReplyDelete@Linda--I too have set goals in each of the major areas of my life and I read over them regularly to make sure I am on track. It has been one of the pieces that have allowed me to accomplish a lot in the last few years. I am always learning and changing!