We are at the final day of finding a little more focus in our lives. Hopefully these posts have helped you, even if it’s in a small way. Going back to the first post in this series, I wrote that I rush from one thing to the next without much thought and the majority of my life feels like the logistics planning of a battlefield deployment for my family, with a few fire drills thrown into the mix. Does my life have to be this way? What if I simplified the things and activities in my life so I have a fighting chance on being more focused? This leads me to the final letter in F.O.C.U.S which S = Simplify Our Lives.
As a reminder, this is what I have F.O.C.U.S. mean:
F = Finding Peace
O = Observing Our Habits
C = Christ Centered Life
U = Understanding God’s Role in Our Life
S = Simplify Our Lives
Over the last five days, there was a post for each letter.
Day 5
S = Simplify Our Lives: This is one I need, in a desperate way. If you’re like me, I have a tendency to over schedule and over stuff my life. I’ve tried and failed, over and over again to simplify my life. When I ask myself why, it normally comes down to opportunities. Opportunities I don’t want my family to miss out on, especially my kids, or opportunities I want to pursue personally and professionally. I struggling with wanting to live my life to the fullest but being scheduled from 5 am to 9 pm at night on an almost daily basis creates little time to enjoy the small things in life.
As I write this, I’m watching the sun come up over the Rocky Mountains. Early morning or late at night seem to be the times I can devote to writing. I do this, make space for this, because I believe God has put a calling on my life to write, coach, speak and teach others to pursue the dreams God has put in their hearts. When my fingers fly across the keyboard or even when I stare at the blinking cursor of a blank screen, this is when I feel most alive. I feel the presence of God as I craft words to share with you. Even if there was no one reading this (Thank you for reading this!) I would write.
I started asking myself, how do I create more space for the activities which fill me up rather than drain the life out of me? It’s to simplify, simplify, simplify. As I stated earlier, I schedule my life because I don’t want to miss anything, but what if I trusted God to show me what is important to the life He wants me to live? Then I asked myself the hard question, have I prayed to God about all the activities I have my kids in? Have I run my last “Yes” or “Sure, I can do that!” by God before I provided my answer?
Upon reflection, I understood my mistakes. I’m listening to the world and my head, rather than God and my heart. This week, I’m challenging myself to be more present and less perfect by examining my schedule, my things and even my attitude in order to create a simpler life. I understand this will take more than a week, since it’s taken me just over 40 years to create this life, but there is hope in God. In Psalm 39:7, (NLT) is says, “And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.”
The fear of missing out is a lie. It’s a lie I easily believe, but I’m combating it with more focus and intention. When I put my hope in the Lord, there is simplicity in my life.
Are there areas you need to simplify in your life? Share them in the comments below so we can encourage you.
I hope you have enjoyed reading these posts as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them. If you have gotten a nugget of wisdom out of them, I would encourage you to sign up the 5 Day Challenge listed below.