I have
seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy
themselves. He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set
eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God
has done from the beginning even to the end. I know that there is nothing
better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime; moreover,
that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor--it is the gift
of God. Ecclesiastes 3:10-13
As we approach the New Year it is possibly a good time to
review our lives to see what has been draining the energy and joy out of our
daily experience. Focus and energy each
day is limited. If you use it on the wrong stuff, you will never have enough to
tackle the important and positive things you want to do. You may not see it now but doing some of the
things below a lot can really suck the energy right out of you and place your
focus in places that won’t help you.
Over the next couple of days, we will take a look at five
suggestions for how to waste our lives and some options to use our time, focus
and energy in a better way.
To Waste Your Life…
1. Create Drama Out of Everyday Events
Do you create drama in your life
to liven it up? Do you have a lot of conflict in your life? Are a lot of people
mean to you or out to get you in some way? You may create quite a bit of the drama and
conflict you experience by how you think and behave. Drama can be emotionally addictive and in a
way feel comfortable and safe because it is what you know. But life becomes so much smoother and easier
if you let that stuff go as best you can. Do it for your own sake, for the people around
you and for your relationship with them.
What to do instead: Don’t take everything so seriously. Stop making mountains out of molehills to get
attention and sympathy from other people. Examine your own life and see if you are
perhaps under-stimulated. Does nothing much fun happen in the daily life? If
not, don’t fill your life with drama. Start filling it with goals that you are
really excited to work towards.
2. Continue
Poor Health Habits
Don’t exercise and excuse yourself
by stating that you are too tired. Spend
lots of time watching television or other sedentary activities. It won’t be long until you are living an
exhausted life.
What to do instead: Eating and sleeping right and
working out even a few times a week are three great fundamentals that will
improve your energy levels. Obvious?
Yeah. But so is much of the most useful advice. The trick is to actually use
the advice consistently in your own life.
3. Be
Judgmental and Critical
Faultfinding is an All-American
pastime. It is so easy to reinforce our
own low self-worth by being critical of others.
Being judgmental about people can make us feel powerful. But being judgmental makes you less attractive
to most people since openness and positivity are two things that people like. It’s a great way to never be able to raise
your own self-esteem. It’s a temporary
high with a hangover of negativity that can take over large parts of your
everyday life.
What to do instead: Focus on the positive in people a
bit more and discuss that instead. Focus on being kinder and on giving people
genuine compliments. This will make both you and the people around you feel
good without those negative effects that I mentioned above.
Here is a
start. We’ll look at some additional
ways to not waste our lives tomorrow.
Scripture to Claim:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Philippians 4:4-5
