[learn_press_profile]
This morning I was scrolling through Twitter on my phone as I was lying in bed wishing that I were still sleeping. My mind was telling me that it was too early to get up, but apparently that isn’t what my body was thinking. I was scrolling past the baseball articles, political updates, and comedians that I follow when I came across a tweet that prompted action! I immediately set my phone down, got up and began my day – which I probably should have done before I picked up my phone.
The motivating tweet had an article attached to it that was titled something along the lines of “Stop doing what you hate.” That grabbed my attention, so, the simple thing for me was to set my phone down, get off Twitter and get on with my day. I had a lot of things on my to do list for the day and I was just wasting time in bed doing something I don’t really enjoy. It’s not that I hate Twitter, it’s that I hate feeling like I just wasted useful time on something so unimportant.
We waste so much time today! Unimportant things seize our attention and take away moments that could be filled with something that would be a better use of our time. I think in many ways this has been exasperated by our COVID lockdown because we don’t have the same kind of busy schedules that we did before – even if we feel busier that ever. We can’t go to places we used to go, we aren’t able to engage with people the way we used to engage, and we don’t have that same commitment to accomplishing goals that we had before. We are most likely just going through the motions! And we most likely find ourselves doing things that we hate – or at least things that don’t make us feel connected, happy, and loved.
Actually, that paragraph might be out of turn. I should speak for myself and say that I have those problems. That I am wasting too much time. That I am doing things I hate. That I am feeling unproductive and unable to focus on those goals the way I did before. I should say that I am struggling with these things and say that I wish I could be doing the things that make ME feel connected, happy, and loved. Whether it is my mindlessly watching movies, scrolling social media platforms, or playing games on my phone or computer, I shouldn’t assume that you are doing those things, too. You are probably much better than me at that.
Unless you are feeling that way. But I am sure you aren’t. But just in case you are, let me give you some advice: “STOP DOING WHAT YOU HATE!”
Ok, assuming that you didn’t just get motivated to stop reading this article, I am going to offer you a challenge. Can you make a list for me? Actually, the list is for you, but don’t just stop at one list, make two lists. First make a list of things that you do to “fill time.” It doesn’t have to be things that you do to waste time, it might be things that you enjoy doing, but it should be things that are your time fillers, not your job or your household duties. Don’t say that the pastor said you should stop cleaning the washroom because it is a time filler – that will NOT be helpful for your marriage. The second list should be things that you want to do. Make a list of things that you would like to do. Things that you would like to accomplish or do. Please don’t say “Fly to Cancun for the weekend.” You might like to do that, but it is not possible right now.
Now make sure that at the top of the list of things that you want to do write “to know and be known by God.” Which is what we are talking about at church now.
And now that you have that list – stop doing the things you hate and start working toward the things that you want. Start working toward being the person that you want to be. Start working toward accomplishing the things that you want to be filling your time with. And then, when you need to, take a break and do some things on your first list. Those aren’t necessarily bad, they just shouldn’t be the priority. Our priority needs to be becoming the person that God wants us to be AND helping others become the people God wants them to be. Other things are just filler.
Join me on this task! Make those lists and start working on being who you want to be AND who God is calling you to be. We were made to THRIVE – even in COVID times.
