Happy New Year!! Another year to seize life and become better! As last year came to a close, I found myself pondering over the year and reflecting on what needed to change in my life for this coming year. As I looked back, I noticed a continual theme had surfaced in my life. I have noticed that over several years, I have been running in "overdrive", always fighting against the clock to get "everything" done and yet feeling that I always come up short. "There is not enough time in the day", seems to be the quote of the day I have found myself saying often. As I have pondered over this, for the last several weeks, the question has come to my mind:
How do I find balance in my life with all that is required of me and not enough time to fit it all in?
Balance...such a foreign word in my vocabulary.
Well, a few weeks ago I decided that I was going to take this question up to the Lord and ask for His guidance in knowing how to achieve, "balance" back into my life, so that I can be my BEST SELF!!
I have been praying and pondering and praying and pondering some more. Little by little the answers began to come. There was even an article in my church magazine, The Ensign of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the December 2011 issue entitled, "How do I achieve balance in my life given all the demands on my time?" (http://lds.org/ensign/2011/12/questions-and-answers?lang=eng) Perfect!! In that article, there was a quote that hit me and directed me on a path to change somethings I am doing in my life.
"We face a lot of demands on our time. It is essential that we constantly evaluate how we are using our time...At time it may be necessary to say no to some obligations. We are counseled not to "run faster than we have strength" (Mosiah 4:27). We may want simultaneously to have immaculate homes, hold a position in the school's parent-teacher organization, spend hours working on our family history, and train for triathlons. However, "to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the the heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1). It is important that we have the courage to forgo commitments that do not make us better."
All the things I had on my daily "to do list" for myself and my family were all good, but I had too many of them. I realized, I needed to have the courage to make changes, forgo some of those "good" things, so that my family and I can be our better selves.
I did some hard thinking and have taken the courage to make some changes. I have backed off on work hours, prioritized more of my time each day devoted to only my children, changed the way I take care of household obligations to become more simplified and delegated out, backed off on the amount of extra curricular activities my children are in, have made a rule that we don't answer the phone after 9:00 pm, have scheduled more daily time to family and personal scripture study and have allowed time at the end of the day that is not scheduled with anything else, but free time for myself to do as I please.
I have already felt some of the weight of "rushing against the clock" lifted from off my shoulders as I have tried to have the courage to change and focus on what matters most. May the journey continue!
This week's challenge: Have the courage to forgo commitments that do not make me better
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