Focus on the Stuff that Matters

My Dearest Daughters,

Focus is our most valuable resource because it controls all our other resources, such as time, energy, and money. All of these are limited to us, so it’s important that we live life intentionally. Living with intention means:

• I sit down and decide what’s important. These essential things are called our Life Values, and they lead to Life Goals. For me (and I Hope you too) these revolve around God’s Purpose for my Life (good post on that topic… or you may also want to search “Life Purpose” on this site).
• I plan a life journey with a route that moves me toward those goals within the boundaries set by my values.
• I get up every day and take at least one step in my chosen direction, doing my best to avoid the distractions along the way. Distractions are those shiny objects that look interesting, good, and fun, but they really just delay and sometimes take us off course.

Now life has things that need to be done, such as school, work, and the like, and all these things are essential, especially if you want the basics, like food and shelter. But the really great thing is that they’re all along whatever route we create, and, if we keep them in their proper place – not making them more important than that need to be, we’ll find that we can still move in the direction God has Called us, because everything we do, including the essentials, can be done as if it were being done unto God (Colossians 3:23).

The hard part of life is determining which is essential in moving us towards our goals and which is the shiny, distracting stuff. You see, all along the route, God is going to bring people into our lives (they’re the important stuff), and if we’re not careful, we might miss the opportunities along the way to be Jesus’ Hands, Feet, and Mouth to those He wants to Love through us (this is our Ultimate Life Purpose and Goal). One of my favorite stories is about three men who were given opportunities to Love and help a man in need. Two of the guys were just too busy and couldn’t be bothered, but the third stopped and showed God’s Love, and he became known forever as The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).

My Girls, I Hope and Pray that you’ll chart your life’s course filled with meaning and purpose and find a way to Live Live Today each day along the way.