Focus Friday: Let's Focus on our Life Calendar

This week I watched a video about procrastination (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arj7oStGLkU) (I think I was putting off doing something I really needed to be doing at the time). It was funny and hit a little too close to home, but Tim Urban ended with the sobering thought that all of us are procrastinators in some ways. 

We may not all push up against actual deadlines, but we put off doing many things in life that don't have a tangible deadline. We don't do what we've always dreamed of doing because it's scary or uncomfortable to step out and try something new. We keep going in bad relationships because it's easier than dealing with whatever is going wrong. 

He showed a picture similar to this one that shows a ninety year life in weeks:

I'm fifty years old. Over half of those little squares are gone already. I can't even be sure I'll make it to ninety, so that adds even more urgency. What am I doing with all of my remaining squares?

I guess I've been thinking about that a lot this week. Am I going to just keep letting the weeks fly by and never accomplish the things I say I want to do? If I make it to ninety, am I going to look back at all of those little squares representing my weeks here on earth and have little to show for them?

My friend Joan shared a great quote at our writers group meeting last month:

Begin doing what you want to do now. 

We are not living in eternity. 

We have only this moment, 

sparking like a star in our hand-- 

and melting like a snowflake. 

~Marie Beynon Ray

Isn't that beautiful?

I hope it can inspire all of us to be much more deliberate about what we are doing with the moments God gives us. We aren't going to live forever. Let's get busy with the things God is prompting us to do: Write that letter, call that friend, write that book, start that business, take that vacation, finish that project, give your time or money to that organization that stirs your heart so much, love the people in your life well. 

We only have so many "boxes" left. Let's not waste them.

"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:12 NIV)

Have you been procrastinating because there is no specific deadline for something you've been wanting to do? How can focusing on God help you to use your time wisely because you realize that your time here on earth is limited?