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?

Focus Friday: Let's Focus on Fifty

"Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored." (Titus 2:3-5)

I can remember reading these verses for a Bible study when we lived back in Rock Rapids, Iowa. I was newly married and I definitely considered myself one of the "young women" in our group. I looked around at the gray haired ladies in our group and soaked in all they had to say about life, parenting, and marriage.

I still feel very much like that young, insecure girl quite often. I feel like everyone else knows what they're doing, but I'm just playing house. I still need to learn from ladies who are older than I am. They have so much to teach me.

This past Sunday I celebrated a special birthday. I turned (gulp) fifty! It was a nice day, full of cards and expressions of love from my friends and family. No big party or anything, but lots of little things to make the day special. 

Since then, though, I have found myself being startled by a random thought every once in a while. "My life is half over!" And then I think a little more and realize it's probably more than half over because not everyone makes it to 100 years old. That's sobering.

It doesn't depress me, but it does make me want to take stock of my life and make sure I'm doing what God has called me to do. I've been lots of places and accomplished quite a few things in my first fifty years, but I want to get more deliberate about accomplishing some more things on my bucket list before I kick the proverbial bucket.

I also realize that I'm one of the "older women" in those verses from Titus 2. I hope I'm encouraging younger women in their relationships even as I continue to learn from those older than me.

Whatever your age, you can keep learning from older Christians and look for younger people to encourage and teach. Don't stop until you drop!

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

How old are you? How old do you feel? How can focusing on God help you to "number your days aright" and do what He has planned for you? How can you encourage someone younger than you?