What is the next step you are considering? Perhaps a new hobby, learning a new skill, or even a new element you are bringing to your job.
When change is in the air, and yet nothing seems to actually be happening yet, sometimes all that is necessary is the next step.
And do you know what that next step brings? Direction. Beautiful, simple, essential direction. Sometimes changes come all at once and other times they come in the way of many baby steps inching into the change. Either way, as long as we follow God’s lead, everything will come together perfectly.
Stretching and Growing
Perhaps you have felt in a bit of a lull lately. In between keeping up with life and all the things you’ve lost your ambition to discover new skills and hobbies. Let me encourage you to pause and reconsider where you are putting your time and efforts. There are definitely seasons that are fuller than others, but that shouldn’t be forever and for the rest of your life.
Pause and consider how you are spending your time. Self-discipline is vital in life and being disciplined with your time is important. Whether we’re talking about the time you spend working or the time you spending relaxing, are you being intentional? What are your work hours? Maybe they’re 7am to 4pm, or 9pm to 5pm. Whatever they are, are you prompt? Prompt to get to work and prompt to get on with other things?
It has really been impressed on me lately the reminder that people on their death bed never regret having not worked more. And of course, work is vital and important and terrific for character development. But working 24/7 is not going to make you more holy. God is a God of balance and rest. Of pause and hard work. Remember in Psalm 23 when He makes me lie down beside quiet waters? There is a beautiful balance to be found in life.
Now consider your time that you aren’t working. Are you using this time intentionally? It is fine if it is spent resting and pausing and relaxing – for a time. But you want to be intentional with this gift of time. Don’t get absorbed in scrolling aimlessly on your phone or binge watching show after show. We live for God, not for ourselves! It’s not wrong to watch a show or two, or even to scroll on our phone for a time, but be intentional about how long you spend on it.
Sometimes – maybe even often times – we feel like we don’t have any time around work because we don’t practice any discipline on how we spend this time. You will be amazed how, with a bit of intentionality, you can find the time to do some of those things you’ve always wanted to do!
Change Is In The Air
Sometimes it really seems that change is in the air, doesn’t it? Much in the way you can feel tension in a moment, I think I can feel change. And I guess one could argue that change is always in the air. Just some days I feel it more keenly than others.
Many people hate change and they’ll tell you that in an instant. But what if we reframed change to not have terrible connotations? What if the change was you stepping more fully into the person God created you to be? Perhaps learning skills or hobbies that help you better enjoy the here and now? Or maybe taking the next step towards working toward your dreams?
Change can basically be whatever you consider it to be. Dreadful and something to fear, or exciting and something to anticipate! The truth of the matter is, change is always on the horizon, but our attitude regarding it is completely up to us!
Self-Discipline and Courage
Two things have really been impressed on me lately, and I want to share them with you. The importance of self-discipline and courage. Courage is one of the most important skills you can cultivate and grow. It will help you in every area of your life, both business and personal. Courage is what helps you speak up for God when you otherwise might want to keep quiet and hide. It helps you accomplish the everyday tasks that the voice of fear may try to discourage.
Self-discipline will serve you in a variety of ways and help you create good foundations and healthy boundaries. Self-discipline is what gets you to work on time, helps you prioritize exercise and health over laziness, and inspires you to expand your skill set.
Together, self-discipline and courage will take you far. You will have the skill and the inspiration to live boldly and purposefully. As you go about your day, notice areas you already exercise these skills and rejoice. Also notice where your hang-ups are. Sometimes it is the smallest things that we let hold us back. I find this to be the case in my life personally and am really working on this!
I can’t help but think that realizing a new area to work on in our lives helps us take the next step. The next step of growing skills, the next step of realizing and formulating what our dreams actually are, the next step of stretching and growing and pursuing them.
Sometimes change comes in a big way all at once and other times it is waiting for us to take one simple step. Either way, it will be exciting to see where the next step leads!
Until Next Time!
Hope.