disaster

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My Night Stand Is A Disaster Right Now

This morning I took a look at my night stand and saw it for what it truly has become.

my night stand is a disaster

The bottom line is that my night stand has become a place to put things, like an open drawer where nothing is hidden away.

I don’t even really know how it got this way. 

I remember clearing my night stand at Christmas time. It seems that I accumulate things around Christmas – things like receipts from purchases and small stocking stuffer trinkets that have no other home. 

I get to the place where I just want to wipe everything off the stand and start over. 

On the stand I have a lamp and a clock – they belong there – but then there’s all the clutter. 

I think it gets that way because the night stand is viewed as a temporary place to put things, like my wallet, keys or glasses that only stay there for the night – not forever, just for right now. 

The only problem with that kind of thinking is that “for right now” becomes forever … well, until you get sick and tired of the clutter and wipe it clean and start over. 

Part of the problem is that the things on my night stand don’t have a permanent place. They get there because I don’t know where to put them and I might need them again. 

Right now I have several receipts lying on it. I put them there because I didn’t want to throw them out yet. Some of them have been there a long time. I don’t need them any longer; it’s just that I haven’t got around to trashing them. 

I do have an envelope there for gas receipts. I need to collect them for income tax purposes. The envelope is on my night stand to remind me to put the receipts in it. 

I can be one of those out-of-sight-out-of-mind kind of guys so the visual is a reminder. But it sure adds to the clutter. 

I also have a few masks piled on the corner of the night stand. That’s a new thing. When they get washed I put them there because I have easy access to them. I don’t know where to put them either.

And that is probably my biggest problem with the things that are cluttering and taking over my night stand. I don’t know what to do with them. They have no other place to go so they become like a layer of dust on the stand. The dust could be wiped away but it just lays there for a while. 

Well, it’s been long enough. Today I’m going to throw out, put away or find a home for the myriad of things that have cluttered my night stand.

Ha, then I will actually see the layer of dust and be able to wipe it off. 

Here’s the thing: Just like a night stand can become cluttered with things that shouldn’t be there, that we should get rid of or place somewhere else, our lives can get cluttered with things that shouldn’t be there, that we need to deal with and settle. Every once in a while, it’s good to think through the things that are cluttering your life and do something about it. Ask God what needs to go and what needs to be dealt with. Usually the clutter in your life will get in the way of developing your relationship with God. Take some time to clear off the clutter. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What’s cluttering up your life right now? Leave your comments and questions below. 

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Hesitation Can Lead You To Disaster

They say that caution is a friend, but I just saw how hesitation can lead to great disaster.

Hesitation can lead you to disaster

Sometimes you miss out when you hesitate … 

When you get a hot tip regarding the stock market, if you snooze, you lose.

When a store has a one day sale on something you have really wanted, but you question whether it is the right time for you to purchase it, that little hesitation could cost you getting in on that sale. 

I’ve noticed when you want to walk across certain traffic intersections, if you don’t start walking right away, an orange hand sign starts flashing. Your hesitation on the walk sign could mean you spend the better part of a day just trying to get across the street. 

The other day my wife, Lily, and I were in our car heading down the street to an appointment. 

Up ahead a squirrel dashed out to cross the road as we kept moving towards it. The little rodent stopped about half way across the road and looked back at us. He could see our car was bearing down on him. 

He continued to cross but then hesitated and stopped. He started to dash back the way he came when we were almost upon him. He stopped again, then ran for the other side. 

It was such a close call that I looked in the rearview mirror to see if there was a dark splat on the road. 

Somehow – and to be honest, I don’t know how – he didn’t get run over. 

So the play-by-play went something like this: “Look a squirrel is running across the street; wait now he’s stopped. Okay, he’s going to keep going. No, he’s stopped again. Now he’s going back; but wait, he’s stopped again. He’s going to cross the street. Did we get him? I don’t see any marks.” 

I am sure, in that one afternoon, that squirrel went from being a young squirrel to being an old senior who no longer crosses the road without help. Years were taken off that wild little critter’s life in a flash. 

Both Lily and I could not believe we didn’t run him over. We must have missed him by inches, maybe even just a fraction of an inch. 

He would not have had any issues getting across the street if he had have just gone straight across. It was his hesitation that got him into trouble. 

And even his first hesitation may not have been that scary, but three times he stopped moving and considered going the other way. … The fast moving tires and the evil grin of the car’s grill probably had him in a complete panic. 

That squirrel was not the only one of his kind to find himself in that kind of a situation. Squirrels are notorious for their hesitation. 

That is why many of them live on the edge of disaster all the time. 

Here’s the thing: Hesitation is not our friend when we face temptation. When confronted with something that is enticing us into a poor decision, a sin of some kind, hesitation causes us to flirt with disaster. When temptation comes, don’t hesitate. Know the right course of action and take it immediately to avoid potential disaster.

That’s life!

Paul

Question: In what area(s) of your life do you tend to hesitate? Leave your comments and questions below.

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It’s A Disaster When I’m Not Focused

Some people are naturally more focused than others, but focus is important for everyone.

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When you’re focused, you get more done in less time; you rid yourself of distractions. When you’re focused, the main things seem to be clearer in your mind.

But it’s not always easy to be focused. There are times – especially when we are tired – that we just can’t focus on any one thing.

I had that experience a week ago when I was working with a committee to write a report. We had worked for many hours on the contents and finally we were consolidating and tuning all our expressions into a concise, articulate document.

After a couple of hours, I couldn’t concentrate on the point we were dealing with. All I could think of was closing my eyes, that there was time the next day to finish our task.

A few days ago, I also had a moment when I had to talk myself into getting focused. I was trying to throw a crumpled piece of paper into a garbage basket from about eleven feet away (okay, I measured the distance later).

I missed three times: to the left, to the right, and then short. Each time I thought I would make the shot, but it wasn’t until I really trained my sights on the back of the basket that I drained it.

I had to tell my eyes what to lock onto, instead of looking in the general direction. When I locked my focus on the back of the garbage basket, I put it in … and to prove it wasn’t a fluke, I did it five more times in a row after that.

When I think of focus, I think of a magnifying glass and the sun. When you get the sun to shine through the magnifier until the light draws together to form a ray that is so intense and powerful that you can start a fire, that’s focus.

When I focus on a golf ball, I will hit it squarely centred on the club face. When my focus is not trained on the ball, I will miss the centre ever so slightly and the ball will not travel as far.

In my office, first thing in the morning, if I get out my study tools and start reading, I focus on my task undistracted.

If, however, I open up my email, my focus is lost to find out who wants my attention. My mind is flooded with added thoughts, concerns, and demands that were not there before I looked at my email.

My intent, my focus is no longer laser-like; it’s not going to burn a hole through any paper.

The trick is eliminating things that distract, that widen our view and keep us from locking onto our target with pinpoint accuracy.

Here’s the thing: When it comes to focusing on God, the best time to focus is before you have any other commitment or distraction on your mind. That’s why I like the early morning, before I look at or do anything else. That’s when it’s easiest to focus on my mind on God. And if I happen to wake up with something else on my mind, I simply determine a later time when I will deal with it, so I can lay it aside for the time being.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do to focus your attention? Leave your comments below.

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My Goal Setting Disaster

There is something about the beginning of a new year that sparks an urge in many of us to set goals or think of plans for the months ahead. New Year’s resolutions are at the top of people’s minds, with dreams of what the coming year will bring, and an anticipation of making those dreams come true.

For the last few years I’ve been following a plan to set my goals. I’m not naturally a goal setter; on my own, I’m more spur of the moment, but since that doesn’t jive with my world, I force myself to plan.

However, this year I’m having an issue right out of the gate. I’ve decided not to purchase the plan I’d been following in recent years; instead I’m going to try to set my goals with the materials I already have and the process I’m now familiar with.

The problem with that is it is now up to me to get going. I don’t have email reminders and links to motivational videos that press me into making time to get my goals down on paper in a manner that is realistic but challenging for the year.

Having a coach or trainer who encourages me to get going and to follow through has helped in the past, but this year I have to be coach, trainer and student.

I can do it, but there are times I feel a little schizophrenic, or like I’m having conversations with another part of myself – like the guy in the old movie, Taxi Driver. He stood in front of a mirror and started talking to his reflection, saying “Who are you looking at? You looking at me?”

I know I can get past this, and move myself on to set goals this year, but the other problem is time.

I’ve had a very busy Christmas season this year. Yes, I called it a “season” because, for me, there is about a six week span that is pretty much completely focused on Christmas.

I really haven’t had any down time to make room for setting goals. Normally there is a bit of a lull between Christmas and the first few days of January before it’s back to the regular pace.

I didn’t get that lull this year.

To do my goal setting the way I’ve been doing it the last few years, I need about thirty minutes each day for five days to pull it all together.

I’m not seeing that time this next week, and I’m away for most of the week after that.

It might not be until the end of January that I have the time to clear sufficient space in my life to set some goals. I don’t really like that plan, but it might be my only option.

On the other hand, though I feel overloaded, and like I don’t have a window of time to set my goals, I really only need thirty minutes a day. I should be able to squeeze thirty minutes into the next five days if I make it a goal.

Look, I’ve already set one goal!

Here’s the thing: The beginning of a year is a great time to make commitments of how you want to grow in your relationship with Christ for the coming year. It’s easy to put off; it’s easy to think it’s too late. But the best thing to do is decide right now when you will make your spiritual growth commitment for this year and then keep that date.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you find hardest about setting goals? Leave your comment below.