Absence of Pressure

When I"m counseling clients I find I"m often counseling myself; many of the issues being discussed are either things I've also experienced or are thinking about myself.

Lately I've been spending precious brain cells thinking about 'absence of pressure'.  How someone (meaning me) reacts when there's an absence of pressure in their life.

We have all longed for peace and quiet while in the midst of great stress; how we'll just take a nap or a vacation or a Xanax...

But what do we do when the pressure/stress/crisis is over?  After the nap, etc. etc.

Do we move forward in our lives, stretching ourselves and investing in positive activities, relationships and experiences?

Or do we...do nothing. 

I've begun to accept that I tend to be a do-nothing-er.  I have good intentions (during the pressure).  Once this is over I'm going to:

Visit the sick and elderly
Invite all my neighbors to church
Write the soldiers serving overseas
Volunteer
Increase my client load by marketing more effectively
Write another book
More public speaking (Toastmaster's?)
Invest more in my siblings, siblings-in-law, their spouses and children
Spend more quality time with my parents

But ashamedly, I admit there's little pressure and I've done none of the things listed above.

As I continue to pray and determine which comes first (the CHICKEN!) let me challenge you to do the same. 

I'm not referring to New Years' resolutions or personal goals here.  I'm talking about how to move forward in life with a useful attitude. Fully engaged.  Pushing yourself to talk to those you love on the phone.  Write an email. Get out of your zombie zone and live.

Gotta go now.  My brain cells are warming up and are bugging me to be taken out for a spin.

Quit Thinking and DO Something!

It seems I have spent most of my life trying to slow down.

By that I mean I've always spoken out of turn, made rash decisions, had major meltdowns that turned out to be based on emotion rather than fact.

It has kicked my backside time and again.

So much so that I've become a huge fan of taking a moment to stop, think, and pray before making a major (or even minor) decison.

That's cool and it's saved me from many angst-filled moments. I'm sure if I hadn't taken those breathers I'd have more regrets and been compelled to make amends alot.

But I've become aware of a problem that arises when we take too long to think about all the ins and outs of each situation:

Paralysis.

We tend to think that everything needs to be planned out to the ultimate degree before we make a single decision. By the time we write everything down, make multiple copies, bring it to our church care group, or talk to anyone we've ever met, the opportunity might well be gone. Or something else pushed its way into our thoughts and again, by the time we remember to think about it the chance has passed us by.

I think sometimes we demand a guarantee that everything we do will be successful and if we do everything right our lives will be perfect and problem free.

That takes away the risk, to be sure, but it also excludes the excitement and courage it takes to simply trust that God will take care of us.

I believe that we take ourselves too seriously sometimes; what makes me think that my worrying about an issue will make it go any easier?

Lately I've beome aware of how important it is to actually put action to our hopes and dreams. Like, if you dream of being a writer, write something. If you want to be a gardener, plant something. If you want to be an action hero, practice your alter ego and get exercise by wriggling into your tights in extremely small spaces.

How tragic it would be to look back on your life and think about all the hesitations and second-thoughts that caused paralysis and lack of contentment.

Quit thinking so hard and DO something!