My eyes are a little blurry and my throat feels tight. I feel my pulse quicken. The urge of feeling overwhelmed is slowly growing.
So many things on my list. So. Many. Things.
I am a sanguine. (No, that isn’t a personal insult.) My personality as a sanguine means I love interacting with people.
It also means that I sometimes suffer from what I like to call “Shiny Squirrel Syndrome.”
I like to do lots of things. Sometimes all at once. And often, the “bright and shiny” things distract me.
Like when I get the rare urge to clean house. When I tackle it in an organized manner room-by-room (thanks, administrative skills) I knock that puppy out in no time.
But when I let my shiny squirrel loose I can run around for hours, darting from one small task to the next that is right in front of me and catches my eye… And things never seem to get done or move forward.
So that is where we are today. Having the courageous faith to tame our shiny squirrels and focus.
I recently experienced this in a new and rather profound way. I had about 40 flip charts to make for a weekend retreat. The last time I made flip charts, I spread them out over about a week’s plus time. An hour here and there.
In my head, I was calculating an hour of flip-chart making per day for the next 5-8 days.
But for some reason, God said no. He told me to take some time to breathe then focus.
I was able to knock them ALL out in a matter of two long toddler nap times (and a little bit of “awake” time.)
The interesting thing was I found myself not rushing, not stressing and actually enjoying the experience of free-handing some sweet Mr. Sketch Smelly marker block letters on the clean white paper.
It was all because of the courage to focus.
Courage to focus can look different to different people (especially if you happen to NOT be a sanguine– like a choleric, phlegmatic or melancholy.)
Courageous focus can mean doing one thing REALLY well with 100% of your effort instead of a handful of tasks at a mediocre level.
Courageous focus is saying no to good things and only yes to God things.
Courageous focus making the conscious choice to work on One. Thing. At. A. Time.
Courageous focus is eliminating the extra distractions, like text messaging, Facebook or the like when something important is at hand.
Courageous focus is pushing pause on the Xbox when your spouse asks to talk with you.
Courageous focus getting down in the floor and having “hot tea” when your toddler invites you to do so.
Courageous focus is trusting God to direct your tasks instead of a vice versa.
Courageous focus is the moment when you opt for prayer closet time instead of working.
Courageous focus might occur on mile 16 of a long run when you smell/see the Domino’s pizza guy crossing the street.
What does courageous focus look like to you? Jump on in and leave a comment. I always love to hear from you.
And be encouraged to be courageous… To focus on Him.
Focusing on Him,
“Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions.” ~Proverbs 4:25 MSG
Linking up today with my friend Kristin over at Three-word Wednesday and having a little Coffee for your Heart with Holley. Oh! And be sure to join our #EverydayJesus link-up community right here at 7 Days Time every Thursday!
