RE-commit: Maximize what you DO have

By Vicki Norris –

I found a basket of pears in my garage a few weeks ago that I had forgotten about. I had picked them from the orchard and was letting them ripen in the basket. By that time, most were over-ripe and I was dealing with a mess.

It strikes me that – in life – many of us are left with a mess, not because we did the WRONG thing, but because we didn’t do ANYthing with what we DO have.

We often pick good things (like activities, groups, ideas, hobbies, educational opportunities) and put them in our basket. But then, those good things spoil if we do not put them to use for the purpose they were intended.

As an example, I have been in people’s offices over the last 14 years, I can’t tell you how many “conference manuals” I have found stashed on a shelf or buried in a pile under a desk. We go to workshops, take classes, listen to teachings.

We add, add, add to our life “basket” until it is burgeoning with good stuff.

But then, it composts if we don’t DO ANYTHING with it!

Early in our marriage, Trevor and I went camping with friends. The company turned sour and I was miserable. It was not a place for me. Trevor could tell I was a not having fun – the purpose for which we went – and he said “from now on, let’s not do anything that we don’t both agree to do.” I can’t tell you how much grief this has saved us over the years (we just celebrated 12 !)

Since then, there have been many times when Trevor and I have been asked, and even pressured sometimes, to join something or do something. Folks want us to get our kids into sports, people ask us to take classes, participate in groups, and lead things.

There was a time earlier in my life, where each time an offer came up, I was conflicted; I didn’t know what to do. I had to weigh the “pros” and “cons”. I didn’t know whether I should or shouldn’t do each thing. That was before I knew my purpose.

Now, in addition to not adding anything we BOTH don’t agree on, we now realize that each opportunity – however good – that we add to our “basket” must be aligned with our purpose, or else it will DIStract us from what we are meant to do and cause overwhelm in our lives.

And now, I would rather do LESS and do it WELL. It bugs me that our world is so flash-in-the-pan these days. We start stuff and then don’t finish it. We are excited, even pumped up for things, and then we fizzle when the Daily Grind returns.

There’s a great LACK of excellence in our culture today. Just look around – we’re all so acclimated for ease and speed these days – so the frantic name of the game seems to be “more, faster!”

There is often little reward for taking the thorough path. So, we get accustomed to shortcuts and “good enough.” But how our life suffers when we live like this! The result is empty promises, meaningless chatter, and over-commitment.

We’re slamming through life so fast. We don’t know our next-door-neighbors. We can’t stand to be made to wait (for anything). We roll our eyes and live with shallow stuff at the shallow end of life. (I know this is painful, but you know I’m right!)

(Hopefully YOU are one of the few that has broken out of this cycle and stepped through over-commitment & over-accumulation to a life of order and peace!!)

Why do we settle for this haphazard existence?

One reason is because we haven’t committed to the good stuff we’ve already been given.

Each of us has so much good seed inside. Our seed includes our gifts, our talents, and our ideas. Our seed is meant to be deposited while we are here so we can literally multiply our own greatness into the world.

Yet, we can so easily ignore what’s inside and the blessings around us because we’re living DIStracted lives.

Just like those rotting pears, we abandon the harvest we DO have in a restless search to ADD MORE to our lives.

So, my friends, what is the antidote for this DIStraction disease?

Recommitment.

It’s time to commit again to examine that which we have been given. To go back and look at what we’ve got.

Take a day off, or a little retreat, and it’s time to go treasure hunting!

Pull out those:

Books you’ve half –read
Conference manuals you’ve shelved
Ideas you’ve jotted down on notepads
Dream clips from magazines you’ve saved
Then take stock of:

Your home and property
Your work/business
Your health
Your finances and assets
You are looking for treasure. You are reconsidering all that you ALREADY HAVE and searching for the things that fill you with passion and make you want to leap out of bed each morning.

I know that this little newsletter will just be a start for you, but perhaps – I hope –  it will be the catalyst that gives you the oomph to TAKE BACK YOUR LIFE.

I want to help you END THE CYCLE OF MEANINGLESS ACCUMULATION – of stuff, of commitments, of the extraneous.

I want to help you dream again and enjoy the harvest of all you have been given. No more layers of accumulated “good things” that form a stale sediment in your space and mind.

In this treasure hunt, you will likely have to cut OUT some stuff so you can focus on maximizing the home, the business, the friendships, the assets that you DO have.

One thing is for sure: when you subtract with intentionality, you will end up adding meaning and peace to your life!!