Feeling Behind in Life
Every year at the top of the month in January I journey into my favorite store and I pick out a planner. This small annual ritual brings me joy because I like the feeling of promise that it holds. So, I take my time looking through the aisles and flipping through the pages until I finally land on the perfect one. Then I take it home and I start writing away...but this year was a little different.
Back in 2019 after going through a really challenging year, I decided that in 2020 I wouldn’t even bother with buying a new planner because it just didn’t seem like there would be much of a purpose in it. Then, A few weeks later around Christmas time, I received a package in the mail from a close friend. Some of my friends and I are known to give gifts to each other occasionally for the holidays. However, this wasn’t something that I was expecting and as I opened the gift and pulled it out of its packaging I was even more surprised when I discovered that it was a planner.
Not only that, but it was the exact style of planner that I loved. Since I hadn’t spoken to this friend in detail about my circumstances or my earlier decision, I knew that this wasn’t just a coincidence, but a nudge from God to keep dreaming. However, I wasn’t sure of what yet. At the time I didn’t really have any new prospects or ideas on my horizon, so I just decided to start writing down small tasks from my daily life. Things like cleaning and other chores that I needed to get done. Then, over time I started to notice that these small mundane things became little happinesses. I could finally understand that productivity, growth, and success didn’t have to look like big sweeping milestones. They could take place quietly in these small daily moments of accomplishment.
From this vantage point, that nagging feeling of being lost or behind in life began to come into better focus. I could understand that my life was not a destination to be achieved, but a continuous and unfolding story that could evolve at any moment. So my goal shouldn’t just be to look towards the next big thing but to steward what I already have well. This means that my time, opportunities, and resources are gifts that I should invest wisely into the areas of my life that really matter. So I don’t work aimlessly, or strive to reach goals out of selfish ambition. Instead, I live my life day by day with intentionality, flexibility, and purpose. In this way, productivity takes on a freeing new meaning because the focus is not just on how frequently or efficiently I make or do something, but on the quality of whatever it is that I am putting my efforts into.
The truth is that much of that feeling of being behind in life stems out of comparison. We are constantly being inundated with information about other people and their lives all of the time, while simultaneously being indoctrinated about the world’s standard of what we should find valuable. But in reality, we shouldn’t be looking to the world for value anyway, we should be looking towards someone far greater. In the Message Bible’s translation of the epistle to the Colossians chapter 3 verse 2 it says to,
“Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.”
When I look at my life through God’s lens I can understand that each season of my life is purposeful even when it doesn’t align with the world's standards or my expectations. So, I can live freely and walk with confidence as I march to the beat of my own God-given drum.
Egg Frittata Recipe
Ingredients:
3 Large eggs
Grape tomatoes
Any other vegetables you like
Chicken sausage ( optional)
2 tsp Olive oil
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then, while the oven is heating, cut up your vegetables and sausage and saute them together in a pan on the stove with a little olive oil.
Turn the heat down on the pan. Then, crack three eggs and stir them together. Next, pour the eggs over your sauteed vegetables and sausage and gently stir.
When the eggs are partially done, turn the heat off and place the pan into the oven.
Bake for 10 minutes.
When 10 minutes is up, take the pan out of the oven and enjoy your frittata!
Parts of this transcript were taken from a post that I had previously written and chose to expound upon. If you are interested in reading the original source post, click the link below!