Okay – I’m burning the candle at both ends and right now, my life is the perfect storm of events all coming together to cause an extreme work overload. A new client, drastic increases in workload at several existing clients and normal obligations of life have all conspired against me. One of the things that I have noticed about all this is that I don’t want to let anyone down. In fact, you can say that I am not holding my ego boundaries. In other words, rather than, in the words of Nancy Reagan, “just say no” I have taken on more and more responsibility and that just has to stop. It’s time that I back off a little – before it’s too late to recognize my human limitations.
I guess I think I could keep this up for several months, but the truth is that I can’t. I am way past a healthy work limit. One of the things that I learn about myself during these times is that there is a point of diminishing returns. When you are just dog tired but try to keep going, the quality of the work diminishes and very little gets done. I am far better off stopping for the evening and waiting to continue in the morning. And even then, I just can’t keep up the pace I used to maintain.
One of the guys I work with is a very special person. I don’t even come close to working the number of hours he works and in all honesty, I don’t know how he does it. But I’m no spring chicken any longer and there is such a thing as life balance. So I am sure the difficult decision is right around the corner of ways that I can recalibrate my life and not lose myself in the process. The last thing I want to do is to disappoint any of the clients I have.
One of the things that it is important to remember is that I, like you, have been created by God. Ironically, I was standing in the cafeteria this afternoon when an elderly man – who had served in the armed forces of the United States – walked through the line and was getting lunch with his wife. As he neared the register to get his ticket, the cashier asked him how he was. His response? Simple, and concise. He said, “I’ve been blessed by the best.”
I was somewhat puzzled by his response. But I was thinking in human terms. When he said, “the best”, I was trying to think of a person, not God. Then it dawned on me that God is the best – of everything. A smile crept across my face as I realized the magnitude of what he had just said. “Blessed by the best” – how simple, and yet how eloquent. I need to remember that. And you know what? It couldn’t come at a better time in my life.
So rather than write for another 15 minutes, I think I will use that time to kick back and relax just a little. The verse for tonight is from Ephesians 1:3, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” My encouragement this evening is that God has blessed you also. And that means that you have a special place in His heart. My prayer is that you will do a better job managing your time and your blessing than I’m doing right now. So, time to do a better job. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…