Skip to main content

You Do Not Have to React

                 Someone once asked Wayne Gretzky what made him such a good hockey player and he said, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been”. 

                I like that quote because it speaks about making good decisions and being intentional rather than being reactionary.  That has been a hard lesson for me to learn.

                For most of my life, I have lived in a reactionary mode.  When people would come to me with a request or a demand, I would often drop everything and do what they wanted me to do.  If someone was upset about something, I felt pressured to try to solve their problem, or at least be equally as upset as they were, whether I cared or not. 

                The problem with living a reactionary life is that you spend your time focused on what is urgent rather than what is important.  When you are being reactionary, you will choose the quickest and most pain-free solution, because the goal is to calm things down as quickly as possible. Therefore, you never see past this moment and this immediate issue.

                On the other hand, when you are being intentional and choosing the best answers rather than just the easiest ones, new opportunities become available.   Living intentionally allows us to focus on our real priorities.

                This reminder is even more important right now.  People are upset, on edge, and worn out.  Social media is a firestorm of reactivity.  However, you do not need to be dragged into the drama.  You do not need to be pushed around by everyone’s opinion. 

                Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the one who does not walk in the way of the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither”.  Blessings come when we spent our time on the right things.

                There are times when you must respond to people’s needs, but you cannot constantly live that way.

                Keep the big picture in mind and focus on what is most important!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This.... Which Way Are You Leaning?

   When Ben Patterson agreed to join three friends climbing Mount Lyell, the highest point in Yosemite National Park, he did not realize what he was signing up for.  Early in the day, it became clear that he was completely unprepared for the task.  In an effort to keep up with his more experienced friends, Ben took a shortcut.  It did not occur to him that there might be a reason the others had not selected this route, but he soon found out why.  Ben became stuck on the glacier.  He could not move up, down or sideways and one wrong move would send him sliding down a forty-five-degree slope to the valley floor miles below.   That is when one of his friends came to the rescue. His buddy leaned over the edge and carved some footholds in the ice.  He told Ben to step to the first foothold and immediately swing his other foot to the second, then his buddy would pull him to safety.  Lastly, his friend gave him one more piece of advice....
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: The Biggest Problem Is Not Out There!

In a time when everyone has a vocal opinion on everything and judgment is everywhere, maybe we need to reconsider the words of Jesus. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5).  Here are two observations to consider. First, when we look for what others are doing wrong, we are starting in the wrong place.  “Take the log out of your eye” is the first move.  Start with yourself!  It is easy to judge others and make excuses for ourselves.  Yet, that is completely backwards! If we are honest, we never get past making ourselves better.  There is always more to do.  This, then, leaves very little time to point out...
Post a Comment
Read more