Have you ever been stressed over buying a loved one a gift? Wondering: Will it fit? Will she like it? Is it the right color? Does she already have one? Is this too little? Too much?
For me, this used to happen every Christmas. I didn’t mean to get overwhelmed with the gift buying process. It’s not that my wife was super picky, needy or finicky. She didn’t have it all. For all intents and purposes, she should have been easy to buy for.
I think I know how I got this way, though.
Courage determines our potential. It is the dial of success.
My two oldest kids are taking piano lessons this year. Some pieces they learn are instant hits: learned quickly and played daily, they become the family anthem for a short while.
Then, there’s those other songs: Way too hard, Dad! I can’t do it! I won’t do it! This is so stupid! (…stomping away, slamming the door…).
Mom convinces them to come back, be brave, believe they can do it, work through the hard parts, practice makes perfect, over and over… it may be painful.
The Salvation Army has the coolest signal ever – the little bell. I don’t know if you have ever seen or heard the bells but they scream, “Look at me and give me some money!”
I was walking through a store that had a volunteer ringing the bell and asking for donations – I could not help but look and want to give. That little bell was all the signal I needed to hear and know what I needed to do, to know what they wanted me to do. Great communication!
As a leader and communicator,
We all have that one thing in life that seems to get the short end of the stick.
We have 24 hours to fit in healthy choices every day. Inevitably, doesn’t at least one thing seem to be put on the backburner?
I’m going to get personal here. For me, that one thing is my physical well-being. I really have to work hard at it. It seems like it is always the one thing that gets pushed aside for everything else. I also know it’s that one thing that I can’t ignore.
Can you relate?
Some say you can manage your time.
Can you really?
The answer is no.
Time moves on whether we like it or not, and we can’t control it. We can’t get it back.
What you can do is manage your priorities. Priorities are those things in life you consider worthy of your time and energy. Ultimately, it’s your priorities that will determine your success, joy and fulfillment.
Getting the most out of life requires good management of your priorities.
Ask the father about the value of that memorable weekend he spent with his daughter who sadly passed away just one short year later: how much was that weekend worth to him now?
