One guy's thoughts on life, love, faith and his world

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Tasks, Elephants and Lunches

Have you ever felt like you know a task must be tackled, but you’re just not sure where to begin?

Maybe the task is a big one – an important presentation at work say.  Perhaps it is not as big but still needs to get done, like mowing the lawn.  The task could even be a necessary evil such as making lunches for your children so they can eat at school the next day (making lunches – the bane of my existence).

The situation can get murkier when multiple tasks need to get accomplished.  The circumstances can get even more daunting when you don’t know where one starts and the other ends.  Before you know it, your head feels like it is going to explode! It begs the question…

How does one eat an elephant?!?!

The simple answer – one bite at a time.

We, as human beings, have the uncanny ability to make ourselves feel bad about ourselves when we don’t get everything done RIGHTNOW.  Part of it is societal nature with a never-ending news cycle, part of it is the constant demand of social media posts and buzzing phones, but I’d venture to say most of it is just human nature – people being people.

To keep our heads from spinning constantly, it is imperative to find time to take a break every so often.  And if we can’t find time to take a break, we must make time to rest.  Even the good Lord rested when He created the universe and well, if it is good enough for Him then it is for sure good enough for us.

Be careful not to confuse peace with boredom lest that guilty feeling of not getting everything done can quickly creep back in.  We have heard all of them before - “Stop and smell the roses”; “Life is a journey, not a destination”; “Take a step back”.  There’s a reason people came up with quotes like this.

So, don’t forget to take a break occasionally.  Find joy in both the little and big things.  We only get one shot at life and not only is it important, it is healthy.

Besides, that’s what they make lunch money for.