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photo by:  Robert van der Steeg

“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least. “ ~ Goethe

The clock is ticking.  It still is.  Time doesn’t stop.  You only have a limited amount of time that you live on this earth.

As you close your eyes tonight - this very night - another day will have ended.  Will you look back at the day fulfilled - satisfied with how you spent your time?  If you were to write down all the things you did or all the ways you spent your time what would it reflect?

What/who is important to you?  Have you spent your time doing those things or with those people? -  or were you instead doing things that were screaming for your attention, but weren’t really important at all?

If you have been doing those things that are important or spending your time with those who are important to you HOW have you spent that time or HOW have you treated those people?  Does it reflect what is really important?

Things scream for our attention at all times.  Are they important?  Think about that.  Ponder…..   Are they really deep down important or do they just seem important?

Ways we spend our time:

* There are things we can be doing with our time that have no meaning or importance whatsoever.  They are simply time wasters.  They can even be enjoyable (they may not be.), but they ARE time wasters.  Nothing else can really be said about them.  If we were to really stop and think we would know what they are……  Go ahead.

* There are things we can be doing with our time that are problems or crisis that must be resolved now.  They are clock1urgent.  They are important.  They have to be taken care of.

* There are things we can be doing with our time that are urgent and seem important, but may not be important at all.  They can be very tricky.  They MAY even be good things to do - even really good things, but they are not as good as the BEST things we could be doing with our time - the MOST important.

* And then there are things we can be doing with our time that are not urgent at all, but are important.  This is where most people do NOT spend their time, but where only REAL satisfaction lies.  This is where long term results are found.  It is about tending to the eternal side of us - the side that lives forever.  It is about people - relationship building.  It is about planning the things that are most important and doing them.  Other activities can give us a temporary sense of satisfaction - they make us feel good for the moment, but then…… the emptiness sets in.  It is real.  It is deep.  There is no denying it - if we are truly honest with ourselves.  There is no escaping it.  Or is there?  What if…  just

what if….

We learned to say NO?

What if we said NO to the time wasters?  What if we said NO to the good?  - What??? - You must think I’m crazy now.  What if we said NO to the really good?  - so that we could say YES to the BEST - to the IMPORTANT - the MOST IMPORTANT?  What would your life be like?  How would it change?

Your turn:

What/who do you want to say YES to?  What/who WILL you say YES to?

What/who MUST you say NO to in order to say YES?  What/who WILL you say NO to?

Now close your eyes.  Picture what your life will look like with all the YESes and NO’s in place.

clock2Will you join with me in committing to not letting the most important things suffer at the expense of the less important things?

Remember when you say YES to something you are also saying NO to something else.  When you say NO to something you are also saying YES to something else.  Take some time now to write down what you WILL say YES and NO to?

* Note:  This post is inspired by life mixed with information from Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and First Things First.