“So Gene, how are you checking in?”
At the time, the question was kind of annoying. I had a lot of irons in the fire and was feeling pretty stretched and strung out.
“Like I’m heading a hundred miles an hour toward a brick wall.”
I often feel that way… like what I’m going for is too big for me.
And that is generally by design…
God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible—what a pity that we plan only the things we can do by ourselves. —A.W. TOZER
But sometimes too big is actually too much.
And sometimes we need help knowing the difference.
I was talking to my dad yesterday and shared that the next few weeks were really full, perhaps too full.
All he said was, “I hope everything you’re working on is worthwhile.”
Later in the day, as I was looking at that fire full of irons, what my dad said came back to me. Like a trigger.
I made a quick inventory of the opportunities over the next couple of weeks that seemed biggest. Strategy days. Specific MPD connections. Round table dinner experience. Finding and trying to buy two cars that would work for me and Sadie. Getting kids settled into school… three to college and three to middle school. Selling a hundred pounds of beef. Sending a prayer letter.
I took a good look at each of those opportunities individually in their current form. And then I looked at all of them together. It was clearly too much.
Every opportunity was important. Each deserved pursuing. But some were clearly more important than others and should be prioritized, like getting kids settled into school, finding a car for Sadie, the round table dinner experience, and a couple of the MPD connections. And I realized that strategy days should actually be completely reimagined. Some opportunities needed to be delegated and some simply cut loose.
What is worthwhile is what is most important.
Perhaps behind my dad’s triggering comment was the understanding that unless one is very, very clear on what is most important and very, very intentional, most of what one does is not worthwhile.
In prioritizing and reimagining came clarity.
Light began to shine on what was most important, like the sun breaking through tree limbs.
Photo by Dewang Gupta on Unsplash