Thursday, March 24, 2016

Wasted Opportunities

I've been getting ready for the Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Sunrise services.and Easter Sunday services.  I sometimes wonder in these busy days how I can be a better manager of my time.  Andy Stanley's series Time of Your Life (which I have been lifting up here these past few days) has some really good things to offer in response to this concern in his third of five installments.  He talks about compounding minutes.  

He suggests three things about time that we already know but we tend to ignore that you wish you hadn't ignored.  Here is his first point: there is cumulative value to investing small amounts of time in certain activities over a long period.  Just give certain things a little bit of time pays off a big dividend in the long run.  Whether it is taking time with family, spouse, physical fitness, practiving any sport of musical instrument matters.  It matters deeply when we invest small periods of time in worthwhile things.  I read somewhere that in order to change a behavior pattern someone has to do the thing that he or she wants to change over 21 days before it takes hold.  So little investments of time make a difference.

Stanley's second point is neglect is cumulative as well.  If you don't pay attention to some aspect of your life over the course of time, the effect from that neglect makes a negative impact on your life.  We cannot ignore the important things of our lives and expect those areas to flourish and be dynamic.  Not doing so can be hazardous to your health, well being, spiritual growth and 

His final point: there is no cumulative value to the random things we opt for over the important things.  When we add up the wasted efforts over the things that we could have been doing, they add up to zip as far as value is concerned.  The key is the random things.  It's fine to be spontaneous, but sometimes we need to be more intentional and plan to use our time much more wisely.

He stresses that we need to make the most of every opportunity with our time.  

Take a look at how Andy Stanley phrases this entire concern:


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