Jenn's Mid-Life Purpose

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to SCHEDULE your priorities.” Stephen R. Covey

 

It’s been quite some time since I wrote last and there is a good reason for it.  I have been emerged in living life to its fullest, and all my time and energy has been dedicated to family, church, community, friends and philanthropy these past few months.  I am learning what its like to explore, discover and live in my purpose.  But at the same time I am acquiring a busy life all over again, with distractions and weariness, while being tugged in different directions assembling competing priorities and endless deadlines.  I have also absorbed in what we call “Daytimer’s Syndrome”, which consists of submitting your rhythm to the day to day never ending To Do list.  It’s a type of fixation that detains you under water so that you are unaware of the mission.  So that you neglect the vision and grow paralyzed to your purpose.

 

In the last six months God has blessed me with an amazing opportunity to be still with Him.  To absorb new revelations about myself — to clench onto the things that are virtuous and to cleanse myself from the things that are careless. To set myself apart and master dependency on Him.  To self-explore and discover my gifts and talents.  To walk in Faith and fasten the divine connections along the way.  To welcome new people into my life and uncover their place along my journey.  To have time to be present and available to those that matter most.  To gain more wisdom and learn new things.  To appreciate the resources God has given me.  To treasure and utilize what I already have instead of anticipating what I don’t.  And after months of embracing this new LIFE — this new ME, it ended up looking like this:

 

Monday – Personal Business Day – this is a day where I go through my personal To Do List and execute on all items on my checklist concerning kids school, finances, mail, bills, etc.

Tuesday – Bible Study Prep, Coaching Prep, Life Coaching Lecture/Assignment & Family Devotional Nights – I prepped for bible study, coaching sessions, listened to my lecture and submitted my assignments on Wednesdays, and led family devotional time in the evening.

Wednesday – Coaching Meetings & Bible Study Nights – In the day time I met with people that I am coaching (probono) and then lead bible study at nights.

Thursday – Community Based Organization Action Items, Life Coaching Lecture/Assignment & Youth Nights – this is the day I focused on the philanthropy work I am doing and executed on outstanding action items and projects.  At night I would volunteer with the youth in underserved communities.

Friday – Business Planning/Execution, Life Coaching Lecture/Assignment & Youth Nights – this is the day I focused on my business launch and worked with my own coach.  At night I would volunteer with the youth in underserved communities.

*This is in addition to driving kids to school in the morning, personal devotional time with God when I get home, and being on the road from 3pm – 5:30pm picking kids up and dropping kids off in the afternoon.  It also does not include time to make dinner for the family.  So the time I had to work on the priorities listed on my calendar was literally 3-4 hours a day when there were no distractions.  That may seem like a-lot but that is less than 1% of my available hours in a day.  

 

Yes!  I am living life right?  And from the days I have been having it seems like I am focused and prioritizing the right things in my life.  I am in the middle of getting my Life Coaching diploma with 3 lectures, 3 assignments and a quiz every week.  I am also working with a Life Business coach to launch my business.  My daughter started competing in volleyball and the youth’s dance project is now demanding more time in the streets.  I spent the last several months going to volleyball tournaments, serving on a woman’s courageous retreat committee, organizing and facilitating at-risk youth events, and helping friends with graduations.  But yet there was STILL something missing.

 

It is now June and I had a goal, vision and mission in mind and it was in alignment with my purpose.  There were some milestones that should have been accomplished in March but didn’t.  And I am sitting here once again feeling overwhelmed and unfulfilled.  I have been so consumed with the day to day tasks at hand that I forgot to lift my head up to focus and prioritize the mission.  I squeezed everything in a single day and didn’t perform half of what I intended.  I forgot to allow God to lead so that I may bare fruit according to the vision.  I failed to flex my day to day schedule so that God could introduce NEW things in me and out of me.  He has given me very specific projects to work on and I have danced around them for a while now.  I have left things un-done and my spirit is starting to stir . . . once again.  

 

A few distractions that have been consuming my time:

1. Fear – I have been consumed with class lectures and assignments because I am focused on getting my credentials.  But I have not considered that God has anointed me in this gift and has equipped me with all that I need and more already.

2. Procrastination – God has ushered people in my life and He has revealed projects to work on but I have not had the capacity to engage because I have been prioritizing other activities

3. Complacency – I have been too comfortable with taking care of myself and my family’s desires that I forgot to challenge myself to expand

 

Does any of this sound familiar to you?

 

You will sense you are not on the right path when your fire starts to burn out and when God doesn’t open any more doors.  That’s when it is time to Re-BOOT and BREAK Routine (Week 1 of mymidlifepurpose).  So I have decided to take a 3 day retreat away from family and away from all distractions where I can re-align and center myself in the Lord.  I will surrender my overly crowded days, calendar, schedules, projects and To Do List and I will invite Him to prioritize the 3 assignments he wants me to serve.  When I vacate my personal retreat, I will have a launch plan, I will catch up on my business coaching modules and I will have a Re-BOOTED calendar that will reflect God’s assignments and His kingdom work.  I already know and feel in my heart what He wants me to say No to and what He wants me to say Yes to.  The feeling is familiar.  I have been here before.  But before I write it out and plan my days around it, I will ensure I am aligning the desires of my heart with His.  I feel that God is going to be doing some amazing things the second half of 2018 and I can’t wait to immerse in it!

 

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  Matthew 6:33

 

Life is a steadfast battle of re-organizing, re-prioritizing and re-storing.  Just when we think we have it figured out, BOOM life throws a curve ball and we are not sure how we got there.  In times like this it is crucial that we accept reality.  We must face the truth about our circumstances and about how we feel and address it.  Stand up to it!  THIS is where vital growth occurs!  THIS is where we assimilate new things about ourselves.  THIS is where we draw back to the only one who can make us whole again.  This is life!  And the only one who is going to ensure that we are on the right track, focusing on the right things, and in the right time, is ourselves.  We must live aware, awakened, equipped and enabled, to endure and recover from life’s distractions.  Is it time for you to make a life re-BOOT?  You don’t have to do it alone.

 

“But test everything; hold fast what is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21

 

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