There is a Season for Everything: How to Achieve Work/Life Balance

With all of the demands in our lives from family, friends, employers, and our own expectations, we can drive ourselves crazy and increase our stress to dangerous levels trying to get everything done.

When my daughter was younger, she had a favorite cartoon called "The Power Puff Girls." They were three feisty adolescent super-heroes whose motto was "Saving the world before bedtime!" How many of us have unofficially adopted that motto? We should make the best use of our time a priority, but within reason. Sometimes there is just no way to accomplish in a single day everything that we have put on our "to do" list. And there are times when those things on our list are not high priority items anyway and can be moved to our "for a rainy day" list. I am not promoting procrastination, but flexibility.

All the time we have is all the time there is, and in order to achieve balance in our lives we must use it wisely. We should not waste it, but we should not jealously protect it, either.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven." (Eccl 3:1, NIV)

Solomon's wisdom recorded in Ecclesiastes 3 speaks about balance. By combining his further comments with those of Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount, we discover three vital components that are necessary in order to achieve balance:

1. Diligence - "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might" (Eccl 9:10, NIV). We should be giving 100% of ourselves in the home, on the job, in the community-wherever we are and whatever task we are doing.

2. Trust - "So do not worry saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' . . . your heavenly Father knows that you need them" (Matt 6:31-32, NIV). While we should have a healthy concern about providing for ourselves and our families, we need to offset that concern with trust in God, recognizing that He knows, understands, and delights in meeting the needs of His children.

3. Proper focus - "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you as well" (Matt 6:33, NIV). This goes hand-in-hand with the issue of trust. As we learn to trust God to meet our needs, we can stop focusing on those things and turn our focus to where it rightly belongs-on God.

By combining diligence with trust, and keeping a proper focus, we are then equipped to maintain balance. Here are seven practical ways to invite balance into your busy life:

1. Meet with God before your day begins.

2. Have a plan, but remain flexible.

3. Take care of yourself, allowing for proper rest, nutrition, and exercise.

4. Make family time a priority.

5. Devote your working hours to your employer.

6. Leave your family at home and your work at the office.

7. Take time out for friends and leisure activities.

If you need assistance in striking this balance, I invite you to contact me for a free initial consultation about what Christian life coaching can do for you.

Lynn Jacobs

www.lynnjacobs-christianlifecoach.com

lj@lynnjacobs-christianlifecoach.com

(615) 429-2078