Wake up at 6 A.M., make coffee, iron work clothes, let the dog out, rush to work. Come home, make dinner, do bills, and prepare for bed. No time for anything — too busy — must complete my overloading daily chores.
Next Day: wake up and do it all over again.
If we can all be honest with ourselves, we all tend to get in this strict routine where we like nothing to be altered. Everything has to be just right. We have our schedule planned out that reads: Me, Myself, and I. And a good ideal day is where everything goes smoothly and unfolds just as we hoped it would.
We get this cookie-cutter-schedule that’s structured to be just as we want it and just how we like it. Because maybe we have an area in our life where there is this dark void in our heart. Or perhaps we are desperately yearning and craving for that beam of happiness life. So in the midnight hour, we lie there torturously replaying in our minds the same schedule that we feel trapped in everyday. We think that if nothing gets in our way of a picture perfect schedule we find a sense of control — even in the midst of an overwhelming, frantic life. So we keep on with business as usual, where we allow the pressure of life to take dominion and authority over our lives.
So this leads me to ask, do you take it for granted?
Do you take it for granted to say the forgotten three-letter-phrase “I love you” to the ones closest to you? Do you take showing your token of appreciation of those you love for granted? Never take the ones that are closest to you for granted. Tell them you love them, appreciate them, and need them. When they are talking to you, don’t scroll through Facebook or Instagram — give them your undivided attention and time. Do they feel valued or unappreciated? Make sure you are always being aware of the way you make people feel while they are in your presence.
Never live a life with words that were left unspoken. When you allow your full schedule to become your top priority in life, by neglecting your loved ones, you allow those defining moments in life to pass right on by you. The moments where memories are being made. Life can become so fast-paced that we don’t even realize that we are taking it for granted. We can actually have a life without even really living. So are you really living, or just merely existing? Because the people we are around the most, we cannot even know them at all.
Do you make time to stop at the convenient store to tell someone about the Gospel? Or do get caught up in the busyness or work of your daily life? Sometimes all it takes is saying a simple word that is hard to say for so many: no. Just saying “no” to working the extra shift at work or doing those few extra chores, and spending quality time with friends and family.
Remember to be openly mindful on how you react to life’s stressors. Do you take time to sincerely pray on your knees with your spouse and have devotions with your family? Make sure when you are in the presence of others (even in the comfort of your own home) that your presence is welcoming and pleasant. Embrace the beauty of life and do not take it so easily for granted.
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline” {II Timothy 1:7 NIV}
Practice having a positive attitude and perspective on life. The type of words that you speak in your everyday life will shape that types of relationships you choose to create. Ask yourself if they way you speak is affecting others in a positive or negative way. Choose to live an intentional life that lives outside the cookie-cutter-schedule and the “business as usual” mentality. Do not take a purposeful life for granted. Don’t just strive to exist — thrive!
Then ask yourself: Do I take my life for granted?