Intentional Living
June 15, 2009 | Just thinking out loud, Knowing Christ
Every day I make a thousand decisions, and most of them are unimportant. Will I make lasagna tonight (yes)? What will I wear today (Sooner T-shirt, jeans, and sandals)? There are other decisions that seem just as simple, but carry a great deal more weight.
How will I respond to that remark? Will I laugh today? Will I turn away from you? Will I gossip, speak in anger, fight over things that really don’t matter? Will I be in a bad mood?
As the big 5-0 approaches, I realize that my life isn’t a whim. I can life live intentionally.
I don’t have to gossip. I can turn away that anger with kindness. I don’t have to lose my cool. I can say good things when I talk about my children. I don’t have to have my way every time.
Today Ryan came over for lunch and I laughed until I cried as he hoola-hooped on the Wii Fit. I wish I had a video to show you!
But, it wasn’t a laughing day. I’m under pressure to complete some deadlines. Bills are due. I realized a few minutes before that the huge stack of CDs I made yesterday to send out in the mail today were of my church choir singing instead of the writing workshop I thought I was copying.
I’m not even in the choir so I’m not sure what happened! It’s a mystery. Is it frustrating? Absolutely.
But life will go on. I can’t go back, so I’ll start over. Maybe I’ll even learn something.
But today I chose to laugh and life is so much better for it.
Intentional living isn’t ignoring the tasks or pressures or the emotions that make you want to karate chop someone in the throat, but it’s putting them in the proper perspective. It’s giving them less space in your life and relationships, and making more room for things like laughter, encouragement, spontaneity, peace, stability.
How do you live life intentionally? What gets in the way? What is one thing you can begin to do differently today?
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Mine is not to gossip-succumbing to the negativity of the day. I need to go with the flow, not have to change the world every day. … “making more room for things like laughter, encouragement, spontaneity, peace, stability.” I love these goals-thanks for sharing!
June 16th, 2009 at 7:16 pmThanks. I love this entry. I’m printing it and hanging where I can see it–daily–for a while.
June 22nd, 2009 at 6:59 pmI just ran across your blog from Encouragement from Today. I am enjoying reading your past entries and noticed in this one that you are a Sooner! My son is a sophomore at OU and a meteorology major. We have a new appreciation for the Sooners! Thanks for your wisdom about teenage girls, mine is almost 15. Words I needed to hear!
July 6th, 2009 at 9:37 am