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Boy do some of you ever have a keen sense of humour. After baring my soul to you last weekend about living the next 30 days as if they are my last, I have received comments and humourous barbs everywhere I‘ve gone. The most memorable took place while out for my run on the Greenway. One gentleman looked at me and said, “Last day of your life and you‘re spending it RUNNING???” After a few more kilometres had passed I thought he made a good point. One of the first things I‘ve noticed during this 30-day experiment is that it has challenged some of my frequently used phrases. Previously, I hadn‘t noticed how often I speak of getting the maximum out of my life at some point in the future. One of my favourite phrases that betrays that kind of attitude is, “When my ship comes in.” Describing something I‘d like to do but can‘t afford I‘ll often say, “When my ship comes in, I‘ll do this or that.” However, if I am living as if I only have 30 days, I can‘t afford to wait for my ship to dock. Author Kerry Shook calls this the Someday Syndrome. Rick Warren calls it When and Then thinking. Others have described it as the If Only mindset. Believing I don‘t have the right set of circumstances today, I put off doing what I really want to do and often believe I am called to do. This exercise is confronting that way of thinking. A second impact of the experiment is that it is providing significant focus. Shook references business author Richard Koch and his book The 80/20 Principle. The underlying thesis of this principle is that for most businesses, 20 per cent of their activity produces 80 per cent of their results. Koch suspects it‘s also true for individuals. “Twenty per cent of what you do in your life produces 80 per cent of your results. Twenty per cent of what you do produces 80 per cent of your happiness. Twenty per cent of the people you hang around with produce 80 per cent of the joy in your relationships.” Consequently, if I have only 30 days to live, I need to prune the 80 per cent that is wasted time. This is causing no small amount of disequilibrium as I attempt to discern which of my activities fit in which category. A final result from this first week of the exercise has to do with passion. I compare it to the sense of urgency in a hockey game when the Rockets are down one goal and pull the goaltender for the final 60 seconds. No one holds anything back when the time line is short and the results matter. I‘ve been nudged to consider people who have chosen early on to live their lives this way. David chose to take on Goliath rather than play safe and let him continue to intimidate the entire nation. Queen Esther risked her life to save her people from torture, uttering the famous phrase, “I‘ll do it and if I perish, I perish.” Imagine possessing that level of clarity. I‘ve been convinced during this first week to pour myself more fully into those areas where I genuinely make a difference and to let other areas fall by the wayside. These are the early results this exercise is producing in my life. How about you? - Tim Schroeder is a pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in Kelowna and chaplain to the Kelowna Rockets and Kelowna fire department. His column appears each Sunday in eVent. Top of Page |
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September 7, 2010, 5:47 am |