Personal Recipe

"I do not wish to expiate, but to live. My life is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much prefer that it should be of a lower strain, so it be genuine and equal, than that it should be glittering and unsteady. I wish it to be sound and sweet, and not to need diet and bleeding." 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Personal Recipe by Harley Schreiber

Think about the type of person you'd NEVER want to be 5 years from now. Write out your own personal recipe to prevent this from happening and commit to following it. "Thought is the seed to action."



I don't want to be the same person 5 years from now that I am today. I don't want to be  the kind of person who regrets choices (or not making choices, which is still a choice) and remaining stagnant. I don't want to be the kind of person who lives a yo-yo existence, or a necessarily exciting life. I don't need or want a bunch of ups and downs. Just sure, steady improvement is fine for me.

So, what is my recipe for the kind of life I want to have?

First and foremost, to involve God in every aspect of my life. This was another "ah-ha!" moment for me in church over the weekend. I spent a good deal of time working on my website over the weekend. Saturday, in particular, was a very productive day both website development and just taking care of things around the house.

But, I've been struggling with the website development. I don't know why. I guess I was still looking for my "voice" and trying to determine exactly what I wanted to say. Sunday it hit me. I was compartmentalizing my life and treating my business like a separate entity. As I sat in service, it dawned on me that I needed to pray over every communication and ask God what I should say. Every video I create needs to have God as the producer, director and editor.

I got so excited about the process, that I stayed up way too late (again) working on the first in a series of videos on God's promises.

In order to avoid a life of regret, I need to make sure I don't neglect the truly important things. I already have regrets about missed opportunities, and missed experiences... mostly simple, family related things. I don't really have any huge dreams. Maybe that's right, maybe that's wrong. I've always wanted a simple life, really. But one that is full of family, friends and relationships.

Yet, this is probably the weakest area in my life, and the area of greatest regret.

So many times I have put job, responsibilities and busyness ahead of family. I don't mean to do that. But I have an irritating habit of taking on too much. If I have free time, I seem to fill it. I take on another project rather than enjoying the precious free time that I have and choosing to spend it with family.

I have few face-to-face friends and more online friends. Not because I don't have the opportunity to make friends, but because I simply don't do it. I don't put myself out there. Often when I'm invited to go somewhere or do something, the many activities I have used to fill every nook and cranny of free time in my life prevent me from going.

Now, I've never been one of those who had to have a large group of friends. Still, having a couple of friends that I can hang out with, talk to, grab lunch or a cup of coffee with, would be a very good thing.

Simplify, simplify, simplify! This one phrase should be incorporated deeply into the fabric  of my life. Again, it seems to be the over-commitment that prevents me from gaining ground in a lot of these areas. It also tends to produce a lot of unnecessary drama in my life.

Because my life is so "full" and my schedule is so crowded, if anything goes wrong (or not according to plan) in my life, it tends to take on epic proportions in my mind and emotions, throwing me off track and obliterating any peace I may have managed to develop. Suddenly, my focus shifts from the successes I have had and plans I have made, to the failure that just occurred.

This loss of focus, if not corrected, then zaps my energy making it difficult for me to motivate myself to do anything, which starts a downward emotional and energy spiral.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." 

~ Isaiah 26:3

P.S. I did complete Day 26 (A Call to Arms), however, I didn't feel it was appropriate to post publicly.

#Trust30 Day 26