My good friend and fellow coach, Melissa Williams posted a great question on Facebook yesterday. She wrote, "It's Monday. What do you do to get started?" Most of us thought about it in terms of the Monday morning blahs, but it got me thinking beyond manic monday. (Yes, I know, I just dated myself, but doesn't that song sum up how many of us feel about Monday?)
We all have such busy lives with a lot going on - spouses, children, jobs, volunteer work, church - that it sometimes seems hard to keep your head up let alone swim to shore. It's like being caught in a riptide - those insidious undercurrents that can pull you far away from the beach.
But as anyone who has done lifeguard training will tell you, we can become exhausted just treading water. And if you try to swim against a riptide you will become exhausted even faster. Either way, you are in danger of drowning.
So what can you do to move forward? How do you get to shore?
To fight against a riptide, experts suggest swimming parallel to the shoreline. See, the good news is that riptides are usually small. It is pretty easy to get away from one if you keep calm and know what to do. If you do get tired, it is recommended that you rest by floating on your back rather than treading water.
If you are a good swimmer, this is not too difficult. And anyone can float on her back. The trick is to stay calm.
Isn't that also true of the hurly-burly we experience every day?
What riptides are there in your life, trying to pull you away from the shore of your goals? And how can you swim out of them?
Psalm 25:4 says, "Show me the path where I should walk, O Lord; point out the right road for me to follow."
The Lord knows what riptides are pulling at you. He knows about the volunteer coordinator who won't take no for an answer, the relative with the self-inflicted crises, the needy friend.
Can you give these over to Him? Can you identify a riptide that you need to swim away from? Remember, they are pretty easy to escape as long as you know what to do and you stay calm.
What can you do to move forward this week?
Smiles and Blessings,
Sharon
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About Me
- Sharon Newhardt
- San Antonio, Texas
- I am a certified life coach and would love to help you discover and live your life's purpose!
2 comments:
I loved the post-
I have been thinking similar thoughts myself. Really trying to find the shore and swim parallel to it-
Thanks for the thoughts-
Doreen
P.s. Check out my blog on Myspace-
I love this too. Lately I was helping a needy friend, loving her through a painful divorce, then realized I was being pulled into her pain. I was able by the grace of God to swim parallel in that, to the point that she now does not call me often, but we are still good friends, and she turns now to God in her pain.
But often my problem is I don't know which of the humps in the water is really the shore. There are so many, and often they seem the same color as a shore, but turn out to be just swells pulling me much further from the shore.
How I long to have a clearly defined Goal in Life, instead of all these little goals that don't work well together. I was not meant for multi-tasking, but to delve completely into one thing at a time and do it thoroughly. Yet I was given multiple talents, interests that I love.
I will pray for the Lighthouse to turn my way and call my name.
Thanks for sharing this!
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