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Making the Most of Your Time

October 21, 2007

 Hey,

As I sat in my bed meditating about life in general on this wonderful autumn
Sunday morning, I was impressed with the shortness of life itself. I have
sketched out what the next 10 years of my life should look like if we keep going
with the lifestyle we currently have so I can keep vision before me. I’ve listed
the children and how old they will be so that I can get a picture in my mind
that the way things are now won’t be this way for long.

Soon I will have a few more young adults in the house and less little
people. That saddens me because I would keep a house full of little people
forever if I could. But I know my job is to raise them with the intent of
leaving home for a life of their own.

As I think about the severe responsibility of that task, I am constantly
brought back to my knees for direction from the Lord. Each of my 7 children will
probably go in different directions. Although I tried to educate the oldest two
almost the same, they turned out completely different. AND I frustrated both of
them terribly. The oldest is an employee, the second is an
investor who loves to buy and sell houses.

Not everyone is an entrepreneur.

Anyway, one thing I continue to learn over and over is to make the best use
of my time. I have pruned out so much of what I used to love that I am down to a
bare bones existence. I know that is not for everyone but there are things I
want to accomplish. In order to make time for them, I have to cut out other
activities that may not prove to be as profitable.

I try to identify the few things that only I can do and focus on them. Then
I try to delegate the rest.

I am educating my children to think for themselves and hopefully for the
boys to have their own businesses. Not all of them may, but that’s okay. I want
them to have the ability to do so if they desire. I want the girls to be skilled
enough to make a living if they have to but their focus and their jobs require a
different direction.

Times are changing and with the coming of the Internet, it is very easy now
to work from home and earn incredible money, passively. The more stories I hear
from those who are doing it, the more I am intrigued by what a normal person can
do from anywhere in the world. We are truly living in a time that offers more
opportunity than any other time in the history of the world. Hopefully, we’ll be
good stewards of it.

Every time you receive a spam message, tell yourself, “That could have been
a helpful post.” It could have given someone hope, knowledge, encouragement or
an offer for something you know could change their lives if they applied it.
Do you get many encouraging posts like that?
Forwards don’t count! ;)

So why not be the author of encouragement to others. After all, email is
cheap for now. It’s still free. And if you have a one-way Yahoo! Group of folks
who want to hear what you say, all you have to write is one post instead of
many.

All this rambling is meant to encourage you. You are an
influence in your world.

Whatever it is, you have a purpose, a calling and a job to do. You have been
gifted specifically for that job. The mystery and adventure of our life is in
discovering what that is.

Life should be enjoyable. Our relationships with others should be
stimulating. Life is too short to waste by looking at the negative in a person
or situation and worrying. Look for the good, praise the person and express your
gratitude for the good. Sure the bad is there, it always is. But focus on the
positive to strengthen it in others.

I do, however, finally have a plan for my life. I keep it in my Life
Notebook and refer to it frequently. For so long, I felt the right thing to do
was just drift along and take what comes along. I had no direction and
consequently didn’t accomplish much. Now that I have some specific direction for
my life, I am more at peace. I no long live reacting to what happens in a day,
now I proactively cause much of what happens.

And yes, distractions always come so I adjust frequently. That’s just Life
With Kids.

As December nears, consider taking the month off from doing “school” at your
house to spend time building family relationships and preparing to write or
rewrite your goals for next year. Do this with your kids too. Figure out what
educators would call whatever you are doing this month and write it down in your
children’s school journals. Entertaining, hosting events, decorating and
shopping with a budget are all consumer skills that are incredibly important to
learn. Depending on their ages, let your children help you or even plan your
events. That is real life education.

If you feel too stressed in the coming month, realize there is more to
education than what we think of as school. Relax and go with the flow. And you
may find that that daughter you struggle with so much eventually becomes a
conference coordinator, all because you gave her a few weeks of real life for
school. You just never know.

Life is short so live it with joy!

So many books, so little time…

Rhea!

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Written by Rhea Perry · Filed Under Rhea Perry 

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