Prioritize

I want to be more consistent with this blog. I started a new blog site so I could have a place to go every morning to write a little bit about what is currently inspiring me and what I think might be of some encouragement to others. Unfortunately, between grad school, planning a wedding, and looking for a new place to live, it’s been way too easy for me to get caught up in the daily grind of life and lose my focus on what is truly important. I guess the tyranny of the urgent is one plight we all suffer from. It is way easier to rationalize and make excuses than it is to do what needs to be done. Keeping our priorities in order is a constant struggle. We all have more things to do than time to do them in, especially if we ever make time to sleep. Ironically, the more we release our own ambitions, the more we are able to accomplish. Hurriedness and rushing, however, only serve to increase stress, decrease effectiveness, and frustrate everyone around us, including ourselves. So let go of your own expectations for the day, set aside your to-do list, take a deep breath, and allow yourself to appreciate all the beauty life has to offer. And if you happen to get a few chores accomplished along the way, well that’s just gravy.

Choose

There comes a time in every life when you have to decide what or whom you will live for. Some live and die for their country with patriotic ideals to protect family and fellow countrymen. Others live only for themselves in a state of pride and self-importance, usually stemming from deeply rooted insecurity. I choose to live for love, to do whatever I can to make the world a better place within my realm of personal influence no matter what it costs me or what sacrifices I must make along the way. The choice is set before all of mankind: to live in the light, according to the laws of peace and truth or to live in the dark, where there is death and destruction, hopelessness and despair. Any time we choose to hide from the beams of light that may expose our deepest secrets and impure desires, we choose death by default for light and darkness cannot occupy the same space.