Focus

Tonight my head is spinning because I’m thinking about everything I want to do tomorrow…and as usual, there are only so many hours in the day. And it’s 1 am and I’m getting up in five hours…(Can you believe I'm writing a blog?! For reals! It helps me to get it out so I can sleep.)

I want to do and be so many things so I try to schmoosh it into the time I have, and guess what….I’m limited. Hate to admit it, but I sure am.

I want to practice the piano a lot and learn more music theory.

I want to read tons of books.

I want to be healthy.

I want to help my friends and be there for them.

I want to write new songs.

I want to meet new people.

I want to go to concerts and learn from other musicians.

I want to respond to people’s emails in a timely manner.

I want to…I want to…you get the point.

But I don’t want to run around like a monkey with her head cut off (I’d rather be a monkey than a chicken right now…). I want to live each day in a way that’s truly meaningful. I don’t want to just fill up my time, but I want the things I do with my time to fill others and myself up.

It’s not a bad thing to want to be/do a lot of things, but I’m reminded of what one of my heroes, Dieter Uchtdorf, said:

"Let’s be honest; it’s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia—even during times of stress and fatigue. Because they unnecessarily complicate their lives, they often feel increased frustration, diminished joy, and too little sense of meaning in their lives. It is said that any virtue when taken to an extreme can become a vice. Overscheduling our days would certainly qualify for this. There comes a point where milestones can become millstones and ambitions, albatrosses around our necks."

So tonight, I’m re-focusing. And that’s personal for me and for each of us on what God needs us to focus our time on. We can’t be/do EVERYTHING…unless we want to be headless monkeys (or, if you prefer, chickens). But we can live each day for God and listen to Him. He will definitely help us know where our focus should be, because He loves us and wants us to be happy.

And that is where I find true meaning.

He wants it all...

I was in a Zumba class the other week (I LOVE Zumba). The teacher turned on this song, "He Wants It All," as we were stretching. I immediately went home and bought it off of iTunes...and pretty much had it on repeat in my car for the next week.

I love it because I need that reminder to give my ALL at work, home, church, with friends or strangers. God does need hearts who are desperate to be close to Him, but so often our hearts are divided or distracted.

I think it's something we must choose to do every day - to wake up and say, "Heavenly Father, I'm going to give You my heart today, I'm going to serve You with my whole heart."

Our all is not going to be perfect - that's why we need our Savior. So we must rely on Him as we seek to give our all. To me, "all" means all the strength, sincerity, and energy you can give right now, and then our all is supplemented by His grace.

My all always falls short. But that's ok. I'll keep trying to give my Heavenly Father my all, and He mercifully fills in the cracks.