First of all, credit to Dr. Andy Stanely of North Point Church in Atlanta for doing a sermon that prompted this blog.

What’s more important, time or possessions? Well, if you have all the possessions in the world, but your time is up, the answer is pretty obvious, right? So, how do you maximize your time on earth? Good healthy activities, such as Body for Life prescribes is an excellent way of extending life, through the regular diet and exercise.

Next question: what should you do first, the important or the urgent things? Answering this question takes some careful consideration. First, consider that there is a cumulative value to important things done regularly for a long time. Example: Exercise done daily for about 45 minutes a day, over a year’s time, produces noticable and measurable health effects. So does regular disciplined dieting.  On the other hand, keep in mind that there is NO CUMULATIVE VALUE to any or all of the urgent things that come along to interrupt the important things. In his message, Dr. Stanley not only made this point, but he even challenged everyone to try to remember what the URGENT thing was that interrupted their important activities.  Further, though Dr.Stanley didn’t mention it, it has been my experience that if you do only urgent things, rather than important ones, soon enough everything becomes urgent, and your life becomes total chaos, with almost no measurable progress anywhere. Joy leaves and frustration rules the day. I’ve also noticed that most all “urgent” things, if left alone, tend to turn out to not even be important, let alone urgent, once a little time has passed.

Don’t mistake my words here! I’m not suggesting you put BFL activity above all else. Family must be a priority, just as BFL is. It’s not “urgent,” but it is instead a co-important activity, and your challenge is to balance it and BFL together, neglecting neither one.  As for the “urgent,” it usually ends up having been something like sleeping in, or wanting to have a beer with the boys, or getting lost on the Internet, or trying to suck up to the boss by putting in meaningless extra time at work.  That’s where most of us go wrong.

To sum up, remember that the important things in your life are those beneficial activities that you should do often and regularly. Give them your time and attention first. The urgent things are the enemy of the important, and you should not let them draw your attention aways from what is important. If you do, then chaos and discontent will be your daily companions, instead of the health and the peace that you seek.

God bless!