Yesterday was a good day… that’s not enough hyperbole… last night was very close to a perfect evening.
Let’s start with a principle: your life is made up of little moments. More specifically, your life is made up of TIME. This is your one shot – the one chance that you’ve been given to make a difference, to influence people’s lives, to give something bigger than yourself, to leave a legacy. And that one shot is created second by second by second. (…also why I despise the term “time-waster” used to explain an app or a form of entertainment, but that’s another topic for another blog…)
This is a primary reason why Micah and I are very intentional about this blog; yes, we attempt to throw a little humor in or share a story of a TV show from our childhood. But ultimately we are “using” (note – investing) our time into a medium that we are hoping will aid people in living the best life possible and making the type of impact that they’re meant to make. And every moment you spend reading and listening to us is an investment; we take this responsibility pretty seriously.
So let’s get back to last night. Of course, my daytime hours were spent at my job, earning an income and I am very grateful for the day job that I have. But the real investing of my time began when I left work. Please read along with my evening and by the end, I’ll make a point that you can hopefully take to live out this weekend…
My first call was to a friend that needed to talk and I was able to speak some hope into him.
The next call was from a business coach who asked me if I would like to do a 2-minute introduction of my hero and mentor on a webinar later that evening that was stretching out across North America. That was an easy “YES.”
I then arrived home to do some planning with my favorite person on the planet – my wife, Laura – for the Passover Seder that we are leading at our church the following night. I only had around 30 minutes with her before I left for my next appointment.
On Thursday nights, our church hosts “Living Recovery,” a support group for those working through the recovery process. It’s one of my favorite groups to support and speak at from time to time because of the amazing work they’re doing. A good friend of mine was speaking, sharing his unbelievable testimony of the grace of God that he’s experienced over the years. I was so grateful sitting there, simply because I’ve been able to be present during this time of transformation in so many people’s lives. And although I’m an unworthy choice, God has chosen to use me to play a small part in people’s lives at this moment in time – what an incredible responsibility! Such an honor…
After the meeting was finished, I rushed onto the webinar and introduced one of my heroes. I won’t go into a business talk in this particular blog, but I’ll say this much: I love being part of a business and a company were we have the opportunity to recognize and appreciate people who have spent the time investing in other people’s lives – it’s a “circle of life” if you’ll excuse the terrible pun. But another great honor to be able to introduce my mentor to dozens of people across North America!
Then after everyone at church was gone, I put the webinar on speakerphone and listened to amazing, life-changing information from my mentor, while I spent an hour setting up table and chairs. That may sound like boring work to you, but there’s nothing I love more than investing some time into the preparation for something like Passover. It’s an honor for me to spend my time doing that.
When I arrived home, I got to spend a little more time talking to my wife about my amazing day, and ended the night hearing about her day – the absolute best icing on the cake!
And there was a moment – between driving to and from appointments, setting up another table, listening to my wife talk about her day, and hearing my mentor talk about living the life that we are truly meant to live – that I had one of those crystallizing moments… I’m living my life Directionally Correct.
Here’s the point: are you investing the precious moments of your life towards your purpose? When you look back at the previous week, how much of your time-seed was “planted” (invested) and how much dropped through the cracks (wasted)? I’m not saying that every night will be (or should be) like last night for me, but here’s what I’ll tell you – my heart couldn’t be more full than it was when I went to bed and when I woke up.
Seeing the name of our blog and podcast, allow me to stand on a soapbox for a moment: the majority of people today do not live directionally correct lives. How do I know this? Simply look at the results of the majority. Listen to people complain about their lives. The direction of their lives is scattered or direction-less, so naturally their time is spent in the same scattered way. The majority of people spend more time complaining and comparing their lives to others instead of investing their time into the lives of others. Their gifts and talents lie dormant, unrealized or forgotten.
Living Directionally Correct means knowing where you’re going, and using your time to take another step in that direction. You will have to know where you’re going first, and only then can you identify the way to get there. And finally you must utilize every moment you can in the step-by-step process of going that direction.
Make every second of your day directionally correct and everything else in your life – over time – will begin to follow.
Chris Craft
The Soapbox 