The Boxes

I'm currently reading a book called, "The Resolution for Women" and I have to admit it is changing my life.

The chapter titled, Boxes, really spoke to me.  Have you ever had a time when a life lesson appeared at the most perfect moment?  Well, that is exactly how I feel about this specific chapter.   I had been feeling a bit overwhelmed given all my responsibilities.  I've been such an overachiever most of my life and now I find that keeping a perfect balance is an overwhelming task.  Too many balls in the air at one time and I'm trying to keep them all from coming crashing down.  

In this chapter, the author, Priscilla Shirer,  talks about how she was feeling a bit strained in this season of life.  Feeling out of sorts and out of balance.  She too, like me, try to surround ourselves with people who live life the way it's supposed to be lived, capturing the opportunities to snag one or two scraps of wisdom from their conversations.    Her words, "I've been expecting nothing in particular but everything at the same time", rang so true for me.  

The author met with a wise women and she told her about, The Boxes.   She didn't physically show her, but she was able to paint them into her imagination and she could visually see them set out before her, one after another. 

The boxes were made of clear glass, each with a lid on top that opened and closed from a hinge fastened to the side.  They were all exactly the same size, and each was filled to the same level with a clear, bluish, water-like substance.  

She explained that these boxes are symbolic of the activities of one's life, and the various undertakings into which we must invest our time, talent, and energy.  Our tendency is to try keeping them just this way - equally filled with identical amounts of ourselves and our effort.  This, we think is what balance looks like.  '

But in reality, this is the picture of a women overworked, frustrated, and exhausted.  A life out of balance .  

The way we achieve balance, is to consider prayerfully God's priorities for us in the current season of life and then rearrange the boxes accordingly - pushing some of them into the background, bringing others to the front.  Into these primary boxes we place the best of ourselves and our efforts, while perhaps totally emptying some of the others - at least temporarily - not because they're of less overall significance but because they're not where we need to be allocating the best of our abilities and attention for the time being.  

Balance is not when the boxes are equally filled, but when we are free to fill only those that are important now, without feeling guilty over the ones that we've left for another time and place.  This is BALANCE.   

Moving forward, I will focus on filling those boxes that are in alignment with God's priorities and those that are important in this season of my life.  

Light, Happiness and Love
   MsPhotoShooter