TAKE STOCK

Every now and then we need to stop and take stock.  Ask ourselves the hard questions about our lives, how we’re spending them, and to actually focus on those questions long enough to answer them.  Honestly.

It’s easy to get caught up in everyday life, and to not focus on the things really important to us. Sometimes we hear her whisper in her ear that tells us it’s time to stop and think. Sometimes we get bodyslammed and have no choice but to stop and think.

I’ve often wondered, if the reason we get bodyslammed is because we ignore the whispers. And so that is the point of this post. Listen to the whisper, and maybe just maybe you can avoid being bodyslammed.

When is the last time you really stopped and asked yourself about your life purpose? When is the last time you checked your pulse and felt content? Fulfilled? Happy with the way things are going in your life?

We all have challenges, face obstacles in trials, and suffer hard times. Right now many of us are going through difficulties–some of our own making, some thrust upon us. That makes it all the more important to stop and take stock. Because what we find is that if we do, we can be content even amid challenges and difficulties.  We’re better able to handle the unavoidable obstacles and trials that are a natural part of life.

I spent a lot of time thinking about this. I wonder if the reason isn’t because we’re better prepared and more balanced at the onset of a challenger trial and that gives us more resources to draw from to get through it. Think of it like starting blocks in the race. If those blocks are at the start line and you have to run 50 m, then you have to run 50 m. But if you have taken stock and asked yourself those all important questions, maybe that puts your starting blocks at the 25 m position. That means you have 25 m last to run. You have more energy, more strength, more endurance. It’s easier to cope because you don’t have as far to go.

It makes sense to me that this would hold true in your emotional races and your spiritual races as well as your physical races.

Taking stock isn’t always comfortable. There times when we would like nothing better than to avoid asking ourselves questions we don’t want to answer. But that too is a signal that it is long past time for us to gird our loins, toughen our skin, and do it. But perhaps even more importantly, is what happens if we don’t. Imagine your starting block being placed 25 m behind the beginning line for the race. Imagine how much more energy and endurance that takes and how much more strength you’ll have to have to make it through 75 m of the 50 m race. The emotional toll is stronger, the spiritual toll is stronger, and the physical toll is stronger. So the consequences of not taking stock are indeed significant and ones that we really can’t afford to continue to ignore.

So bite the bullet, do the uncomfortable, and tackle what might wish to be the unthinkable. Take stock. Know yourself, know your future.

Blessings,

Diva Vicki

Vicki Hinze

www.vickihinze.com

FORGET ME NOT, 3/16