How to Move from Spiritual Distraction to Focus

Do you ever feel distracted, divided, a little anxious about life? Recently during a time of self-reflection I noticed a growing sense of unrest.   

After a bit of thinking and praying I self-diagnosed my problem (I do have my Doctorate in Spiritual Formation so this is the one area I can be useful in).  

I try to read through the bible each year (By the way there is a guy in my church that has done this for over 50 years and only not made it 3 times #myhero).   I found myself more excited about getting through the ‘assignment for the day’ and accomplishing something than I was absorbing and learning from what I was reading.  After each ‘bible reading session’ I would feel a sense of accomplishment for a moment, yet a growing unrest would stick with me through the day.  

The 3 Commitments That Will Save Your Marriage

In 1925 George Leigh Mallory was a British school master and socialite, with a good dose of arrogance he decided he was going to ascend the unconquered peak of Mount Everest.  He fully committed to the task.  When a reporter asked him why he intended to climb this mountain he replied ‘Because it is there.’  

On June 8 the 38 year old father of 3 young children and his companion Andrew Irvine were seen starting up the mountain. That was when they were last seen, until 75 years later in 1999 Mallory’s perfectly preserved frozen body was discovered by an American mountain climbing team.  

Commitment is great, however what we commit our lives to is pretty important.  Some may say Mallory died being committed to living adventure, while others (his wife and kids) may say he committed to the wrong thing.  

The Myth of Balancing Life

I often hear people say they need a more balanced life.  I can remember being a freshman at Baylor University and being introduced to the 'Welcome Week Wheel.'  It was simply a circle divided into four sections each representing a portion of ones life:  physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual.  The idea was to keep these sections in mind as you were in college, making sure to tend to each section of life because if one was neglected it would affect ever other area of life.  Stephen Covey's 7-Habits uses this basic idea when it encourages us to 'sharpen the saw' and tend to these aspects of our inner-life.  Balance was never the goal, merely tending to each section was the goal.

I am not arguing or dismissing any attempt to grow personally, I simply think that being balanced will never happen.  Life does not work like a scale, life is too dynamic and there are too many things we encounter that we cannot control.  The take away - just keep tending to your life, you are important.  Don't make balance or a zen-like state your goal, make continual improvement your goal.  When we do this perfectionism and its adverse affects on our lives ceases to have impact on us and we are free to be.  The way the human life works is when we improve one area of our life, if it is true development, the other areas of our life will improve.  This is why you emotionally feel better after a workout.

One of the reasons I love 'life-coaching' is that it is focused on incremental development.  Grab a coach today and start to tend to you...you matter.

Five Phrases Guaranteed to Strengthen Your Bond with Your Kids

My kids are growing up fast, too fast. My wife and I have loved each stage of their development and are in the throws of taking our oldest to college.   We can’t help but look back at our lives and evaluate how we did, regret where we failed and honestly hope we laid a foundation for our kid’s health and growth.

Parenting is not easy!  I am the first one to admit I have been a very imperfect father.  I have made my share of mistakes, large and small in my parental role.  I am very glad that my kids have chosen to love an imperfect man.  I have found that parenting without the goal of perfection has been a much better choice than to try to be a perfect parent.