Thursday, March 5, 2009

Making Room For Creativity-Part 3

If you are popping in here in the middle of this series of posts on creativity, feel free to go here and here to catch up on parts one and two of making room in your busy life for your creative gifts. Today we are talking about what to do after you have decided to prioritize creative moments and you have made your inventory of what is and is not truly important for you in this season of your life.

Now, take that list of things you do that God never called you to do but you assigned yourself to do anyway, and begin the process of eliminating them from your schedule. Please, pick yourself up off of the floor and breathe into a paper bag if you need to. You are not going to die and neither are the people that you are afraid of disappointing. Instead let this reality sink in...if you are devoting yourself to tasks that God never called you to, you are setting yourself up for burnout and believe me, people, that is not a pretty sight. Creativity aside, streamlining your life is something that every person will benefit from because overcommitting yourself is slow suicide. Wouldn't you rather disappoint a few people than disappoint God by doing it your way rather than His way? Next, pick up the phone, write that letter, or have a sit down with the people you need to meet with to gracefully withdraw from the excess in your life. Go do this now. I will wait. I said GO!!!

Now, don't you feel better? What? You feel guilty? Ignore it...just like big hair and parachute pants in the '80s, it will pass.

Tomorrow is Friday and, as always, I will post my random and occasionally disturbing thoughts. It is a low-cal, fat-free, yet tasty little treat. I will wrap up this series of creativity posts on Monday. I just hope you can contain yourselves until then. And thanks for being here with me. I heart you.

2 comments:

Paul March 5, 2009 at 10:07 AM  

"Streamlining your life" is a good way to put it. You can't force creativity, but by putting aside needless distractions, you open the door to its possibility.

Beth Brawley Taylor March 5, 2009 at 10:15 AM  

Really good way of putting it, Paul. You cannot force it, but you sure can facilitate it!