“I realized this week that I just cannot do it all. So I will choose to do what I can, fabulously.”  Clinton Kelly

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a fabulous weekend and got some rest! We push ourselves to the limit, trying to make ends meet and stay ahead of the many activities we cannot say no to, even when we know it would be better if we politely walked away. Sometimes, we just can’t help ourselves. Alas, maybe that’s just me, not you. I hope you’ve figured out how to keep a balance of the many things on your plate!

The other day, I woke up in a funk. I wasn’t anxious or down. I didn’t feel particularly upset about anything, specifically. I was just in an uncomfortable place and couldn’t get motivated to do anything of consequence. It’s not that I didn’t have stuff to do. I had plenty. I just didn’t want to do any of it. It felt like I was pushing against the river or, better yet, like a toddler having a silent tantrum. I’m sure you’ve seen it. The little one seems to be brooding about nothing in particular but is definitely not having it, whatever it is. Well, that’s what it was, brooding over nothing in particular.

I know myself well enough to know that if I continued in that vein, I would waste the day and feel worse the next. So, I decided to take a drive. I had something to deliver and decided I could engage in a worthwhile activity. As luck would have it (or divine intervention!), I spent some time with a dear friend doing something I hadn’t even considered, and guess what? My funk completely vanished!

So often, we become overwhelmed with the things we feel are important that we forget to take time just to be. We fill our plates to overflow with tasks and responsibilities and must remember to come up for air. This practice often results in doing a lesser job on the important things because we don’t have the means to put our energy into thoughts and actions as we’d prefer. We are doing too much, which minimizes our ability to do things well. We must stop and inventory what we consider musts in favor of quality results and experiences.

Clinton Kelly, Emmy award-winning television moderator, shared his thoughts:

Photo by Mehdi MeSSrro. No copyright infringement intended.

I love this! I also hate it. I don’t particularly like admitting that I cannot do it all. I mean, I have a strong mind and spirit, I’m a good problem-solver, I have skills that have been honed throughout the years, and gosh darn it, I’m usually pretty clever at figuring things out. If I work a little bit harder and spend more concentrated time and effort, I’ll find a solution. Sound familiar?

There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that some of you are thinking, stop reading my mail about now! I get it! If you stop, you’ll end up in a puddle in the corner because you haven’t taken time to let go of the stress. But if you do take the time, I think you have the potential to do things fabulously! We have to let go of things that don’t serve us well or have become habitual to make room for the fabulousness in us to emerge.

Scripture provides some wisdom about shedding unnecessary things:

“Take away the dross from silver,
And it will go to the silversmith for jewelry.
Take away the wicked from before the king,
And his throne will be established in righteousness.”

Psalms 23:4-5

The dictionary defines dross as waste; it’s worthless and must be removed for the end product to be malleable and valuable. We see this in the refinement of gold and silver. Before either can be fashioned into something beautiful, the dross, unusable or invaluable parts, must be removed. There is such fitting imagery in these verses. They allow us to decide what we shouldand shouldn’t do and judge what we give our energies to. After all, who doesn’t want to be established in righteousness?

This week, let’s ponder what we need to remove from our schedules to allow time for excellent results. Do we expend too much of our resources perseverating about things that don’t warrant the effort? Are we our own worst enemy when we allocate time to things that aren’t fulfilling or life-giving? What do we need to become inspired? Would we be better served if we removed some of the dross weighing us down? As we consider these questions, we’ll be in a better place to choose to do what we can fabulously!

Have a wonderful week being fabulous!

Be Well & Be Blessed!
Lucinda