Is Your Life Dehydrated?
Medi-Share, which is a Christian healthcare sharing program used as an alternative to traditional health insurance, puts out a frequent newsletter with a short devotion or two. This week’s letter came at a perfect time. In case you’ve been hibernating, there is more than a bit of chaos in the world, in our nation, our communities, and even in our relationships. It is easy to physically and mentally react to the constant onslaught without even realizing it.
The newsletter sent by Medi-Share offered signs of “spiritual” dehydration. No matter your faith, these signs ring true as a measure of being dehydrated in life.
Easily angered
Lack of self-control
Bad language
Disengagement with others, through care, contact and service
We’ve asked you before: What does it mean to you to live LIFE on purpose?
I bet it isn’t spending countless hours scrolling on social media. I bet it isn’t panning about the latest debate or what our government is or is not doing. I bet it isn’t worrying about the wars or if your investments will hold up through these turbulent times. I bet it isn’t about fears of what you don’t know or can’t control, keeping you up at night.
Living LIFE on purpose is living by design. What are the most important things in your life? Your family? Your faith? Your friends? Your community? A cause that pulls at your heart strings?
We are a nation that needs to get off our phones and stop watching the news. We need to get back to our roots and get re-hydrated.
How can you spend more time doing the things that are most important to you? How do you remove obstacles that aren’t allowing you to do it?
How can you devote more of your time doing the things that are most important to you? How do you remove obstacles that aren’t allowing you to do it?
Most of the time we find that the obstacle we face is really an “obligation.” So, let’s talk about that.
Obligation (noun)
something by which a person is bound or obliged to do certain things, and which arises out of a sense of duty or results from custom, law, etc.
Synonyms: responsibility
Dictionary.com
The word “bound” is in bold deliberately. Bondage, its counterpart, is a horrible word. It is negative and heavy, related to slavery and servitude. Yet, as Americans in particular, we have bound our lives with obligations. We are a nation that works ourselves into an early grave to keep up with the Jones’. We work more to earn more. Think about that. We work more and add more obligation. We earn more and that creates more obligation. It’s a vicious cycle.
Does your daily life align with that scenario? Because frankly, the buck can only stop with you. Are you here to serve your money…or is your money here to serve you?
This is permission to stop, take a hard look at your life, and your habits. Why do you wake up every day parched and end the day still thirsty? What will you do about it?
My suggestion is this:
Start your day with asking: What can I do to make someone else’s life better today? Make that your priority until it is accomplished - even if it is fulfilled by running to open the door for someone you don’t know.
Focus on the little things: How much delight is there to be found in hosting a family dinner with no cell phones? Just show up and give your loved one a hug. Write a love letter to your granddaughter.
End your day with gratitude: No matter your day or how good or bad it was, there is always something in which you can find gratitude. Find it and write it down.
Life is too short to live it dehydrated. Just as you have to purposely plan ahead, remind ourselves, and occasionally have an accountability partner to stay physically hydrated, it works the same way in LIFE. We can’t control the world around us, but we can control how we hydrate and we can live LIFE on purpose!