I Hear Dead People!

No, this will not be a rant about M. Night Shyamalan and the life lesson that we could learn from him. Since I started with that at least let me mentions that lesson: you don't run your hardest the first mile of the marathon, you pace yourself so you can finish strong. Otherwise, you are struggling to breathe by mile 7 (The Village) and then you collapse at mile 13 (The Last Airbender).
But I digress, if you are anything like me, which you might not be, but if you are human, which you probably are, then you probably find yourself spending more time than you realize focusing on two things that you have no direct control over: the past and the future. We focus on the past because we harbor regrets of things we have done and things that wish we had done. The problem with that is that we are utterly incapable of changing any of those things, so the time and energy we direct to those thoughts and regrets doesn't improve or change those memories, it often just increases the regret that we feel over past circumstances. When we are not thinking about the past we often find ourselves anxious and worried about the future, which is understandable. We should plan for the future as much as we are able and give real thought to the destinations and outcomes that we hope to arrive at. The problem is that so many of us become overwhelmed by the prospects of what could happen that the anxiety and worry over those thoughts again rob of us of energy and time that could better be directed towards the one thing we have control over: the present.
The one thing we can control is the next decision we make. We can't control what circumstances will come our way from day to day, but we can equip ourselves to be in a position to make the next decision a wise one by directing our energy and time to that decision. How do we do that?
1. Pray (Short and easy, He has made some good decisions, He might be able to help you)
1. Learn from the past (It is the one thing we can gain from experience: wisdom)
2. Take your time (The worst decisions are often made based on emotion)
3. Ask for help (Have good counsel from people who have gained wisdom and use it)
4. Weigh your options (Pro and con list written down helps to give you perspective)
5. Pray (Reassure your mind and heart at the end of the process)
These are just a few things that help us to slow down and systematically think through what it is that we are doing. It is important to have some consistency in our approach to making decisions and these steps give us that as well.
As someone who has not always made the best decisions and harbors many regrets, let me just encourage you not to get bogged down in the past or to be overly anxious about the future, but to live this moment, making each right next decision. If you do that, it will often lead you to amends for any regrets and mistakes of the past and it will set a firm foundation for the future that you want. Enjoy this Monday and I wish you all the best!

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." Matthew 6:34 (The Message)