#121: My Biggest Weakness

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My biggest weakness is stopping long enough to live in the moment. (I’ve previously written a post on the need of being present, which you can find here.) I know it and have always known it. This being said, I must be very intentional with celebrating any wins along the way, I must fight the urge to skip past the present moment, and I must put my phone down and engage with the people around me. I have fought my biggest weakness many times before, and won, but as with many issues we all face in life, it isn’t a one and done circumstance, but rather, a continuous battle that I find myself in.

Since I have always dealt with this, I have learned a few things about how to best deal with bringing myself back to the present, instead of always being in the future, and here they are:

First, realize that you will never get your present moments back. 

I have to say that I didn’t truly realize this point until I had kids. Imagining my kids ten years older than what they are now, and knowing what I want them to say about me, has significantly influenced where I put my time. I have cut out things that aren’t necessary in order to create the moments I want to have with them. I haven’t been perfect in this area, because there have been seasons where business dictated my schedule more than I liked, but I am very aware that a busy schedule is only manageable for a season, not a lifetime. If I have any piece of advice for you in regards to time management it is to find a reason big enough to make you question where you put your time, and then make changes to match what you want from your life. When you create margin in life, you can then put things back into your schedule in order to do what you really want to do. But don’t forget to leave enough time to enjoy the present, to stop and smell the roses, and to live in the moment.

Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin. ― Mother Teresa Click To Tweet

Second, see just how short life really is. 

28,000 days is the average person’s life expectancy. That may sound like a long time, but it really isn’t. You get one life, you can’t escape death, and what you do every day matters. Got it? Now go and figure out what matters to you, and cut out the things that don’t matter, because life is short, and you need to do something that matters.

And third, do what only you can do. 

When you take this idea to heart, the fear of missing out is lost in the hard work and dedication that it requires for doing what only you can do. You were put on this earth for a reason, and it is up to you to find that reason. You don’t have anything to prove to anyone else. Nobody else can be you. Own that, take that responsibility, and be the you who you are meant to be to the people around you.

Now, go and live in the moment today.