Make the best use of the time ~ The Apostle Paul
The other day I was considering how to maximize my time over the holiday season. Most of us have some kind of vacation during Christmas and the New Year and if you’re anything like me, you want to use it to the fullest! Here are six of my ideas about how I’m going to seek to make the best use of the time.
1. Rest
Most of us don’t really know how to rest well. But it’s necessary for both our physical and spiritual health!
Possible Action: take a nap! 🙂
2. Focus Outward
This time of year it’s typically all about what we want as individuals and families. But what if we all turned outward and focused on giving instead of only receiving? Serving others is about considering their needs more important than our own. Sometimes this kind of radical service and focus on others is really difficult and totally counter-cultural. What if we, however, took on a radical mindset of serving others this holiday season?
Possible Action: Take time to help around the house, shovel the neighbor’s driveway, or serve the poor.
3. Focus on Relationships
Instead of spending most of our time on the things around us, what if we spend it on the people around us? It’s easy to just get caught up in the activities and festivities and not really spend time developing our relationships with our loved ones.
Possible Action: Instead of watching TV one night choose to do something more discussion based.
4. Take Extra Time with God
When we’re out of our normal routine we can often get a bit lazy with our time with God. I know how it is; lots of stuff is going on and time with God in prayer or in the word easily slips away. What if instead of less time with God over the holidays we spend more time with Him?
Possible Action: Choose to schedule some extra time in to pray and read the Bible.
5. Craft a Vision and Roadmap for Next Year
This time of year is one of the best for reflecting and planning for the New Year. What if we hit the New Year with a fresh Vision and Roadmap for what could be! Let’s take some time to get stoked for the possibilities of the future and map out a plan to hit the ground running on January 1.
Possible Action: Make a list of everything you’d like to accomplish next year, pray over the list and ask God to help you accomplish the most important things, and begin crafting a plan for how you’re going to get started.
6. Start a New Habit
The extra time over the holidays is a great time to work on developing a new habit. Why? Because you have the extra time to begin cementing it in your routine without needing to have all the pressures of normal life. Once normal life kicks back in, the idea is that the habit is cemented into your lifestyle enough that it’s already becoming part of your regular routine when you head back to work.
Possible Action: Pick a habit you’ve been wanting to start (like maybe reading a chapter of a book a day), schedule it in for the next two weeks, commit to doing it every day.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!