Today in the student union I was reading "Good to Great Expectations," an article in last weeks edition of Business Week, and it got me thinking.
(By the way, I'm not trying to sound cool by saying that I read Business Week magazing...Its a weekly assignment in my Business 1010 class.)
Anyway, the article is about this guy Jim Collins and his best-selling book on how to take good businesses and make them better.
In the article, he touches on the issue of creating balance in one's life...juggling work and the family, etc. He says "As I look at the most effective people we've studied, a 'stop-doing list' or not-to-do list is more important than a to-do list because the to-do list is infinite."
I get what he's saying. There's always something more to do...always another way to improve. And maybe in the business world he's right. Maybe it is better to focus on what not to do rather than what to do.
But for me, I'm finding that the opposite is true.
I've been creating my own list of things not to do for years...dont drink, dont smoke, dont lie, dont gossip, dont envy...
Just making the list was exaughsting, much less following it (although I rarely did.)
I think it's that list thats infinite. You can literally drive yourself crazy thinking of all the things you shouldnt do. And its frustrating and overwhelming and discouraging.
So instead, I try to focus on what I should do, which is simply to know God and live for Him as He lives in me. It's much easier to try to live for God than against the devil. And its a much more peaceful struggle.
Just a thought.