Take it off

There’s a running feud in my house. My husband and I face off at high noon. Our OK Corral- the thermostat. It’s that time of year when “too hot” and “too cold” is clearly subjective. One degree up or down seems to make a huge difference in each of our definition of comfort. I sit on the couch looking like Nanook of the North and Michael seems to be poolside on some Caribbean Island! I plead my case through chattering teeth frustrated by my husband’s justification, “It’s easier for you to put on more clothes than it is for me to take them off.”

It’s easier to put more on than take things off. That’s just true in life. It’s easier for me to make one more commitment. It’s easier to say yes than to say no. It’s easier to buy another black shrug than it is to clean out my closet.

But then one day you wake up and you wonder, “How did I get so busy? Who put all those meetings on my calendar? Who put those extra 10 pounds on my body?!” The pace and momentum of our daily decisions take us down the path of the wrong kind of more.  One of the hardest things I’ve had to do lately is take things off my plate. It takes time and effort to determine what gives you fuel and what drains you. It takes intentionality. It requires the courage to risk people’s perceptions and your own expectations of what makes for a full life.

“Too much” is as subjective as temperature. Some people have greater capacity. Some people because of their stage of life have greater commitments. The challenge is to look at all of it. You have the power to set the thermostat. Evaluate the layers of your life. Throw off what hinders you. (Hebrews 12:1-3) Put on what takes you toward healthy, healing and wholeness.

Learn the lessons in life’s little edits.