We live in a fast paced world that seems to be telling us if you we don’t keep pace with the society, culture, or peers, etc.. you will be left behind in every area of life. So, we push, push and push until finally something has to give and something breaks. Many times the thing that breaks is you or your health. I have to admit that I just recently had this experience as I have been running at a pretty hard pace for quite a while. Last week I had a flare up of the painful illness of shingles which I initially had about eight years ago. Most people think only older people get shingles, but not true. I’m guessing they flared up because my immune system was probably weak, as I also had been battling a sinus infection. It’s in times like this that I have to remind myself to slow down. In order to slow down, we need to learn how to build margin in our lives. What is margin? It can best be defined as the opposite of overload. If we are overloaded we have no margin.
I’ve got more peace of mind in my life. I’m not hurrying and worrying all the time. I have time to stop, to think, to relax, to enjoy, to smell the roses.
I have to admit this is an area that I vacillate back and forth on. There are months that I go on a tear going to the Y five-six times a week and other periods where the Y may only see me once a month. And then there are the eating habits that range from good to bad.
We all know that unrelenting stress harms our bodies. We all know that, yet we let it continue, day after day after day. Many times the only time we get margin in our lives is when the heart attack almost happens or does happen or the blood pressure skyrockets. Why do we wait until our health plummets until we make this decision? Why not realize that now I need to build some margin in? The truth is your body needs downtime in order to heal. Margin builds in the time for better health.
The truth is relationships take time and margin provides the time to sit and talk. It provides the time to listen. I find myself finishing other people’s sentences. It provides the time to listen, the time to comfort someone who needs to be comforted, just to enjoy people, to play with your kids.
Available to God to use to make a difference in this world. When you’re overloaded, when you’ve got too much to do, you can only think of yourself. When you get overloaded you go into survival mode – “Maybe I can make it through but I’m not sure.” And if God does come and tap you on the shoulder and say, “I’d like you to do this. I can make a difference in your life through this,” your first response isn’t joy. Your first response is, “Oh, no! Another thing to do! God, I’d like to do that but I’m sorry! I’m just too busy.” So we end up resenting that great opportunity God brings into our lives. But when you have margin, you’re available for God to use.
