Balanced Productive Lifestyle

By: Nancy Abiera

 

“‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ Matthew 22:37
“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.” Thomas Merton

Many people do not realize that WARS (Worry, Anxiety, Resentment and Shame) are the top most destructive habits in life. These habits cause so much stress leading to all kinds of problems, illnesses and issues affecting our relationships with one another.

We all aspire to live life to the fullest, yet many get confused, easily distracted. In my first calling/career, I was a CPA (Certified Public Accountant). I learned the principle of maintaining balance and productivity. I was able to translate and understand the importance of living a balanced life. A good CPA prepares a well adjusted, error free, and perfect balance sheet showing the assets, liabilities and net worth. Income statement shows the profit or loss. My goal at that time was focused on RUSH (Rich, Undeniably Successful and Happy), which in turn, became the most stressful part of my life.

In my second calling as a minister, I learned to balance my life using the principles in the scriptures which I call PRIMES (Physically, Relationally, Intellectually, Mentally, Emotionally and Spiritually). The goal I had was transformed from RUSH to JOY loving (Jesus, Others and Yourself). I love Jana Kingsford’s quote, “Balance is not something you find, it’s something you create.” We can either go through self-destruction or be who we are designed to be as vessels for God to use bringing healing, harmony, and wholeness. If we decide to be self-destructive, we experience chaos, problems, and headaches resulting in negative, problematic, and non-productive lifestyles. I learned so much that I was able to change from being stressed out to living a stress-free, yet productive life. Let me share some tips in life combining the principles in accounting with the scriptures using the acronym, as follows:

BALANCED Believe God and Be Blessed
Ask/Acknowledge God
Love God fully
Affirm Others Negativity out
Compassion/Creativity Encourage Determination
Smile Humility
Empowerment
Empathize
Truthful
PRODUCTIVE
Pray Pro-actively Patiently
Respect Self and Others
Obedience to God means love
Dream Big
Undivided focus on God’s calling
Care for self and others
Trust God with all your heart
Inspiration
Vibrancy/Victorious living
Edify and Build up others
LIFESTYLE
Laugh out Loud
Intimacy with God
Faithful & Fruitful lifestyle
Express Kindness
Serve Selflessly
Tame the Tongue
Yes to Jesus
Live out your calling
Enthusiastic contagious spirit

I prioritize praying first and asking the Lord to give me pictures, imaginations and visions. I meditate and from there, I create a “to-do list” with goals. I have a designated space where I can be focused and not distracted by phones or people. I ask my friends and prayer partners to hold me accountable. I seek Godly counsel from others while I stay focused. During my most productive hours, I delegate tasks and focus on self care. I am intentional in maintaining mental health, good rest, and sleep All these help me develop powerful virtues/disciplines making my life simple, yet productive while enhancing my creative imaginations.

We all have choices as the scripture says in Deuteronomy 30:19,

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live”.

The choice is yours! Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, forgive me for getting distracted. I ask for Your help in planning my day, paying attention to my calling, and staying focused on my goals and assignment. Help me prioritize my family, my friends, my home, and my work. Holy Spirit, please give me wisdom, discernment, understanding and insight with the spiritual lens of faith to see beyond the natural. Help me break destructive habits that make me nonproductive so I can become more and more like Jesus. Amen.

Always choose “On A Bright Side” moving further and farther “On A Brightest Side”. I love you readers with the love of the Lord, yet the Lord loves you the most. You are blessed. Smile and be a blessing!