-The Dash-

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This blog is really more about me than anything, so if you want to spare yourself a little time - you should stop reading now - otherwise, you've been warned...

Could life get any busier?
The answer to that question is loaded.
Because invariably, anyone who gathers the gumption to ask it, will, without fail, be answered with a resounding "YES!"

Life CAN and WILL get busier.

I love my life.
I have no complaints.
Just sticky, time-sensitive, less than enjoyable stuff that sometimes clouds my vision.
I always strive to be mindful of what things are most important, but I find myself getting fixated on the mundane things that have no impact in the long-run.

Why?

No doubt - Life with a husband, kids, friends, a job, and commitment to church (and other things) can get so busy that I feel like I need a flight pattern to get to all the separate events we are scheduled to be at, with every necessary item in tow.
Sheesh! I feel like I am a walking coat rack half of the time. Schlepping lunchboxes, a guitar, several other indiscriminate bags, school projects, and a little girl who can sense my distress and is instantly stricken with 'jelly-legs' at the onset of Mommy Overload.
"I wanna hode you, mommy....wahhhh!"
It can be a lot.
But life is so much more than Point A to Point B.

Pastor talked on Sunday about a lot of things, but one thing, for sure, struck a chord with me.
He told the story of a little child walking in a graveyard with their daddy. The question was raised about the dates on the tombstones.
The father tried to compile the facts he knew about birth dates and death dates and break it down to a level of understanding for his child.
'When the life began and when the life had ended...'
The child then asked about the dash.
The father explained that the dash represented everything between those 2 dates.
The person's life.

I cannot say enough about the regrets of my past, about not making the most of my 'dash.'
I can honestly say that I have not used every ounce of anything I have been given.
I spend far too much time worrying, spazzing out, whining, complaining, griping at my kids, and being weighed down by un-heavy things.
I have felt convicted.
I want to do better. Accomplish more in each day. Have more quality moments during each day.
But when each day arrives, along with it comes the baggage from the day before, or the day to follow. It becomes a burden that overwhelms me at my very core.
I go into shut-down mode.
A mode that resembles "survival" - (although nothing in my day-to-day life is ever anything close to life-or-death.)

I have had enough of Survival Mode.
I want to embrace my dash.
I want to rise above the Coat Rack Syndrome called Mommy Overload.
I want to be an overcomer.

The experiences, and the quality thereof, within the span of the dash are everything that matters.
Not the events of the day, but what I take from those events.
My dash will not be filled with feelings of defeat or inadequacy.

• I will fight feeling overwhelmed by overcoming the tendency to look at silly things as more important than they are.
• I will fight feeling unproductive by re-training myself about what things truly count in the scheme of life.
• My kinship to God and the authority THAT carries will be enough to sustain me through whatever comes my way, be it the death of a loved one, or a few too many things leftover on my 'to do list.'
• My success in life will be better defined by my relationship with God and the impact THAT relationship has on others; not by the fullness of my bank account or the emptiness of my kitchen sink...

I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back.

I am going to embrace the dash.
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