I know a title like “live like you’re dying” might sound strange, but it will all make sense by the end.
Have you ever been stressed out by life, your job, bills or children and so on? Have you ever complained about something that was actually insignificant? I know I have been quite a grouch these last few years but I have slowly learned to chill out and stop taking everything so seriously (I’m not 100% there yet, but I’m working on it). My hope for you is that you too will get this revelation – Everything is meaningless.
I am a parent and I am much stricter than I ever thought I’d be. I have had my share of frustrations especially raising two boys. If you have children – boys or girls, you’ll know what I am talking about. The strange thing about parenthood is that you can easily cross the line which separates ‘reasonably strict’ to ‘annoyingly pedantic’ and once you cross it, it can become almost instinctual after a while to just moan and complain about anything and everything. One day my son said: “Dad, you are always in a bad mood and always moaning about everything and I feel like I can never do anything right! I am such a stupid, bad boy hey?” In that moment, my heart sank.
- Had I failed as a father?
- Had I been so harsh that I had destroyed my sons confidence and self-worth?
For the next few days, my sons words rolled around my mind like a rough ocean crashing waves upon the shore. I was so torn up by his words because they made me feel like I had failed him as a father. I knew I had to find a way to curb my fault-finding and instead allow him some room to learn things for himself and not be on his case about every little mistake he makes.
It was a story I read that changed me. The story was of a father who had lost his son; a story of all his regrets as a father – regrets not only for all the mistakes he had made but also for all the things that he didn’t do. It made my eyes fill with tears and my heart fill with love.
Imagine for a second that your loved one died today – what would the last words have been that you said to them and would you regret those words or actions?
There are many things in life that can cause us stress which in turn leads to outbursts of emotion, but maybe this year, we can all try harder not to allow the small things to cause us to ruin relationships with loved ones.
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it – Psalm 118:24 Say –
We should celebrate life, enjoy our time with family and friends and also enjoy all the good and wonderful things this life has to offer like good food, drink, beautiful scenery, hikes through the mountains, sunrises, sunsets and having mud fights with your children. The list is endless.
Ecclesiastes 8:15 says: “So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.”
Let the small things go: Life can be stressful enough – so why add to that stress? Instead let the small, insignificant things go. If you find yourself freaking out about socks, then you know that you really need to try harder to get yourself to a place where you can let the small things go. Would you be fighting about socks if you were dying?
Do not allow your stress to ruin your family relationships. People with children know how frustrating it can be. Repeating things ten times and constantly dealing with arguments. But before you go and lose your mind ask yourself if you would care about any of these silly issues if you had to lose your child. The answer would be a big, fat NO! If you had to lose your child, you would wish every day to see the dirty clothes, scribbled drawings on the walls and any other behaviour that previously would have irritated you.
If we lived like we were dying or with the thought of losing a loved one, we’d possibly cut our stress by more than half and we’d let things go, and just enjoy the madness that comes with life.
I found that the more I seek God on these matters, I find I get closer to achieving my goal of being less concerned about all the silly, unimportant things in life and instead focus on the most important thing in life and that is life itself – The life of my children, my wife, my family and friends.
I hope this can help you today and if you’d like to begin your journey with God and allow Him to change your heart and mind, I know for a fact that ultimately you will start to change, be happier and less stressed out with life. I encourage you to click the link or pop-up window. We’d love to help you.
Your life will never be the same again.