Do you ever feel like you take on too much, too quickly? That you haven't quite figured out what N-O spells? Your plate starts to fill and you are buried before Wednesday even peeks around the corner. Anyone felt like this...please say you have so I can feel a little normal! When was the last time you said yes...when you should have said no?
Mr. Toastmaster, Fellow toastmasters,
A few days ago, I felt like I was running through mud. Not the pretty kind either. The sewer kind that's thick, gloppy, and smells of rotten eggs. You know the kind. Nothing was going right. Every time I turned the corner, something new fell in my lap. You ever feel that way? I sometimes fell that I am too ambitious for my own good. I am finishing writing a novel and starting two more. Oh ya...and on Friday, I committed to writing someone's life story for them. I want to be a motivational speaker, and after last week's conference, there is a lot to do to step up that commitment. And those are just my out of work ambitions. I still am a teacher, and that in itself is taxing enough. Parent calls, report cards due next Friday, Parent/teacher conferences coming up, meetings, meeting, and more meetings, grading, planning, and emails. Additionally, I am the Primary President at my church, an active member of my Toastmasters group, part of a writing club.
Wait...there is something else I am forgetting...oh...that's right! I am a wife and a mother in a fixer up house that is always breaking!
One night after a particularly long day, I said my husband, "Here take this baby away from me, get out of this room, and let me be for a few minutes."
I locked myself in the computer room and I sat in front of the only thing that would help me. My stupid Candy Crush came that I have such an addiction to. Ah...some of you need to come to the CCA meetings with me too, I see. CCA, Candy Crush Anonymous.
Anyway, while I played my game, I started searching the internet on the other computer monitor. See my family, we are not stimulated enough with only one computer, so we have two that sit side by side. One for watching Netflix or playing a computer game, and one for browsing, blogging, or emailing.
I played my game on one monitor screen, while I searched Pinterest on the other screen. As I numbly moved the mouse from screen to screen, I thought of all the things I should be doing, but wasn't. A stack of papers I needed to grade sat near me. "Grade me," they yelled. My novel was screaming at me from the table next to my bed. "Read me, edit me!" it persuaded. My lesson plans yelled out to me from the depths of its word document, "Plan me!" they screamed. The agenda I had not filled out for Toastmasters shook its invisible finger at me, "Update me," it begged. A speech that needed to be written on my blog stared blankly at me on one of the tabs I kept hitting accidentally.
Now just by raise of hands, who in here hates being judged? Ya, I thought as much. Well, how would you feel to be judged by invisible voices in your head? And invisible faces on a blank page?
Therapy is the word that should have come to mind, but instead, I ignored all of the schizophrenic voices in my head and just kept moving the addicting jelly beans on the other screen from place to place.
"What are you doing," they all seemed to yell at me at once! "You made a commitment, now stick with it." I really wish I could say this didn't happen, but so often the voices in my head feel alive, and I am haunted by them, sometimes daily.
Suddenly a quote I had learned earlier that year popped in right before my brain shut off forever. I couldn't remember where I had heard it from but luckily I was sitting right in front of a source that could help me find the answer. After a few minutes of searching Google, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace and understanding quiet the awful voices in my head as I found it and read a little more about it. That's what I want to share with you today. I know we get bogged down in life with all of our daily responsibilities, and managing can seem like a nightmare.
Would you like to know what I found? Do you want to know what finally shut up those loud obnoxious voices in my head? The thought that came into my head was this: What'er' thou art, Act Well thy Part. (Repeat)
That quote comes from a plaque, and this is a picture of that plaque that currently stands in Scotland. It was designed and created by John Allen in the 1890s After researching about this plaque, I found out that the pictures here on the plaque were also symbolic. Each picture stands for a number. And these numbers also add up to the same number all around the picture. It's called a magic square because each row adds up to 18 across the whole board. 5+10+3=18, 5+4+9=18, 9+2+7=18, and 4+6+8= Guess what, 18!
So ok, what does this mean? What does this have to do with its statement, What' er'thou Art, act well thy part. If you were to change any of the inscriptions, or change any of the numerical values, the square would cease to be magic. Just by moving one number, it changes the squares over all standard of being magic. So in life, as we have different roles and responsibilities, if we don't do our part, or give 100% to all we have committed to do, then it will affect the outcome. The whole organization will not function as intended.
Or in other words, "What' er thou art, act well thy part," and the whole will function perfectly.
So, what art thou? Are you a mother, father, brother, son, daughter? Are you a teacher, IRS worker, stay at home wife? Are you a VP of education, the secretary, or the Sergeant in arms? Are you a writer, a dancer, a karate master, or soccer player?
I want you to take a few minutes and write down what you feel your roles and responsibilities are. Just list them in no particular order, small or large.
The key to all the responsibilities to all of our roles in life is priority and balance. Looking at your list then, number them in priority from 1 all the way down. 1 being most important. Anyone having aha's about their life? As I thought about my own list I realized that I have been doing my whole life out of order, and that would be okay except that I don't like a skiwompus life. I want to feel balanced.
Imagine I have an empty jar and some large rocks, smaller rocks, and sand. The empty jar represents my time that I give to each of my priorities. The large rocks stand for my larger priorities all the way down to the smallest sands that represent the tiny things in life I have to do like washing the dishes. What happens if I fill the jar with the smallest items first? Of course, the other ones won't fit.
You've heard the proverb, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." We have good intentions in this life to help others, to take care of our family, to be a better cook, to learn how to dance. but when we do, those intentions start messing with our priorities. When does our life start to become unbalanced? I believe that when we start setting aside the real priorities in our lives because they are too hard to deal with, or give us a headache to think about, and start letting slip in those rocks, pebbles, and black eyed peas, that our focus becomes blurred and we lose what it important.
Let's practice saying no, because that is what it will take fellow toastmasters. Peggy, will you help me cut my grass this weekend? Shirley, I haven't cleaned my car out in years. Could you help me?
Fellow toastmasters, we must learn what NO spells. When our plates start to pile up, we need to prioritize and remember what is important to us. Sometimes even though we love to unwind with a good candy crush game, a TV show, or book, we are skirting responsibilities in our life that could help us to be become more balanced in our lives. Imagine yourself slipping this way or that when you choose to put menial tasks in front of our important ones, or when you fill your plates too high with extra responsibilities. There is a place for them, but in everything, there must be a balance.
Opening: Questions/Saying No when you should have
Point of Wisdom: Running through mud/Too ambitious
Example: Three novels/Writing Club
Example: Motivational Speaker/Toastmasters
Example: 3-5th Grade Teacher
Point of Wisdom: Plaque
Example: Magic square
Example: Moving a number
Example: Doing your part/Example of the tapestry in Prince of Egypt
Point of Wisdom: Who art we?
Example: Who was I
Example: Too much of something is never a good thing/relatives/company
Example: Rocks in the jar
Example: Who was I
Example: Too much of something is never a good thing/relatives/company
Example: Rocks in the jar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykfMvoHu6xA
One of my favorite songs is from the movie, "The Prince of Egypt, when the father in law is trying to show Moses what he is worth in God's eyes.
A single thread in a tapestry
though its color brightly shines
can never see its purpose
in the pattern of the grand design
and the stone that sits up on the very top
of the mountain's mighty face
does it think that it's more important
than the stones that forms the base
So how can you see what your life is worth
or where your value lies
ohhhh, you can never see through the eyes of man
you must look at your life
look at your life through heaven's eyes
Mother 2
Daughter 4
Wife 1
Friend 6
Toastmaster 10
Author 9
Dancer 11
Primary President 7
Church member 3
Visiting teacher 6 1/2
Sister 5
Worker 8
Home owner 12
TV watcher 14
Candy Crush player 13
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