Living Life in the Fast Lane
1) The PACE at which we are living our lives.
2) The PRESSURES we are living with.
3) The lack of PAUSING before committing.
4) Being PRESENT in the moment.
5) Setting our PRIORITIES.
6) Our lack of PEACE.
LIST OF QUESTIONS:
1) Do we consciously determine to have a time of rest?
2) Are we comfortable in quietness?
3) Do we need constant stimulation?
4) Do we sit down to dinner together with no distractions?
5) Do we placate our children with entertainment?
6) Do we require a stimulus of some kind in order to "Zone Out"?
7) Do we need some kind of sound or stimulus in order to be comfortable?
8) Are we bored with quiet activities?
9) How often do we shut off all electronics? Or do we ever?
10) Are we panicked if we are without our cellphone?
11) Do we lose hours gaming, watching YouTube, engaged in social media?
12) Is our cellphone one of the first things we reach for in the morning and one of the
last things we look at at night?
13) Do we shut off, and put away, our cellphone when visiting with a friends, colleagues,
kids or people in general?
14) Do our children need to be entertained by electronics while traveling in the car,
waiting for appointments etc?
15) If we go out to eat, are all electronics put away, and our full attention is on each
other?
16) Is our primary contact with people (friends, loved ones etc.) done verbally, face to
face, in person, or is it through some form of electronic media more times than not?
17) Could our cellphone be considered an appendage rather than a tool?
18) Do we pause before we make decisions and commitments, or do we make them
before we even know the full extent of what we have committed to?
19) Do we feel guilty or uncomfortable if we're not busy?
20) Are we content?
21) Do we feel we have to "be on" all the time?
22) Do we equate rest with laziness?
23) Do we believe our value is seen in what we do, what we accomplish, how well we
can multitask?
24) Are we afraid of what might happen if our children are not kept busy and active all
the time?
25) Can we picture what it would feel like if all sources of electronics and electricity
were off for an extended period of time? Does this thought fill you with anxiety or
relief?
Did you know ~ The word "worry" is derived from an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning "to strangle or choke?" The stranglehold of worry keeps us from enjoying a life of contentment and peace.
Anxiety is that which divides and distracts the soul, that which diverts us from present duty to weary calculations of how to meet conditions that may never arrive.
If we are walking in anxiety, we are not walking in faith.
Quiet tension is not trust. It is simply compressed anxiety.
When we worry, we are saying, "God can't."
Worry is like a rocking chair; it will give you something to do, but it won't get you any where.
"My life has been full of terrible misfortunes, most of which never happened." The French philosopher Montaigne
Worry = Waste
When we find ourselves worrying ~ Ask, "What am I trying to control instead of trusting God?"
Worry is a cycle of ineffective thoughts whirling around a center of fear...Worry doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength." Corrie ten Boom
WAR ON WORRY:
W = WHAT (Identify the problem)
A = ACTION (What, if any, God honoring action can I take?)
R = RELINQUISH (Give my worries to God in prayer ~ it is the most powerful thing I can do with that of which I have no control.)
