I find myself wishing I was younger, stronger, and more energetic. I try to do it all, multi-task, and then fall behind and feel like I didn’t get enough done by the end of the day. And the weeks fly by. I have listed, I have work to do, projects, things to read, to write. Where’s my focus?
Supposedly women do not compartmentalize their thinking as men do. We have a hard time focusing on one thing at a time; thoughts and tasks flood our minds. Yea, you men, don’t get this, but the women do. I need to focus on one thing at a time. I need to know what I should be doing. (And don’t say I need to be more like a man.) I appreciate our differences. But men and women need to do this one thing. We can both work on this. We need to develop our sensitivity to the promptings of the spirit. You may want to call it intuition.
According to Boyd Petersen, Hugh Nibley
“has been more attentive to the promptings of the Spirit and more obedient to those promptings than anyone I know. This sensitivity has given him much joy, but it has also required him to tune some things out entirely.” (Boyd Petersen, Hugh Nibley: A Consecrated Life)
Nibley gives this advice:
Let the Spirit be your guide from hour to hour, do what it tells you and do not concern yourself with other things. This is my advice to everyone else. There are vitally important issues which concern us all but to which I pay no attention unless so directed by the Spirit. This is because:
1) There is altogether too much for anyone to handle.
2) The time is too short to undertake certain things unless one is emphatically directed to.
3) God moves in a mysterious way — you can count on surprises.
The important thing is to know that what you are doing today is what God wants you as an individual to be doing. (Boyd Petersen, Hugh Nibley: A Consecrated Life)
There is too much to do, and time is too short, and we are mortal. We can’t do it all. Best to learn this vital lesson and listen to the Spirit.
*Updated, originally published April 2014. In memory of my friend from high school, Phyllis Andeweg, who advanced to the next experience when she passed away on May 14, 2019. I’m sure she had a great reunion with her son, Patrick.
This is the best advice ever — bar none! As a woman, I too get distracted. Whenever I find myself doing what I want, I am sometimes forcefully reminded of where I should be fcusing my time. Sometimes I’m actually focusing on the right things. That is always the time when things seem to go smoothly because I am following the path the Lord has chosen for me, also. Now, if I remain sensitive to the Spirit, I can literally hear and know what I should be doing. I will overhear a conversation or see something on Facebook that touches my heart and I know I should pray for that person, or I should talk to that person or I have even been prompted to private message a stranger — now that’s scary — but it always turns out for the good if I follow the prompting. You followed a prompting, Deila, regarding me. I was just thinking about that yesterday and felt so grateful that you did, as it has changed my life for good. I was trying to do good things before, but you have allowed me to have more focus as I have read some of the books which have given you strength of purpose and direction, also. We are all in this together and when one of us gains a piece of the puzzle and shares with others, others are strengthened, too, and we then may receive another piece to share, strengthening others, as well. It is like climbing a mountain… one goes ahead, then helps the next up and then that one goes ahead and lifts you up. In the end, we can all reach the top of the mountain, so to speak, and rejoice with one another.
Wonderful post! I really must share these sentiments from Bro. Nibley with my mother. She is 75 years old and just recently realized that all of the time management skills in the world cannot measure up to the ability of the Holy Ghost to direct her actions.
thanks for the comments–and those daily choices are tough sometimes. I have been writing for LiveStrong for only about 2 months–and that has taken my focus.
Great post. I noticed on BlogFrog that you write for LiveStrong. That’s so cool! How did you get into that?
I like it, I like it!! I need to do more of that!
Thanks for the post….. most excellent!!
This is excellent! Thank you for sharing it!
Love this thought! I never read that about Hugh Nibley, but it makes sense. Thank you so much for sharing it. I think it is important to remember that there are always more good things to be doing, but we cannot physically do them all. Some are for us to do, and some are for others to do. Sometimes, our choices involve choosing between two or three good things!