Solutions February 2017 | Page 21

If you really want to just wander through the next decade with nothing to show for it , be a nothinking , gloom-gazing , glass-halfempty ( with a hole in it ) kind of person and you will surely arrive at the ten-year mark with nothing but complaints to show for it !
3 . Look in — be consumed with yourself .
Nothing will help you waste the next ten years better than being totally self-absorbed ! If everything is all about you all the time , you will find that you will spend lots of time attending to your insatiable need to make yourself happy . And , since being on your mind all the time is so demanding , you will have no time to think about anyone or anything else ! The thing about this timewasting habit is that by the time your next decade is up , you won ’ t just feel like you wasted time , you will feel completely isolated and victimized because nothing and no one ever satisfied you .
4 . Look ahead — worry about the future .
Looking ahead to ponder what we want the future to be like is a good thing . You know , if you aim at nothing , you will hit it ! So , looking ahead and setting goals is not a bad thing , but you waste time if you look ahead so much that you don ’ t live today well . If your look ahead becomes a worried stare into the future unknowns , you will miss out on today because you ’ re speculating about tomorrow . ‘ Will we have enough money ?’ ‘ What if I get sick ?’ ‘ What if …’ you get it . If you focus on the ‘ what ifs ’, then you will completely waste what is right in front of you — today ! Then when the calendar turns the page marking ten years , you will find that all that worry has to start all over again . So , if you really want to waste time , worry your time away !
5 . Look away — stay distracted .
Just like you can mindlessly spend money — a little here , a little there — until suddenly your wallet is empty and you have no idea where the cash went , you can do the same with your time . You can spend hours and days on little distractions until eventually , years pass and you wonder , ‘ Where did the time go ?’ ‘ What did I do ?’
Distractions are helpful to give us mental breaks . Distractions can actually spawn creativity and give us needed rest , but they can also lead us to detours and aimlessness if we aren ’ t careful . If you really want to live out your next ten years with nothing to show for it , respond to every impulse , never say no to anything anyone ever asks you to do , indulge in distractions and avoid the discipline of setting any goals and striving to meet them . Then , aha ! Ten years will pass in the blink of an eye and you may not even notice since you will be so distracted !
Now , none of that sounds good to me ! How about you ? Who wants to waste time when you can spend time growing , learning , loving and living ?! I want God ’ s truth to guide my next ten years and I know you want the same , so here are five Scriptures to help guide you . If we meditate on these truths , God ’ s Word can guide us to live out every day — every decade — with purpose and peace :
1 . Do not say , “ Why were the old days better than these ?” For it is not wise to ask such questions . ( Ecclesiastes 7:10 NIV )
2 . Finally , brothers and sisters ,
SMG Solutions 21