Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Breaking Busy

The subtitle of this book is How to Find Peace & Purpose in a World of Crazy.  Since I live smack dab in the middle of a world of crazy, I'm all in!

There's so much good stuff in this book.  I could write for hours about the virtues of this book.  I wouldn't because I really want you to buy this book.

My favorite little gem is actually in the Epilogue:
I want to be sure we never confuse a busy life with a full life. To me, a busy life is frazzled, harried, lived at a pace I'm not meant to live, doing things I'm not meant to do. A busy life is a life the Enemy has created in order to keep me from God's purpose. A full life, on the other hand, is a life lived in a step with what God has called me to do.

This spoke to me because I like to do stuff.  I like to do meaningful stuff.  I want to do meaningful things that make me happy and positively impacts others.  

This book pairs well with Frank Bealer's The Myth of Balance.  Both focus on doing your best in the way that's best for you.

Alli Worthington walks us through her own journey. She is open and honest.  Each chapter ends with action steps to help you digest what you've read.  She helps us with capacity, relationships, calling, editing, thoughts, traditions, time, decisions, communication and worth.

My two favorite chapters are the ones on editing and worrying.  Editing is all about picking and choosing, clearing out space for the good stuff.  Alli talks about proactive edits (on purpose) vs reactive edits (due to disaster).  At school, I try to practice "addition by subtraction" where I ask teachers to give me time in order to get time later.  I'm not sure why I haven't carried this over into all areas of my life.  I need to stop and think about the things I'm doing now, figure out what I need to keep doing and what I need to stop doing.

Alli really drives home an important point in the chapter on worrying:
The more we worry, give in to fear, or think negatively about ourselves, the busier we get.  We are driven to do more, be more, and prevent whatever it is we are worried about. 
Ummm, wow!  How many times have I sat up in bed at 2 am worried about something that then led to getting up and working furiously on that thing!?! What I really love about Alli's advice is that it's Biblical. She refers us back to Bible verses to help us control our thoughts.

I so appreciate this book! Alli's honesty and Biblical approach makes the book perfectly accessible.  I hope you'll take the time to read this book.  You'll be better for it, promise!


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