Calm my Anxious Heart (and help me stay focused on the main thing)

For most everyone (especially photographers), this is the busiest time of year. And for me–it’s very easy to become overwhelmed especially when I’ve already cut back the days I will work (Tues/Sat) in an attempt to  focus more on my first jobs as a wife and mommy. I’ve let some extra things creep in (sessions and in the midst of being overbooked I have been so busy and said yes to more people than I normally would…my church for example has asked me to help photograph, frame and redecorate their halls!) I’ve justified more work to save up for our adoption and all the paperwork and errands for our adoption have also required more of my time…I’ve felt a little—well, that’s an understatement…actually I’ve felt VERY overwhelmed lately. Jean Fleming  in her book “Finding Focus in a Whirlwind World” says…

“As we seek to focus life, a formidable problem becomes apparent. Life loses focus without any effort, determination, or decision on our part. The process of living, day in and day out, tends to dilute and divert focus. We become so busy that we have no time to consider HOW we live…”

Here’s a healthy exercise that Jean recommends to help maintain focus…helping you keep the main thing…the main thing! She imagines a tree where the trunk represents her relationship with Christ. The limbs are the major areas of God-given responsibility (wife, mommy, etc).The branches are the activities and opportunities of life (these things should flow out of your responsibilities). Some times the activities multiply obscurring the trunk and limbs. When this happens, you can feel trapped! Jean says “I must go beyond defining life by activities. I must focus not on the branches, but on the trunk and the limbs. I do what I do because of Jesus and His claim on my life. I don’t do what I don’t do for the same reason.”

AMEN! I need to focus on that latter part…I DON’T DO WHAT I DON’T DO FOR THE SAME REASON! Amen! Amen! Now, I need to get some q-tips, clean out my ears and say it again so I really get it!

Living with focus means pruning your overcrowded tree. Feeling overwhelmed? Taking on too much? Time to prune. And a beautiful, fruitful tree some times has to be pruned a couple of times each year. For severely crazy trees like myself—we need to prune monthly. Yes…I’m a special case;). I feel like I’m not only overgrown but also holding one too many birdnests…and there’s bird poop everywhere. Ok, let’s not take this illustration overboard Andrea;). Seriously, I feel like I might be a special case right now. FOCUS–Evaluate all of the limbs and see what is causing some limbs to weigh so heavy to cause your branches to not thrive and go in the direction they should…and if you look hard enough you’ll notice limbs (and maybe even nests;) that don’t belong there at all. Then prune–and set new direction.

Today I had WAY too much to do—and guess what? It’s still undone. But a tree needed to be pruned before I could go further. Here is my unpruned tree…sadly it is full of tasks relating to work and it is neglecting the other branches…and even my sacred trunk!