Intentional Living or Good Accidents?
Are you the pinball operator or the marble? Are you practicing Intentional Living or are you being bounced around like a pinball marble?
Do any of you remember the free pinball game that used to come with Windows operating systems? I used to play that frustrating thing a lot. Other people would have scores up in seven and eight digits and I could barely get to six digits. I would bounce that marble around in there trying my best to not let it drop past the little flappers. Somehow it always got past me and before I knew it the third ball was gone and I had to start over. It was frustrating, but it was also addicting. I tried so hard to stumble my way to success with that time wasting game.
Then I discovered something. The little messages in the lower right hand box meant something. They were instructions. I began watching them and discovered that there were missions that I could select by hitting certain targets. Once I had selected a mission I had to go up the ramp on the left to accept the mission. Then I had to follow the instructions in the box to complete the mission, and as soon as I completed the mission I would get all kinds of points and extra lives. I began making high scores and in no time flat I had broken the seven digit barrier.
In some ways life is a bit like that pinball game. We are busy bouncing from one project or crisis to the next. Our days are packed with one activity after another. Sometimes we long for a slower pace. We remember days from our childhood where it seemed that time stood still. We complain about the terrible busyness of life, but we go right on bouncing and the score does not seem to be adding up very fast.
In life, it is okay to bounce around a lot as long as you are hitting the right targets.
When I got tired of bouncing aimlessly I established a written life mission statement. This allowed me to weigh every decision or opportunity on the basis of whether or not it would move me closer to my life purpose or not. It helped me to hit the right targets and prepared me for Intentional Living. It did not seem to change the ‘bouncing’ rate much, but it made it a lot more rewarding. I was better able to say ‘no’ to some requests and began to accomplish more with each ‘bounce’.
I encourage you to read the instructions for life. Spend some time to discover God’s purpose for you here on earth and write out a mission statement. Accept the assignments God has given you and work hard to accomplish them. That is what we are made for:
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. -Ephesians 2:10(NKJV)
If you do not know where to start then let me suggest working through the Intentional Project Booklet with a friend. This booklet outlines the projects I went through with my discipleship partner in the process of forming a written life mission statement. Stacie and I have really been blessed by this tool and have made it available to you at this link.
I love getting to the point where the message box of life says: Mission Completed. Even without counting the score, that really feels good.
Intentional Living feels good.