Why focus and prioritising is so important - some personal reflections

Many personal development courses emphasise how important it is to "give your dreams all you got" or "never give up". While this is in general good advice, it can become a problem if we overexert ourselves. As humans we all face constraints, particularly in terms of our available time and our health.

For most of us, there are probably more than a million things we really would love to achieve during our lives if we had unlimited time e.g. learn all languages spoken in the world, be an expert in twenty different fields of studies or really good at five different types of sports. Unfortunately, we do not have unlimited time.

We need to acknowledge that our time on this planet is limited. Take the approximate number of years you still expect to live multiply it by 365.25 and you have a rough estimate of how many days you still have left to make those things happen, which really matter.

We all need to make choices. Not to decide is also a decision. The same is true with trying to keep your options open for too long.

What do you want people to say at your funeral?

If you could only achieve 5 things with your life, what would they be?

What does your current way of living tell you about what your priorities are? Do you live purposefully or do you just drift along?

It is so important to regularly think about these things. Let us not waste our lives but use them to accomplish what matters most.

Some reflections on the Gospel of Mark

Mark appears to deliberately place summary passages about important aspects of Jesus’ ministry such as preaching, healing and teaching (Mk 1:14-15, 3:7-12, 6:6) before the sending out of the disciples (Mk 6:7-13).
Moreover, Jesus takes the initiative in each of the discipleship stories. He calls the disciples to become his followers (Mk 1:16-20) as well as the core of God’s new people (Mk 3:13-19) and then sends them on a mission.
For us today, this means that we need to be open to Jesus’ guidance not only in mission but also all other areas of our lives.
As true followers of Jesus we need to make honest attempts to overcome all ungodly obstacles while trusting that God is with us and provides what we require.