Coulda Woulda Shoulda

How many posts begin with, "I really mean to post more often, but..."? Too many! We all have something in common. That thing is, we all mean to do something(s) but don't ever do these things the way we meant to do them. 

I'll say it again. 

We all mean to do something(s)

 but don't ever do these things the way we meant to do them. 

 

We start blogs, but don't post as often as we would like.

We buy new cameras, but don't use them.

We have Bibles, but don't read them as thoroughly as we know we need to.

We buy journals, and don't fill the pages.

We decide to start menu planning, and find ourselves serving leftovers AGAIN. 

We start friendships, and go two weeks without getting together. 

We plant gardens, and before we know it, there are more weeds than flowers. 

We have children, and find ourselves at odds with them wondering how they ever got to be that way. 

 

I don't have to tell you. You know what you meant to do and you know how you ended up doing it. 

That's the thing, you DID something, just not the way you meant to.

You started the blog and only posted a few times. You carry the camera, and leave it turned off. You have the Bible, and chose to read something else instead. You have the journal, but wrote other things other places (FB, e-mail, twitter, whatever). You have food to serve, recipes to try, and served leftovers. 

 

The good news is, most of these "meant to's" are no big deal! We think we need to do so many things and we get stressed out when life isn't going how we thought it would. Honestly, most of these things that we just have to do, DON'T EVEN MATTER. 

There is freedom in knowing that. Realizing we don't have to do everything we meant to do leaves room for us to do the things that we really do need to do. We do need to know God, we do need to love people, and we really do need to spend our lives doing things that matter. 

 

Pinning down what we need to do is only the beginning. Even then, we won't do these things the way we meant to or the way we need to. That is life, figuring out what's important and devoting ourselves to that. 

I've been reading a lot more lately. Seriously, I've finished about five books in the last couple of weeks. (That NEVER happens.) All of this reading has had me thinking about PEOPLE and how much we have in common. 

 

We are all different, but when it comes down to it, we are A LOT ALIKE. We all have hopes and dreams. We all have failures, hurts, disappoints. We have favorite memories, foods, hobbies. We all want to be loved and known. We all want to be able to be happy with who are, where we are going, and who we are becoming.

 

Every single one of us is born and will live on this earth until we die. We have so much in common. 

 

 

So, figure out what's important. I'm not talking about what's important to you. I'm talking about what's important in the grand scheme of things.  

 

That's my question for you today: What REALLY MATTERS?

 

*The pictures in this post are: LEAVES, the first sign of fall//A TREE losing its leaves//Learning to play RISK//A garden tool, it takes WORK.*