I may have misjudged the importance of formatting.
(Heavy sigh)
You know, rules have never been high on my list. Not that I’m a big rule breaker. I’m pretty much not a rule breaker, except for the time I got … anyway, it’s not that I have anything against the rules. It’s just whether or not the margins are an inch or the font is uniform isn’t a big deal to me.
But that’s not really true.
It would be a big deal to me if there were no margins and every other word was the Jokerman font. But that’s not even the point. The point is I ignored the formatting thinking I’d get around to it later, and when later came, the formatting took me hours instead of the minutes it should have.
Aarrgghh. I wanted to bang my head on the wall. But I couldn’t. I was on a deadline and having a good hair day. And I just didn’t have the spare time to whine and fuss and find my brush.
Now, two weeks out from my new appreciation for following the rules the FIRST time, and I’m starting to see how this sort of laid-back thinking has poisoned other areas of my life. I make a lot of things harder than they need to be because I don’t bother to do them right the first time.
This fear has caused me to make some adjustments, and you know what, it feels good. A workman approved. It feels really good to pay attention, work hard, and get places on time. And those adjustments weren’t even that difficult.
The next big adjustment looms out in front of me, though.
Purpose.
Meaning.
My calling.
I’m pretty sure my purpose here is not to throw things together at the last minute and hope for the best.
I can do better than that. However, actually getting down to business—doing some formatting for my life—is a lot scarier than making a few adjustments to the way I think about things.
But I have to do that.
Otherwise, I end up living a life I never intended to live—no margins, sans-serif, and so tiny no one would ever read me.
We all have a purpose here. Living out that purpose requires intentionality—it takes thought. Work. And our attention. It doesn’t just happen on its own. And that’s where I am.
How about you?
How are you doing with your life formatting? Are you becoming who you were created to be?