If there is one thing that I’ve learned this past year, it is that everyone has their own activity threshold. (Thank you dressingyourtruth.com for teaching me this!)
My nature is such that I can only have a few things going on in my life or I feel totally out of control. However, my son’s nature thrives in high activity. He is happiest and most energized when he can go from one activity to the next. That being said, everyone still has a breaking point, but it’s so important to begin to know yourself well enough to understand what your own threshold is.
When pruning is necessary, here are a few questions that help me:
1. Does this activity nourish me?
Is it something that actually fuels my energy and my spirit? Or does being involved drain me and have any type of negative energy associated with it? (Negative energy could be guilt, comparisons, or unnecessary time away from more important activities or relationships.)
2. What is my motivation?
Do I have this in my life out of obligation? To impress others? Because I’ve been unwilling to delegate? Because I’ve resisted change, even though the time and season for this activity no longer align?
Or…do I feel personally called to this activity? Does it make my heart sing? Does it make me want to strive and improve?
Ultimately, I believe that deep down we already know what needs to be cut out.
We often spend a lot of time ignoring those feelings that try to tell us what would be a healthy choice for our life.
Want a fun way to find out what you already know?
Flip a coin.
Flip a coin.
Heads you keep the activity. Tails you cut it.
If the result fills you with relief, it was the right choice.
If the result finds you wishing the coin toss had gone the other way–you still find the answer that was already inside you.
So what are you going to prune? I’d love to hear!