Does Your Life Have Margins?

Richard Swenson wrote a book called Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial & Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives.  A printed page has a column of blank space along each side of every page.  We need some blank spaces in our lives; margin the space that we need between ourselves and our limits.  Do you allow yourself some free time each day?

We have a tendency to fill up every part of our schedules.  Our days and nights are full of work, meals, conversations, phone calls, texts, emails, news, interruptions, appointments, etc.  So there’s a tendency to fill up the blank spaces in our lives.  The problem with this is that when a crisis comes up, it pushes us beyond our limits, and then we suffer from stress overload.  That’s what leads to heart attacks, divorces, angry outbursts, high blood pressure, broken relationships, etc.

If your life is filled to the edges of your schedule, and you find yourself exhausted at the end of every day, you’re probably trying to do too much.  You need to develop some margins in your life – some blank space or free time between you and your limits.  What can you eliminate from your schedule?  What can you say No to?  Does that team or committee really need you?  Do you really need to work overtime so often?  How can you free up some time to relax and unwind?

I’ve learned to say No to some things, so that I can maintain enough margins in my life.  Keeping some empty space and time around the edges of your life, will help you to keep your sanity.

Strategies for Stress, part 2

Last week, I offered 4 ways of dealing with stress.  Today, I’m offering 5 more strategies for managing your stress: 

5. Re-arrange your lifestyle.  If you’re stressed, consider ways to simplify your lifestyle.  In Matthew 11:29-30, the yoke of Jesus is light and easy, not a burden – it leads to life.  Do you really NEED what you’re thinking of buying?  Can you downshift your lifestyle and slow down?  Can you eliminate a few activities and say No more often?  If you want to simplify your life, can you give away some of the stuff in your home, shed, or storage unit?

6. Build margin in your life.   In his book Margin, Richard Swenson writes about creating space between ourselves and our limits - like the blank margin at the sides of a printed page.  Then create margin(s) in your schedule and lifestyle.  See Exodus 34:21, Isaiah 5:8, and Mark 6:30 for examples of margin in Scripture.  Don’t check your work email on your weekend or vacation.  Carve out time for yourself and your needs.  If you spend a lot of time online, consider regular breaks from or a Sabbath from the internet.  Take time for yourself and your physical and emotional needs.

7. Refuse to give up.  Stress can build up in a person’s life and become too much for one to deal with.  Signs of too much stress include: Do you resent calls from someone?  Do you feel tired often?   Are you having physical symptoms or health problems that could stem from your stress?  In I Corinthians 1:8-9  Paul was under great pressure but refused to give up.  Persevere under pressure.  Refuse to give up.

8. Practice a weekly Sabbath.  Our society has become so 24/7 that there’s no longer a clear line between our work and our home/family life and time to relax and play.  It can be tempting to sacrifice your time for yourself and God and your loved ones.  If that’s true for you, separate your work from your home/family/God-time.  A Sabbath is a time for God, worship, rest, family, and play.

9.Exercise your body.  I Corinthians 6:19 – Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.  Exercise reduces a person’s stress!  Physical activity releases physical tension and helps one sleep better.  Find a kind of exercise you enjoy, and do it regularly.

Choose 1-3 of these strategies to change your lifestyle and reduce your stress.  If someone in your life is struggling with stress, give them a copy of this.  Maybe s/he would be helped with some of these Strategies for Stress.  May God’s Spirit strengthen you and guide you.