I hate running…

Yes it’s true. I hate running. I hate running physically, but I have found I hate running metaphorically too. Until this past summer I was the girl who had no free time, no fun, no life because I was “running” so much. Hello, my name is Andrea Grace Fillmore and I’m addicted to achievement.

I used to think other people were lazy, and that all my hard work would get me success and achievement in life because I was doing so many things and overworking myself while everyone else was actually sleeping, eating, and having fun.

WRONG.

So, so wrong.

You see, there was a time when I was taking a full school load (12hours), I was the president of two school organizations & volunteering with two more, I was leading the creative team at a new church, playing the guitar at church, and working two part time jobs. That’s not a bragging list – that’s a list that I look at often to see how crazy I was. No wonder I wasn’t happy  or healthy.

I ended up in a ditch, depressed and exhausted because I simply couldn’t keep up the pace of all the things I had committed myself to. I was worn out and it was all my fault…not the church’s fault, not my friends’ fault, not my school’s fault. This mess had my name all over it.

Life is a marathon, and I was trying to do that marathon life at a sprinter’s pace. I had heard that phrase a hundred times, but it never clicked until recently. I haven’t learned it all, but I do think and hope and pray I will never allow myself to become that tired, stressed, depressed, again before realizing that something is wrong.

• I’ve learned to pace myself.
• I’ve learned that achievements are more fulfilling when you take your time to do things right.
• I’ve learned that “having a life” actually helps me to have a balance.
• I’ve learned that nothing noteworthy is achieved overnight.
• I’ve learned to enjoy the people around me instead of trying to out-achieve them.
• I’ve learned that laughter really is the best medicine.
• I’ve learned that I am the ONLY person who knows what a healthy level of commitment is for me.
• I’ve learned to delegate.
• I’ve learned to say NO…and in a nice way.
• I’ve learned that there is nothing I can check off my to-do list that can replace the feeling of being happy, healthy, and rested.

 I know we’ll all have seasons in life that are busy, but I know now my whole life should never stay that way. Most of all, I’m thankful that I serve a God of peace that passes understanding, and a God of rest, of strength, and of grace.

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). – John 10.10 Amplified Bible

+dF

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