Sharpening The Saw
Hi Friends!
I know, I know it’s been a long while, three months to be exact. Who would have
thought that I would have stayed away so long from you? However, life happens.
A bit of
housekeeping before we jump into today’s topic; I had promised that I would do
two things soon and I am happy to report that I did. I wrote out my life’s
mission and vision statements and I apologized to the cousin I was malicing
(let’s call it what it really was). See, I’m a woman of my word and I feel so much
better for it, yay me 😊
Now, what I
want to explore with you today is the importance of leading a synergistic life or
as the title states Sharpening the Saw. This article was inspired by Stephen Covey’s
book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People that I read earlier this year. By the way, that is one of my
recommended reads.
My
interpretation of Sharpening the Saw is that we should constantly be working
on four core aspects of our being; body, mind, heart and soul. I use the term
synergy to mean in harmony and I specifically didn’t use the word balance
because each area may not be equal as I believe it will be different for each
person. As a Christian, my soul is most important to me and the others are more
or less weighted the same.
It is
paramount that we pay attention to these areas of our lives and figure out
which dynamic works best for us.
On the Spiritual
Dimension, I have spoken extensively about the different things we need to do
in our relationship with God, which is primarily what this blog is about. I
make sure I attend services at church; which usually ranges from 1-4 times per
week. That in addition to the other spiritual actions I perform, give me the
foundation to do everything else I need to.
The Mental
Dimension is one that is usually highly esteemed by a lot of persons but I’m
not sure if it is equally weighted in their own lives. This is where we need to feed
and exercise our minds and the food we are feeding our minds with, should be
healthy food. We don’t all need to go into a classroom to do this, but we can
find ways by exploring the various opportunities in everyday life. Some
examples are reading the newspaper, enrolling in a course online, learning a new
skill, etc. Writing through this very same blog is one of the ways in which I explore
my mental dimension.
The Physical
Dimension is one that often gets a lot of neglect. However, it is very important that
we take care of our bodies. We only get one and it is it that houses our soul currently,
our mind and our heart. The Bible speaks about the body being our temple, therefore
it loaned to us by God and we should honour him by taking care of it. I find
where a lot of us think we are too busy to exercise but we won’t ever find the
time to do it, we must take the time. I try to get exercise in mostly by
waking up earlier and doing a workout. Also essential, is eating healthy and
taking time out for wholesome rest and relaxation. I know it isn’t easy, but it
sure is worth it.
Finally,
there is the Emotional Dimension. It brings me back to the old saying that ‘no
man is an island’. We all want to feel loved and like we belong to something.
This is an area that has been studied extensively in so many fields,
particularly in psychology with one of the theories coming out being Alderfer’s
ERG Theory. Alderfer speaks to our need for Relatedness; which stresses the
importance of interpersonal and social relationships, but unlike Maslow’s Needs Theory, that need doesn’t only
exist at a particular time in life. Simply put, we need to build relationships with
others and give of our time and talents, laugh and love. There are some many
ways to do this; including spending quality time with family and friends, joining
a service group, etc.
Friends, even
though we’ve explored these different dimensions to our lives, it is important
that we realize that we only have one life each, here on earth. Therefore, there
is no church-life, work-life, regular-life, there is just life. All these
dimensions are integrated and if we proceed accordingly, we shouldn’t feel torn,
like we are living different lives, we should have a life that’s synergistic
and that’s how we Sharpen the Saw.
 |
| (Source: learningrevolution.net) |
Philippians
4:8 KJV -
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest,
whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things
[are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue,
and if [there be] any praise, think on these things.
Chosen, hasta luego!
(Referenced: Covey, S. R. (1997). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Salt Lake City: Franklin Covey. & Alderfers's ERG Theory https://www.toolshero.com/psychology/theories-of-motivation/erg-theory/)
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