Looking for the Loping Tortoise

I'm ordering my day differently today. I'm starting with the most important things and then moving toward the urgent stuff rather than the other way around. So this morning, I read the bible, journaled, had breakfast with my daughter and then went to the office. I made myself a cup of coffee and sat spent the next 45 minutes studying French (something I always mean to do since I travel in French-speaking countries but never get around to because some urgent thing needs my attention.) Then I spent a quiet half hour reading a good book. Now I'm blogging. Later I'll respond to the emails that really need my attention.

I figure, my best energy is in the morning so I should use it on those tasks that require my longest attention span. That frantic stuff can be done on little or no attention span because it's mostly piddly stuff.

It was strange to spend the morning in quiet activity though. Usually, I am frantic, trying to get to most bang for buck out of my day. But like a sprinter, I inevitably spiral frantically down into inconsequential time suckers. But like many people, I intrinsically believe that something's wrong if my life doesn't feel frantic. Something in me believes life should be made up of breathless spurts of chaotic productivity punctuated by "vacations" of inactivity. 

But I don't like that. When I come to Sabbath out of breath, I'm barely able to catch it before the work starts again. I prefer the idea of life as a peaceful surging forward of focused effort followed by a gentle throttling-back of rest. That model promises less "success", less renown, less ego-stroking. But I think humility dictates I take that path. Today before work, God told me, "focus less on growing a big ministry and more on being obedient." So I'm trying to be obedient to the priorities he's pressed on me rather than the stuff that is easy or enticing to do and feel good about but bears less real fruit in the long run. I'm looking for the marathoner's pace. And I suspect that if I can find that easy, determined lope, I'll be much more productive in the long run. 

Go tortoise go!