Wednesday; August 31

I am not a big fan of the phrase, “stay in your own swim lane”. I believe in building partnerships and collaboration and feel like this philosophy tends to lead us toward another modern phrase, “living in our silo”. I realize the dangers of dabbling in someone else’s business, but think that we work better, together.

Now, having said this, I also believe that we can become too involved in things that really shouldn’t matter to us. All too often, we allow things that are well outside of our span of control to negatively affect us. When we get upset in the grocery store because a parent refused to discipline their child properly, we allow their decisions to impact our happiness. When we get worked up over how the politicians in another state voted or what a school district all the way across the country teaches, we are borrowing trouble that is beyond our ability to control. Sure, it is necessary to evaluate the actions of others, but when we allow them to steal our joy, we are investing in something that will not yield any valuable returns.

When Jesus warned His early disciples about anxiety He said, “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34). I wonder if there is a parallel to this thought in saying, “Do not worry about what others are doing because we have enough issues of our own”. When I used to get wrapped up in other people’s issues my Mom would caution me, “Tend to your own knitting” – in essence, focus on your own task at hand. When we do this, not only will we produce a better project, we’ll also enjoy a less stressful existence.

Think About It!

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