What a profound opening quote, right?
Flashback
I’ll never forget Christmas of ’86.
Not because of something glorious or cool that happened but because of how deep I had fallen into the pits of my addiction disorder.
I was now taking my drugs in order to stay out of withdrawal.
The highs were gone and the lows had set in to the extent that I began to contemplate ending it all.
I was out of fuel.
The drugs had emptied my tank.
I had reached my dead-end…literally.
A New Beginning
What I didn’t know then that I know for certain now is that what we humans often see as a dead-end is a new beginning for God if we let Him in.
I proceeded to remain in my drug-induced stuporous pit for the next seven months. I came real close to death in March of ’87 when my stomach ruptured due to all the pills I was ingesting.
Anyway, I finally ingested my last mood-altering substance on August 9, 1987, and I haven’t had a drink or drug since.
How?
For those of you who’ve been following my blog for any period of time or read any of my books, you’ve heard all of this before but I had to repeat it all in order to get the focal point of this writing.
As I mentioned earlier my addiction had depleted me of my fuel. I was running on fumes when I entered the treatment center back in August of ’87.
Early in my recovery, I wrote down three areas of my life that had to be my top three priorities if I was going to remain sober.
They were my fuel.
They’ve now been my fuel for the past thirty-three and a half years.
- Faith
- Family
- Fitness (Mental and Physical)
The importance of these three areas in helping me live a happy, joyous, and free life are no longer priorities–they are givens.
It takes a lot of practice to turn a priority into a given.
Back when we had our cool little run at HealthCare Pharmacy we started with the customer being our top priority, after years of practice that just became a given and is why we dominated the competition back in those days.
When a priority turns into a given it becomes high octane/premium fuel to your system.
What?
It took me 417 words to make my point…
What is your fuel level looking like these days?
How’s your faith walk?
How’s your relationship with your family? By the way, if you are married, the number one priority on your family list is your spouse. I’ve seen lots of people place their kids ahead of their spouse and that is not always good…been there changed that. 🙂
How’s your mental and physical fitness?
Results
If you feel compelled to reVision your life in 2021 why not begin with focusing on the three key areas that fuel your life?
Instead of setting annual goals try setting quarterly goals.
To further simplify the process, why not note one goal for each of the three areas for the first ninety days of 2021 and then add new goals for the subsequent quarters.
Why?
2020 has taught me there are no three areas of my life more important to me than my faith, my family, and my fitness (health).
No fuel, No peace
Know fuel, Know peace.
Psalm 90:12, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.com
