😣 Just (don’t) live with it

Book of TREE 2.26

I have a stupidly large capacity for tolerating the status quo instead of making a change. How large?

Exhibit A: I was having back problems. I waited nearly a year before buying an exercise programme to fix it. I waited three months after buying it to start it.

Exhibit B: I kept working as a pastor in a church for five years after I stopped believing in God. (I did a good job too.)

When it’s not time to change, my capacity is called endurance. When it is time to change it’s called Jeff, you moron, wake up and pay attention to what your circumstances, your heart and your wife are telling you!

Here are two things that help me know the difference:

1. Asking what’s going on and paying attention to what the evidence around me is saying. What’s going on with my finances, my relationships, my mental and emotional state? Am I moving in a good direction? Am I doing work that I believe in?

2. Christine. She has a low tolerance for the status quo. She knows it’s time to change before I do. A thing I’ve learned in nearly 29 years of marriage is that listening to Christine is the smartest thing I ever do.

Are you paying attention to the evidence around you?

Do you have someone in your life who balances your (in)tolerance of the status quo?

During the Christmas holidays, my son gave me a proper introduction to Kendrick Lamar while we drove across South Wales to my sister-in-law’ birthday dinner. Hanging out with one’s adult kids is a beautiful privilege.

Happy Tuesday
Jeff