5 Games of Dodgeball!

Last night I played 5 games of Dodgeball! You should have seen all us of women going at it! It was a blast, no pun intended.

The game of Dodgeball proceeded a great and very inspiring talk by a woman from our church. The evening was titled "What to Dodge and What to Catch." In other words, there are so many things coming at us in our daily lives, we shouldn't try to do it all. We have responsibilities with our children, spouses, work, volunteering, activities, homes, serving others, church callings, and so much more. And lets face it, we cannot do everything. Well, maybe we can but at what expense. When our plates are too full we suffer and our families suffer in return. My Dad refers to this situation with a great analogy. He often asks how I am doing and if I am taking care of myself. He says that when you lose oxygen on an airplane, they tell you to place the oxygen mask on yourself first and your children second. At first thought it sounds selfish, but in reality if you don't have the oxygen yourself how can you help others.

Often times we find ourselves in situations were we can't say no to others and this sometimes causes us to feel overwhelmed and overly stressed. She quoted Tony Blair as saying "The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is easy to say yes." And John C Maxwell, an American Euntraprenuer, said "Learn to say no to the good so you can say yes to the best." What great quotes and so very true. Dallin H Oaks is an apostle in our church. He gave an excellent talk titled "Good, Better, Best." Just because something is good doesn't mean it's the best for us. It is a must read no matter what your beliefs are or your stage in life.
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Our speaker said we often have the "Disease to Please." Have you ever felt this way, I have. I made the comment that there is a time and season in everyone's lives. My season for doing things will be different from another ladies whose children are grown and out of the house. We cannot fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others. Our best will be different from our friend's best. Our tries will be different. Our lives and circumstances are different. That is life and that's okay. We cannot fall into the trap of Satan. He wants us to feel discouraged and that we are underachievers. When in actuality, if you are doing the best you can do day to day, you are actually achieving a lot more than most. And remember best does not mean perfect. We are not perfect and never will be (at least not in this life time).

I was so glad I was able to be there. I felt that I couldn't not pass this great advice on to my friends. We really need to know what our priorities are in life so when those balls are coming at us full speed, we will know which ones to dodge and which ones we'll catch. And we can make those choices between good, better and best.