What's Driving You?

I hate putting on makeup. Whoa, blogger boy!  That’s too much information!

Perhaps I should have put quotation marks around that first sentence so you would know that Mrs. Sweetie said it.  Although I have done some acting that required stage makeup, it is not a part of my daily routine.  I have a natural beauty. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist).

Since makeup is the final part of her morning prep, it sometimes happens in the car while I drive.  This particular revelation happened on the way to church Sunday morning.  The follow up clarification was that it is the process of putting on makeup, not the finished product, that is the source of frustration. 

Together we pondered other similar life situations. I like being clean shaven (on the parts of my face where I do not maintain elective facial hair), but shaving is the pits.  (To clarify, I neither wear makeup nor shave my pits.)  I like having a clean house with everything in its proper place, but cleaning house is not my idea of a fun Saturday.  I love being married, but as I mentioned in a previous post, getting married is a pain.  I have a great office in a beautiful new building, but the process that got us there has been one of my least favorite life experiences of all time.

We came to a profound conclusion:  there is a cost to anything that matters.  Ok, maybe it’s not that profound, but it did make for a good conversation.  And in the course of the conversation, Mrs. Sweetie said, “I’ll bet this is going to be your column this week.”  She is not only strikingly beautiful; she is brilliant and has exquisite taste in men. 

Anything that really matters costs time, effort, and focus.  Every desired outcome has a necessary process.  The more important the outcome, the more costly the process.  I can be clean shaven in less than five minutes.  Having a good marriage requires more time and effort.  The process of writing about how our lives matter to God takes me about an hour a week.  Living out the reality I’m writing about requires considerably more of me.

“Begin with the end in mind” is one of Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  The idea is to see our processes in light of our desired outcomes.  It reminds me a little of what the Bible says.

“ … let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)

Our lives matter so much that Jesus focused his earthly process on our ultimate benefit.  What outcome drives your process today?