I do not stress easily. There have been times in my life where some would ask, "how are you so calm right now?" and my response would almost always be, "do I have a choice?"

The single most common thing that stresses me out is when I think about time and how I am using it. I fear wasted time. I fear looking back on my life and wondering why I did things the way that I did and what an enormous waste of time it was. I fear running out of time. I fear missing the "season" or a missed opportunity.

My dad is a Sunday school teacher at the church where I grew up, to a wonderful group of men and women my age. Dad and I are also in business together, we live 10 minutes from each other, my mom keeps my son a few days a week while I am at work... We see each other a lot. He recently spent time discussing "work" in Sunday school referencing Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes 2:17 "So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind."

Growing up in the church, we are taught that you have very specific gifts, given to you by God, and that you must use these gifts and honor him. A few weeks ago I was traveling to meet with former clients and friends and a former finance client (an insightful woman, spouse and mother of four) said to me,

"Ivey, you were made by God for this time. You are a voice for this generation and bring wisdom that must be shared."

What does a woman do with that!? Words both flattering and terrifying.

I straddle two professions that are wildly similar; physical health/fitness and financial planning. I wear different clothes during each of these jobs, but that is the only difference. The message is arguably the same and the work done accomplishes very similar goals. I have known for a very long time that I am exactly where I need to be. I love what I do and it rarely feels like work to me. I have forever been devoted to my goals, the thought of not accomplishing them can be paralyzing to me.

I had a "stress" moment recently. Thinking about my time. i have physical goals and challenges that i want to accomplish. I love the role I play in my various businesses and There are so many people to reach, so much waiting to be said and so much "work" to be done.

On occasion I have these thoughts, "If only I could just take a month off and go on a 'sabbatical' from my day to day responsibilities. Leave my family and work non stop." but at what cost?? What is worth leaving my family? Nothing is worth neglecting the ones you love. I often find that I desire a life in the future, when I don't have to work as hard from day to day. Because then 'it' will all be done and I will have 'arrived'. Do we ever really arrive? And why would I want do? Because then what? I am realizing that I am afraid that my time, my chance to be great, my time to make an impact...is escaping me.

Ecclesiastes goes on to say "I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind."

Brilliance. Why do I want everything done today? Because I rival others and I am afraid someone else will get there before I do. What vanity!! Can we not both have the same ideas and successes? Of course we can!

The writer then brilliantly transitions into Ecclesiastes 3 "A time for everything". Thank you to Pete Seeger and The Byrds for turning this into such a great song.

Ecclesiastes 3:10-13 "I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God."

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 was actually read at my wedding.

Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

How could I ever alienate those that I love? How could I walk away from my family and those who support me in order to pursue my work. This applies to long stretches of time when I am distracted by my many ambitions, times when i am engrossed in training/competitions, but also in the day to day when I am just not actively present. These are the people that hold me up when I fall, they teach me lessons and provide wisdom for my journey. Even if we are in fact using our God given skills in pursuit of our work, what good is our work and toil if we neglect those who love and support us along the way? what good is our work If we do not rest and enjoy the fruits of our labor? If we do not practice gratitude and experience joy?

All that I really have to say is this;

Your life is a gift. it is yours for the taking and it is right in front of you. Do not waste your time. But do not fear the passing of time. There is a reason why I am not able to do everything that I want right now. There are lessons that I must learn in this time to enable me to accomplish something much greater tomorrow and in the days to come.

Be patient. Be open to lessons. Be present.

-IV

work is meaningless.