One of my discoveries is that the reason we can’t do the things that we used to do well is that we slowly let the environment that supports those things erode, disappear, or get cluttered beyond usefulness.  The culprit isn’t just time, there’s just not enough attention paid to the things that support the environment in which the good activities thrive!

On the soccer.  I drove kids around, went to PTA meetings, recitals, games, etc for 20 years.  At one point I decided to play “old-fart baseball” as an outlet for daddy. 

It made me a happier person, and I found a love of the game that I had lost since leaving high school.  I tore a tendon in my elbow my senior year and lost my scholarship.  But i never stopped wanting to play.

I still play baseball every thursday night.  And I do it because its important to me.  My wife likes to watch the games, my kids think its funny to watch old guys run around slow.  Its a great family outing. 

That said, I agree there are times when I felt God had me give something up for a season.  But I also think it important for us to do something, no matter how small, for ourselves.  My wife’s is working out. Those 2 hours are her lifeblood, and we all like her better when she does it. ;>)

This does not always fit in with the idea of self-sacrifice.  I guess we just have to sensitive to God’s leading.

Just a couple of weeks ago I came to a similar conclusion, and wrote about it here if you have any interest. Basically, I desperately needed balance in my life, but realized: balance requires sacrifice.

Thanks for a great post!

But, I’m really unorganized.  One thing I need to do is purge my life of meaningless stuff.

I’d also like to simplify my decision making process and not over analyze everything until the absolute death.

I like the way you said that ‘No’ is your new default answer.  This is such an important step!  For a long time, it was my default; then, I started feeling like I deserved to allow myself to say ‘Yes’ more.  And I did.  Life became paniced and stressful, until I realized that I needed to change that default back to ‘No.’