Margin

First of all...thank you mom for steering me back on track...


Now...a word about Margin. I was given a book to read by my mother about a year ago. And, of course, life being busy, pushed the book into a drawer, yet to be opened. Well, a year later, I'm opening the book.


I started to read the introduction and that's as far as I got.


A few excerpts, quoted directly from A Minute of Margin, by Richard A. Swenson...


"MARGIN IS LIKE oxygen - everybody needs some. If we have too little, we suffer from the shortage. If we have too much, the excess will not benefit us additionally. But having the right amoung permits us to breathe freely."


Ok...lets stop there. Besides oxygen, since it is important for umm....life...this concept of Margin and its coorelation to Life in and balance is so true. Keyword: Balance and just the right amount.


...back to the book...


"Margin is space, specifically the space between our load and our limits. It is this space that enhances vitality and resilence. It is this space that guarnatees sustainability. It is in this space where healing occurs, where our batteries are recharged, where our relationships are nourished, and where wisdom is found. Without margin, both rest and contemplation are both theorectical concepts, unaffordable and unrealistic."


Ok...can I just say wow! This is so true. Its amazing to think that something as simple as space can affect our lives in so many ways. It is this space that drives the results of our actions, attitudes and relationships.


So with all that being said, why don't I or we for that matter have margin or space in our lives. Well, lets read on...


"Our enemy is also our beneficiary: progress. Progress is helpful but not pure. Even as progress results in many advantages, it is also accompanied by disadvantages. Progress brings blessing, but it also brings pain. ...progress always gives us more and more of everything, faster and faster. ... When overloaded, however, more and more, faster and faster becomes problematic. The bottleneck is the established fact of human limits."


Hear that...we, us, humans...have LIMITS. Imagine that. I unfortunately seem to throw those to the wind more often than not. Such is life...for me. But why? Why is it like that? Why do I allow it? Part of my nature to constantly be striving for the next thing to advance me, my career, the next opportunity? I'm a very driven person so the word NO rarely is in my vocabularly. This can be dangerous. Yes, I even admit it. But it is something learned.


Space, or Margin...will allow for me to begin saying No and focusing on the core of me and who I am.


I'm going to take my mom's advice and try and read through this book, each day and try and reflect on what I read and the application to my own life. Maybe that will bring about some answers.


The next installment of Margin will be forthcoming... maybe I'll find simplicity through margin.