Taking Stock

First Place in the June 2023
"Write An Essay About..." 

There comes a time in most everyone's life when they naturally feel the need to reflect and analyze where they are in their life. For some, that might be hitting a certain age milestone, maybe you're at a crossroads and debating which direction to take, or maybe your going through something extraordinarily life changing such as marriage, divorce, birth of a hild, death of a loved one, a pivotal career change, an illness are all times when its very natural for us, as humans to take stock.

There are many different ways to go about taking stock. Journaling is quite popular and because I enjoy writing, it is my natural choice. But you can simp!y set time for yourself to be alone and focus your mind. Making a list is helpful and a great tool to allow you to see clearly where you stand. Write all the good, positive, successes you've accomplished, and then honestly write the negative, the things you haven't yet accomplished but want to. It is important to be open and honest with yourself. Lying to yourself does absolutely nothing for you.

Once you have clearly listed your accomplishments and listed those things you're still striving to achieve, you can see what needs to be done to achieve them. Now you can prioritize and organize in away that will help you advance onward and keep achieving your dreams. You now can see where your at and which direction you need to go to get to your final destination, wherever that might be.

Prayer should be a large part of your taking stock routine. Prayer is the single most powerful thing you can do. While you can do it on your own, its much more productive and meaningful if you ask the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you. If you do not lean to your own understanding but seek and act on wisdom from above. In God's Word, He says, " come, let us reason together." He yearns to be an active part in our every day lives. It .makes complete sense to ask God his perspective on where we stand and what we should do. If asked...He is more than willing to help us take stock of all aspects of our lives When Jesus would often separate himself from others and go up into the mountains, out in the wilderness, or out on the sea...during those times, I am sure Jesus took time to take stock of his life and of his ministry.

No matter where your at right now, its always a good time to pause and take stock. What's going on in your life? What decisions must you make? How will your choices impact your life? What goals seem to be going or no where? What can you do to change that? Pray diligently, then get out your paper and pen or tablet or laptop..whatever you choose to use to write out your lists. After taking stock and figuring out where you stand, you can knowledgeably and confidentially move forward to achieve even greater accomplishments that what you've already done.

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