Priorities: Living Well

By +Jeanne Takenaka @JeanneTakenaka

What does it mean to “live well?”

Does it mean taking care of your body—exercising every day, eating right, never eating sugar, getting eight hours of sleep a night and drinking the perfect amount of water for your body?

Does it mean pouring yourself out all the time, even sacrificing things you want or need with the intention of helping others?

Does it mean pursuing that dream job, that perfect home, the nicest car, getting your kids into the best schools?

How are we spending our lives?

As I’ve considered what living well is—what it looks like—it kind of comes down to how we spend our lives. Where are we focusing our energies, our time, our love?

Are we intentional in the decisions we make? Purposeful in what we do each day?

We only get one life. We can spend it on frivolity and temporal things. Or we can spend it on building relationships and eternal things.

We can spend our life on satisfying ourselves. Or, we can spend it in pouring into others’ lives, investing in them. Valuing them.

Whether a person has a spouse and children, like me, or whether God has filled their lives with different relationships, we have one life to spend well.

How we spend our lives is determined by what our priorities are.

In my skin, living well looks like seeking Jesus first, learning to live humble and to give grace to those who are closest to me . . . even when they hurt me. I’m trying to spend my life reflecting Jesus to the world around me. Loving my husband and children in ways they understand love. Sometimes it requires a sacrifice of time, a shift in my priorities to help them excel in their days.

Living well is a pouring out of myself for others. It’s also taking time to be refreshed by the only One who perfectly pours into me. Living well happens as a result of knowing how God wants me to spend my time and then doing those things He shows me.

People live well in different ways. For some, when sickness strikes, they choose to spend their lives encouraging others, rather than wallowing in self-pity for their own condition. They deal with their own pain, the effects of their illness, but they don’t allow it to dictate how they think. They refuse to let the illness define them. They choose life through the words they speak and the things they spend their energy on.

We live well when we choose to interweave our lives—our hearts—with others . . . 

. . . when we reflect Jesus in the ways He’s designed us to.

Living well doesn’t mean living perfectly. Holding ourselves up to a standard even God doesn’t require.

Though God calls us to certain occupations and pursuits, He’s looking at our heart attitudes as we pursue these things.

Living well comes from the wellsprings of our hearts. Are we focusing on Jesus first? It’s only as we spend time with Him that we can truly grasp how to best spend our lives.

When we spend our lives reaching beyond ourselves to fulfill callings God’s placed in us . . .

. . .caring for others in the ways we’re able to . . .

. . . when we seek to do that which God gives us for the day, (which often means putting His plans above our own) . . .

Then, we are choosing to live well.

What about you? How would you define “living well?” What are you doing to live well?

I’m linking up with Kelly Balarie today over at purposefulfaith.com. Feel free to jump on over and read her wise words.