Before we complicate life, perhaps we should notice what keeps showing up.
TIME.
HEALTH.
MONEY.
DESIRE.
Four powerful parts of earthly living.
You don’t own them completely.
But while they are entrusted to you…
YOU STEWARD THEM.
LIFE’S FOUR BASIC PILLARS — TIME, HEALTH, MONEY & DESIRE
We are birthed into a giant mystery that begins unraveling the moment we arrive.
MMMMM?
What’s going on here?
Who am I?
What am I supposed to do?
What do I need?
What do I want?
Where am I going?
Life starts teaching before we even know we’re students.
We learn.
We experiment.
We make mistakes.
We correct.
We add things.
We let things go.
And somewhere during this short visit, we hopefully discover how to live more completely instead of merely staying busy.
Before your next event, problem, pursuit or ordinary day…
PAUSE.
Notice the wonder surrounding you both INSIDE and OUT.
Because beneath much of the complexity we have created are four basic pillars that repeatedly affect earthly life:
TIME.
HEALTH.
MONEY.
DESIRE.
WHAT’S GOING ON? — THE BIG PICTURE
That’s one of my favorite questions because it applies almost everywhere.
WHAT’S GOING ON?
Look around.
Plants grow.
Animals move.
Insects perform their little assignments.
Seasons change.
Day follows night.
Life appears, participates and eventually departs.
Human beings enter the same living world…
but we have something interesting added to our experience.
WE KNOW WE ARE HERE.
We can observe ourselves observing.
We can question.
We can choose.
We can wonder.
And that changes everything.
WHAT’S GOING ON? — THE LITTLE PICTURE
WE.
US.
YOU.
THEM.
Billions of human beings are presently going about their individual lives while countless generations came before us.
Each person is introduced to life and then must somehow decide what to do with it.
Needs appear.
Wants appear.
Responsibilities arrive.
Opportunities knock.
Problems interrupt.
People enter.
People leave.
And every day we continue discovering ourselves and the world around us.
Through much of that journey, these four pillars keep appearing.
TIME
Everybody answers to time.
Rich.
Poor.
Powerful.
Unknown.
Young.
Old.
Time isn’t impressed.
You are given a portion of it, but you aren’t told exactly how much.
That’s what makes it precious.
We casually say:
I’ll do it tomorrow.
I’ll call them later.
I’ll go someday.
I’ll start when things settle down.
MMMMM?
Maybe.
But TIME never signed that agreement.
On the smaller scale, time helps organize our lives.
Morning.
Afternoon.
Evening.
Appointments.
Work.
Rest.
Birthdays.
Anniversaries.
Seasons.
Years.
On the larger scale, time quietly measures our entire earthly visit.
Therefore:
DON’T JUST SPEND TIME.
INVEST SOME OF IT.
Give time to people you love.
Give time to your purpose.
Give time to rest.
Give time to learning.
Give time to God.
And occasionally give time to absolutely NOTHING except sitting quietly and realizing…
I’M HERE.
HEALTH
Health is another remarkable gift we often appreciate most when something goes wrong.
Your body has been working since before you knew you had one.
Heart beating.
Lungs breathing.
Eyes seeing.
Ears hearing.
Blood circulating.
Wounds healing.
Food processing.
Muscles moving.
Brain coordinating.
Most of this happens without you standing around giving instructions.
MMMMM?
That’s worth noticing.
We become irritated when the machinery needs maintenance…
but perhaps we should spend more time appreciating it while it is functioning.
Try appreciating BETTER…
without first having to experience WORSE.
Take reasonable care of yourself.
Move.
Rest.
Eat wisely.
Laugh.
Breathe.
And remember that this body isn’t merely something you LOOK like.
For this portion of the journey…
IT IS WHAT YOU TRAVEL IN.
Treat your transportation accordingly.
MONEY
Unless you’re living completely off the land, money becomes another earthly pillar.
We need revenue.
Food costs money.
Shelter costs money.
Transportation costs money.
Families require support.
Businesses require capital.
Opportunities frequently require resources.
So we educate ourselves, develop skills, work, create, save, invest and participate in the economic systems surrounding us.
Nothing inherently wrong with that.
But here’s where things become interesting.
MONEY IS A TOOL.
The trouble begins when the tool becomes the master.
I’ve written about inner and outer wealth before.
Money can purchase comfort.
It can provide opportunity.
It can solve certain problems.
It can help other people.
It can buy you some freedom to pursue worthwhile things.
But it cannot replace character.
It cannot manufacture genuine love.
It cannot purchase another lifetime.
And no matter how much accumulates…
YOU STILL LEAVE IT HERE.
Ten cents or ten million…
we are borrowers.
Use money.
Enjoy some of it.
Share some.
Steward it.
But don’t allow something temporary to purchase something eternal inside you.
DESIRE
Now we arrive at a fascinating one.
DESIRE.
The WANT TO.
Something inside says:
I want to learn that.
I want to build that.
I want to help.
I want to explore.
I want to create.
I want to climb that mountain.
I want to start that business.
I want to know God.
I want to understand myself.
Proper desire can become an invitation.
It gets you moving.
It awakens dormant abilities.
It introduces you to parts of yourself that sitting still might never reveal.
But desire also needs stewardship.
Because desire without wisdom can become appetite.
Appetite without moderation can become excess.
And excess can eventually become bondage.
Wanting something isn’t necessarily the problem.
Ask another question:
WHY DO I WANT IT?
MMMMM?
Now we’re getting somewhere.
ADD THEM ALL UP
TIME.
HEALTH.
MONEY.
DESIRE.
Sometimes you have all four working beautifully together.
You have the time.
Your health permits it.
You have sufficient resources.
And your heart genuinely wants to do it.
GO!
Those are marvelous moments.
Other times one pillar is missing.
You have money but no time.
Time but poor health.
Health and time but insufficient money.
Everything necessary except…
YOU DON’T WANT TO DO IT.
Life moves these pieces around constantly.
That’s why I don’t believe life should be reduced to some rigid little formula.
Life is alive.
It moves.
We move with it.
STEWARD — DON’T CONTROL
Here is where humility enters.
We like to think everything answers to us.
It doesn’t.
Time certainly doesn’t.
Health can surprise us.
Money comes and goes.
Desires change as we mature.
So instead of trying to dominate everything…
STEWARD WHAT IS PRESENT.
Use what you have while you have it.
WORTHY NOTE:
Do not abuse these pillars or try to manipulate them into serving every appetite.
Wield them with respect and purpose.
Experiment.
Learn.
Adjust.
And appreciate.
DON’T PLAY ONE AGAINST THE OTHER
This is important.
Don’t destroy your HEALTH trying to make MONEY…
only to spend all your MONEY trying to recover your HEALTH.
Don’t sacrifice every minute of your TIME pursuing things you don’t really DESIRE…
and then discover there is no time left for what mattered.
Don’t allow DESIRE to consume your MONEY…
or MONEY to dictate every DESIRE.
Balance?
Sure.
But I prefer another word:
HARMONY.
Let them work together when possible.
ALL CHILDREN ARE GIVEN THIS
Want to see these gifts operating naturally?
Watch little children.
They have time and don’t know what a clock is.
They have energy and use it.
Money means very little to them.
And desire?
WOW!
I WANT TO SEE THAT!
I WANT TO TOUCH THAT!
WHY?
HOW?
WHAT’S THAT?
They explore.
They fall.
They get up.
They laugh.
They move on.
They can extract more life from a cardboard box than some adults can get from a luxury automobile.
MMMMM?
Perhaps growing older isn’t only about learning more.
Maybe part of maturity is learning what complexity we should LET GO OF.
QUALITY OR QUANTITY?
I seek harmonious ways to sample the richness and wonder of life.
SIP INSTEAD OF GULP.
You don’t need everything.
You don’t need to experience everything.
You don’t need to own everything.
And you certainly don’t need to prove everything.
Maybe optimum living isn’t accumulating the greatest quantity.
Maybe it’s becoming fully present for the portion that actually belongs to you.
Your TIME.
Your HEALTH.
Your MONEY.
Your DESIRES.
Use them.
Respect them.
Share through them.
Learn from them.
And eventually…
release them.
THE FIFTH THING WATCHING THE FOUR
There is something else worth pondering.
YOU.
You are the one observing these four pillars.
You notice time passing.
You experience the body.
You decide what money means.
You examine desire.
So perhaps the greatest stewardship isn’t merely managing the four pillars.
It is managing THE PERSON USING THEM.
Character matters.
Conscience matters.
Purpose matters.
The inner person matters.
Because ultimately it isn’t merely what you possessed during your visit.
It is what your interaction with these things helped you BECOME.
THANKS FOR HAVING ME
At some point, time here ends.
The body finishes its assignment.
The money remains behind.
Earthly desires become irrelevant.
MMMMM?
What remains?
That’s worth wondering about while we’re still here.
I like the attitude of a grateful guest.
I was invited.
I participated.
I tasted.
I learned.
I loved.
I wondered.
I gave something back.
And when my portion was complete…
THANKS FOR HAVING ME.
If there is more after that…
THANK YOU for that too.
Until then…
Steward what you’ve been given.
And sip deeply enough to taste it.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
Been expecting you