Going Casual

In the past few years I've heard about, read about, and even discussed the growing trend in our culture of people becoming more casual. I've observed this in the way we interact with each other. As examples: first names are used intergenerationally and texting is about as informal as it gets. Fashion trends also demonstrate this. Who would have thought that seeing other people's underwear would become commonplace? Additionally, many are comfortable wearing "beach" clothing to church, school graduations, and even funerals (which I consider to be the epitome of somber and formal). I could go on with many more examples, but you get my point.

Anyway, tonight I was at a council meeting wherein I was representing an organization and I realized that I have grown casual in things that are very important. I wasn't very prepared for this meeting. I showed up early, but I didn't have my input on paper nor well organized in my thoughts. The result was that I wasted other people's time because instead of taking just one turn during the roundtable, I took three. I kept remembering other things that needed to be discussed after it had already been my turn. Of course, I recognize that my actions tonight were far from criminal, but it hit me pretty deeply. So, as a result I'm recommitting myself to be prepared instead of being casual in my approach.

My goal is to apply this not only to meetings I attend, but to life in general. I want to be purposeful. Since I live alone it is easy to 'drift'. I can easily go through a week without planning my meals or my evenings, but when this happens I also generally waste a fair amount of time. I'm going to take time to plan out my weeks instead of sort of letting them happen to me. Most importantly, I will be more purposeful about my spirituality. Just like meetings and time management, I need to stop being so casual about my relationship with my Lord. Scripture study, meditation, and prayers will be done while I'm alert and aware instead of waiting until my eyes are drooping. Any one want to join in??