Is your life crowded?  Do you have too much to do and not enough time to do it?  Do you feel like you are always on the run, but never really getting anywhere?  Are you often frustrated and exasperated?  Do you need “Calgon” to take you away?

I talk with a lot of people everyday, who are experiencing these kinds of feelings on a regular basis.  Often when we get to feeling this way, we respond by just saying no.  We think “My life has become too crowded and something has got to go!”

We are usually right in thinking that something has got to go, but the tragedy is that most folks send the wrong stuff packing.  When our lives get crowded, the instinct is to cut stuff out, but the problem is when we start cutting, we often cut the stuff that fills us back up.

If you get rid of an activity, service or ministry that fills you, then you may actually be doing more harm than good.  The best way to un-crowd your life, is to take a look at all that you have to do and be.  (MAKE A LIST!)

Now that you have your list make two categories:  (Fills Me! & Empties Me!)  Put all that you have to do and be under one of these two categories.  If it fills you, then you need to seriously consider if letting it go and pushing it out of your life is the best thing.

If it empties you, then you need to ask yourself some hard questions:  Can my life survive without this?  Will my life be better without this?  How will this impact others that I care about?  If you can feel good about the answers to these questions, then let it slide on out of your life!

Now let’s take a look at the “Fills Me!” list.  You may still have more than you can say grace over, so take a look at all that you have to do.  Are you doing so much that you can’t give your best to what is really important?  Take this list and make a list of what you must do to continue living – these things are not optional!

Now with whatever you have left that you don’t have to do, ask yourself:  Is there anything on this list that I can live with not being a part of?  If there is, then cut it from your life, even if it is just temporary.

When working on these list it is important to remember priorities:  God, Family, Friends, Service, Work!  Try to keep things in the right order.  I hope this helps you to think through all that you have going in your life and enables you to un-crowd in the right way!