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Finding Peace in Chaos - Plotting a Course

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This article is part of a series on finding peace in everyday chaos. It may be better to start from the beginning.

Beware believing that riding the wave is the greatest achievement in pursuing peace in everyday chaos! I’ve been painfully reminded over and over that the same skills that help me navigate daily life can hold me back from finding peace.

Those of us with a passive temperament easily embrace the lifestyle of letting life happen to us. We’re content adapting to our circumstances. We pride ourselves on being flexible, docile, and open to whatever life throws at us.

Isn’t this simple humility a good thing?

I’ve often thought so, only to be rudely disappointed. Letting life happen to me has caused trouble in several ways that can be rolled up into:

  • Stunted growth
  • Looming dread

Stunted Growth

The hard work of my team was being recognized. After more than a year of leading several direct reports who worked in four unique disciplines, we had grown our business intelligence solution to the point that it made sense to break up the team into our company’s regular divisions. I kept the development team. Suddenly, I was responsible for half as many people and one-quarter of the complexity.

I wasn’t equipped.

Riding the wave had meant fighting fires all day every day. A frenetic schedule with plenty of unplanned conversations, action items, and crises was routine. I had used “being busy” as an excuse not to learn less exciting, but deeply important, skills like recognizing a job well done, planning projects to run smoothly, and carefully assessing performance.

I had focused so much on staying above the waves that I lost track of where I wanted to go. My career had progressed, but I had not kept up with it.

This was not a recipe for peace!

Looking Dread

In my personal life, I was better at keeping track of responsibilities and getting things entered on the calendar. However, my backlog of things to do was full of projects and phone calls that were going to be difficult or unpleasant. Every day I looked at those items and every day I decided I was simply too busy to deal with them.

As they say, tomorrow never comes. I spent much of my time dreading what I was putting off, knowing that every time I procrastinated would only make it harder when the time finally came to face it.

Needless to say, dread and peace don’t go well together!

Plotting the Course

Riding the waves of life will consume every ounce of energy we give. I haven’t found the point where living my life well is carefree and effortless with ample free time to pursue interests, hobbies, and skills.

I’m slowly realizing that no one is going to schedule time for me to set and accomplish long-term goals. No one is going to firmly insist that today’s the day I need to complete that project I’ve been putting off.

That’s not true. My wife will tell me that, but she shouldn’t have to!

This is an emerging skill for me. At this point, all I know how to do is pray through my calendar each morning, asking for the grace to ride the wave, and then pondering what God wants me to accomplish. What course does He want me to follow? What do I need to make happen or spend time on? Where is God going in my life? Peace will be wherever He is.

Where is God calling you? What can you do today that will move you down that path? God is always on the move, let’s learn to follow wherever he leads.

The path to peace sounds nice enough, but how do I navigate the competing responsibilities in my life? Let's talk about making our vocations get along!
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