Battle of the Balk

Sometimes I get very frustrated with myself. OK, admittedly, MOST days I'm frustrated with myself...I identify very much with Paul's words in the book of Romans...

I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 

It seems on a daily basis, there is a plethora of things that I want to do, should do, and must do.  And I've been to enough conferences and seminars, read books, and heard teachings to know that you must prioritize in order to get to the things that are really important.  (Heck, I just posted about that very thing myself!)

And still, I struggle.  But I realized that a large part of my problem is that I give too many things a 'start', but don't follow through to complete them...and there's a whole cloud of floating 'things' hanging over my head all the time.  It's the Battle of the Balk.

Now, maybe you are unfamiliar with the term 'balk', in the form I'm thinking of.  It's a baseball term...a balk occurs when a pitcher interrupts the pitching motion.  He starts, but doesn't follow through.  It may be on purpose (to fake someone out), or unintentional.  But either way, there's an intention without follow through...and that's me.  

I have wind up almost as good as Cole's...

I wear a lot of 'hats', and so there's a lot swirling around it my head.  It's this crazy brew of schedules (for six individuals, plus a church), meal plans, sermon thoughts, craft ideas, counseling suggestions,  prayer requests, house longings, book ideas...and frankly, that is just this morning's blend!!  I feel like in any given day, I think "Okay...today I will do *this*!"  And the minute I set out to begin...wind up for the pitch, so to speak...one of those other ideas catches my eye.  And I think...."Agh...that's probably more important..."  And so I switch my focus.  For a while.  Til I remember the even MORE urgent need that I forgot about.  And so I switch again.  Thus...the wind up, but no follow through.  The balk.

I really gotta stop this balking.  It's not good for me mentally, and it accomplishes very little.  But I found a little freebie last week that I think might help.  If you suffer from the Battle of the Balk as well, you might want to check it out too.  I love the blog "Simple Mom", and this month Tsh posted her updated 'Daily Docket'.  It's a little daily 'worksheet' to help you plan and prioritize each day.  It's a free download (thanks so much Tsh!!), and I've decided it's got to be the first thing that I need to start doing and following through with...in order to start following through with a lot more!

Follow through with consistent form...that's what I'm going for...

Now, I used to be of the mindset that I probably could never REALLY make any major lasting changes in my life...sort of the "I am what I am" idea...but seeing how much we have been able to change the last few months in the area of diet and exercise makes me realize how untrue this is.  It's a new day!  I CAN change...I CAN do better...and I even WANT to!  :)

So today, my plan is...and I promise you, upon finishing this post, I'm totally going to do this...to fill out my 'Daily Docket' and follow through!!  It's already printed and sitting right by me!  Granted, I probably should have done it 2 hours ago...but hey...it's Monday...I move a little slower.  :) 

Are you a balker?  Or a straight shooter with a great follow through?







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