A Matter of Perspective: Divide by 365

"If you’re running a 26-mile marathon, 
remember that every mile is run one step at a time. 
If you are writing a book, do it one page at a time. 
If you’re trying to master a new language, try it one word at a time. 
There are 365 days in the average year. 
Divide any project by 365 and you’ll find that no job is all that intimidating."
~ Charles Swindoll ~

Not a marathon...
Photo from the Cider Run 5K
To train required dedication, perseverance, and effort.
 
It was worth every moment!

The sequel to 
Where's Heidi? One Sister's Journey...
Outlining, organizing, & planning


A woman asked me this past Monday at the New Haven Farmer's Market, 
"Do you have the sequel?" 
She encouraged me as she shared how reading Where's Heidi? One Sister's Journey encouraged her, and the excitement for a sequel. 


The good news, there is one in the works...

I saw this quote by Charles Swindoll awhile ago and it peaked my interest and left me thinking. I saved it and have come back to it from time and again, there is such truth in his statement. He goes from running a marathon to writing a book but in reality, this philosophy could help us with many aspects of life. What do you think?

Here are a few I've thought of, maybe you can add to the list:
1) You get engaged and the wedding is in a year
2) You have debt and financial obligations
3) Your son/daughter leaves for college within a few years
4) Next year is a loved one's 50th, 75th, 80th, etc. birthday or anniversary and you want to throw them a big celebratory party
5) You want to own a car without taking out a loan
6) You desire to have money saved for retirement
7) ....what can you think of?

The point - when you divide anything by 365 days, or if you have a couple years to save for something, then divide it by 730 days. Example, you want to purchase a new-to-you car in two years, $6,000 divided by 730 days is $8.22 a day you need to save to pay cash. If you have three years, then you only need to save $5.50 a day. We can do this. Notice I said we?

Maybe you are striving to write your first book, the average word count is 64,000. They recommend writing an 80,000 word rough draft because you will cut thousands of words out during the revision process, even at 80,000 words for a year...this is only 220 words a day. So a paragraph a day and you have your first book written. For me personally, if I wrote 220 words a day on the sequel, I could release in 2015? Hmm...now this smaller view, mini-goal...makes things feel more achievable. Don't you agree?

Maybe you want to take your family on vacation but money is tight. Rather than think you need to save $4,000 (set it high) with a mindset "we'll never go on vacation", say, "If we save $11 a day for one year, we'll have enough to take a nice vacation." That is two people eating at McDonalds. Do you want to treat your child to fast food or Florida? It's about choices, will power, and determination.

I don't claim to have this mastered or be an expert. If anything, I'm blogging encouragement and hope to myself. I'm one to say, "We'll never be able to take a vacation" or "When does living paycheck to paycheck end?" but this quote by Charles Swindoll inspired me. I've broken some of our higher bills down using this philosophy. 

I'm a visual person so I wrote the cost per day on our calendar in the kitchen. For instance, the cellphone plan cost $9 a day, cable cost $5 a day, and etc. When we are planning things to do, is stopping for fast food or ice cream work not having cable/Wi-Fi/phone? It's a matter of perspective. 

We are a work in progress and there are days I shed pointless tears because of choices made in the past yet with this new way of looking at things...God reminds me it is possible - I might just need a smaller bit of reality because sometimes to look at the big picture discourages us, God used Charles Swindoll as a huge encouragement to me and my family. I hope it helps you too, the ultimate prize is Eternity in Heaven yet while here on earth, let us run the race of living a Godly life...It's not too late, divide it by 365.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, 
but only one gets the prize? 
Run in such a way as to get the prize.
1 Corinthians 9:24 NIV

What race, book, project, or goal are you facing? 
How does dividing by 365 help it be a reality?