Are you counting what counts?

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
—Psalms 90:12

How many days till mid terms? How many days till Spring Break? How many days till Go-Live? How many days till I get to go home? How many days till I graduate? How many days till I pay off my debts? How many days till I retire? How many days till the baby is due?

You are always counting. Days, hours, minutes; even seconds. Are you counting correctly? Are you counting what counts?

All too frequently you are counting the short term stuff. You know; the urgent stuff like taxes, bills, kids’ soccer schedule, piano lessons, pulling an extra shift, getting the oil changed. While you rush to count the urgent stuff you are hoping somehow you will get to the long term important stuff—like continuing your education, meaningful relationship time with the kids, with your spouse, with your friends, buying a home, starting a family, paying off your debts.

Guess what…you won’t get there! Hope is not a plan, it is an important attitude to have; but you need to be counting what counts!
You don’t learn this in college, as the rule of college is you don’t need to count ‘til the last minute. Pull an all-nighter, cram for the exam, and throw the paper together. It might have worked at school but life isn’t like college.

Life is more like the farm. If you want to harvest a crop in the fall, you better till the soil and start planting at least 120 days before. It is impossible to “cram” for the harvest on the farm. You either count your days correctly or you don’t. You either harvest a crop or you don’t. You either realize the goals of your life, like the harvest on the farm, or you don’t.

The key is counting what counts. Planning your life’s work then working the plan. I found this illustration years ago. It kind of sticks in your mind when you look at it!

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E (11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+ 5) = 96%
and
H-A-R-D-W-O- R- K (8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11) = 98%
But only:
A-T-T-I-T-U- D-E (1+20+20+9+20+ 21+4+5) = 100%

You could say that knowledge and hard work are important! 96% and 98% are pretty good levels, but only when you add attitude, do you get to 100%. You get up every morning and go about your day doing your best. Adding the understanding, of God’s grace which helps your actions be more than busy work, it adds wisdom to your way. This is attitude! Count what counts, and help each other realize the dreams of your hearts.