{"id":168,"date":"2009-09-06T09:44:17","date_gmt":"2009-09-06T09:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/flirtingwithfaith\/2009\/09\/calm-within-the-storm-and-keeping-our-priorities-straight-is-it-possible.html"},"modified":"2009-09-06T09:44:17","modified_gmt":"2009-09-06T09:44:17","slug":"calm-within-the-storm-and-keeping-our-priorities-straight-is-it-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flirtingwithfaith\/2009\/09\/calm-within-the-storm-and-keeping-our-priorities-straight-is-it-possible.html","title":{"rendered":"Calm Within the Storm and Keeping Our Priorities Straight: Is it Possible?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<p>If you&#8217;re anything like me you have more on your plate than there are hours in the day. I&#8217;m not complaining, mind you. My to-do list is filled with things I love to do &#8211; teaching great kids at a wonderful university, studying a subject I am very interested in for my PhD, completing final edits on a book that I am thrilled to share when it is released in May, 2010 (yes, the schedule changed a bit) plus speaking, blogging and other random writing gigs. Add to that things like hanging out in the bookstore with Ian and Martin before family dinner tonight and other day-to-day fun (and sometimes not so fun) stuff and 24\/7 fills up pretty quickly.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Of course I could &#8220;just say no&#8221;, something I am sure I will be called upon to do as I proceed through what stands to be one of the busiest years I&#8217;ve had in a long time. While there was a time in my life that &#8220;no&#8221; was not an option, I&#8217;ve come to a place where I am both willing and able to step away from things that distract me from what I am actually meant to do. That said, for the moment, I am confident that the things that are on my plate are meant to be answered with a resounding yes and a prayer for calm, patience and guidance in the direction of right priorities that will result in balance between family, friends and work. \u00a0<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>I have to admit that part of me questions whether it is actually possible for me to be calm within the storm and keep my priorities straight. I&#8217;m a <span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-style: italic\">procrastinate-until-the-deadline-is-so-tight-that-you-must-sequester-yourself-to-the-exclusion-of-all-other-things<\/span> kind of girl. \u00a0Yet I feel called to take steps in the direction of balance, this modern-day Holy Grail, one day and one prayer at a time.\u00a0<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>How about you? What part does balance (or lack of it) play in your life &#8211; especially when life is hectic? \u00a0 \u00a0<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;re anything like me you have more on your plate than there are hours in the day. I&#8217;m not complaining, mind you. My to-do list is filled with things I love to do &#8211; teaching great kids at a wonderful university, studying a subject I am very interested in for my PhD, completing final&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":181,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spiritual-growth"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Calm Within the Storm and Keeping Our Priorities Straight: Is it Possible? - Flirting with Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flirtingwithfaith\/2009\/09\/calm-within-the-storm-and-keeping-our-priorities-straight-is-it-possible.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Calm Within the Storm and Keeping Our Priorities Straight: Is it Possible? - Flirting with Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you&#8217;re anything like me you have more on your plate than there are hours in the day. 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My to-do list is filled with things I love to do &#8211; teaching great kids at a wonderful university, studying a subject I am very interested in for my PhD, completing final&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flirtingwithfaith\/2009\/09\/calm-within-the-storm-and-keeping-our-priorities-straight-is-it-possible.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Flirting with Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-09-06T09:44:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joan Ball\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Calm Within the Storm and Keeping Our Priorities Straight: Is it Possible? - Flirting with Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flirtingwithfaith\/2009\/09\/calm-within-the-storm-and-keeping-our-priorities-straight-is-it-possible.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Calm Within the Storm and Keeping Our Priorities Straight: Is it Possible? - Flirting with Faith","og_description":"If you&#8217;re anything like me you have more on your plate than there are hours in the day. 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