It’s like being presented with a buffet of culinary delights before you. You have a limited appetite, a fixed amount of time to enjoy your meal, and yet boundless choices to choose from. From Mediterranean salads to European cheese platters to Asian sashimi and sushi, even the appetizers alone leave you in a whirl.
Life, is often like that.
While most of our daily meals are routine and perhaps even bland, there are occasions which present themselves as a banquet. In those times, we want to leave feeling satisfied, not stuffed.
Just about a week ago, I had an uncanny deluge of interview requests from back home. After the hoo-ha of the Singapore Woman Award died down, Channel News Asia, another TV channel and an unexpected magazine title wrote to request for film and print interviews. All had deadlines to meet, and had a fairly wide viewership. There seemed reasons aplenty to accept the interviews, given they all had the intention to inspire its viewers.
I was about to accept them all, when I sensed God’s quiet nudge within me to prioritize. It was then that I learned, that while we should say YES to what’s important, we need to learn to say NO to what’s urgent, and less/ not important. Often, the key is not in simply learning to overcome our pride to say no, but in discerning the urgent from the important, and to identify the overlaps between the two.
When we fail to, distractions and interruptions vie for our attention, causing us to lose focus or fail to give our best for what is important or critical.
Our of the 3 requests, I declined the other 2.
One was an entertainment channel, with choppy and inconsistent email replies; the other was a famous female magazine, once banned in Singapore for its racy content, wishing to shortlist me as one of their magazine title female award finalists.
I learned, that not every door that opens is meant to be walked through. In that short week where the trio of interview requests uncannily made their appearance, I had to pick that which would make the most impact, in the most wholesome, educational, inspiring way.
With Channel News Asia being willing to send a crew down to visit us in Uganda in the next few weeks to film a documentary about Singaporeans making a difference abroad, their viewership of 50 million households in more than 25 countries, I felt at peace that investing my time into this would make the most impact with the limited time we had in our remaining days, in the pearl of Africa.
I am learning that after all, life is like a buffet. We’re not meant to partake of everything on all the platters. When we do, we find ourselves stuffed to nausea with surfeit, and unable to truly savour the few but nourishing delights we love, and to enjoy the meaningful company along with it.
What are the choices you need to make today?
Don’t be afraid to say NO.
Invest into what’s truly important.
Photo source: http://www.theprivatechefhawaii.com/farm/