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Viewpoint from Matt Ashpole 04/10/2019
 Matt Ashpole
Youth Work Leader at Identity Youth Project
as published in the Great Yarmouth Mercury
Busy?
Growing up, I loved sport. I played rugby, coached tennis, loved a good basketball game, and soon after leaving college, I became a personal trainer. Fast forward nearly seven years and I rarely play any sport. Not for the lack of desire, but rather for lack of ‘time’. The truth is, adult life is busy
 ‘Busy’ is becoming an ever popularised answer to the question “How’re you doing?” It’s like we’re competing for the title of ‘busiest of all time’. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge believer in hard work and determination but I also believe that we weren’t created for a life of busyness and stress. Personally, I find I’m at my best when I am operating out of a place of rest. It is at these times when I’m most effective, able to influence positive change and encourage others
As I have matured, I have come to realise that we have time for what we make time for. We all have the same 24 hours each day but how we choose to use them will differ immensely. Recently, for various reasons, I decided to get back into the habit of going to the gym – something I had previously said I didn’t have time for. Guess what… I now make time and I’m loving it!
 "I’d love to…but I just don’t have time" - I wonder when you last said that? Perhaps if you’re honest with yourself there have been times when you have seen someone in need but have been ‘too busy’ to help – I know this has been true of me in the past
With ever increasing demands on life it is crucial that we are intentional about saying yes to the right things. We need to realise that with every yes there is actually a no. If I say ‘yes’ to setting up another youth group I am actually saying ‘no’ to an evening with my beautiful wife. We need to count the cost of our ‘yes’ so to speak!
In the Bible, within one of his New Testament letters to the people of Corinth – the Apostle Paul wrote “So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing”. Have you been too busy to find your purpose? Don’t let life get in the way of asking the questions that matter
photo courtesy of Brian Philpott
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