Margins Create Space for…

1. Laughter: You can’t laugh if everything is serious.
2. Generosity: You can’t give if you have nothing left.
3. Memories: You can’t remember if you weren’t present.
4. Prayer: You can’t pray if you’re self-sufficient.
5. Dreams: You can’t dream if you can’t imagine.
6. Love: You can’t love if you’re self-absorbed.
7. Exercise: You can’t exercise if you don’t value yourself.
8. Creativity: You can’t create if you’re merely a machine.
9. Experimentation: You can’t experiment if you don’t have time to fail.
10. Reflection: You can’t reflect if you don’t value rest.
11. Spontaneity: You can’t be in the moment if you’re stuck in the future.
12. Rest: You can’t sit if you can’t stop.
13. Joy: You can’t pour out if you haven’t been filled up.
14. Peace: You can’t breathe deeply if you can’t catch your breath. (Tweet This or Share on Facebook)
15. Friendships: You can’t expect to have friends if you fail to be one.

You can’t survive without food, water, or sleep. (College students might disagree with the sleep part.) Yet many people believe you can survive and even thrive without margins. Your Designer seemed to think otherwise by gifting you one full day of rest and recreation every seven.

Your New Friend Named Margin

Have you ever tried reading something without margins? I have. Not fun. I remember back in graduate school, before the days of e-books. For one of my classes I occasionally photocopied a few pages from a massive 20 pound reference book. I’d shrink the text to fit the oversized page onto an 8½ by 11 inch piece of paper.

When my photocopies came out, I struggled trying to read the small font that ran off the edges of the page. In no time at all, my eyes would jump lines and I’d end up losing my place. Frustration would set in and the entire process proved unenjoyable at best.

This describes Day Jobbers perfectly. They keep trying to squeeze more into their schedules. Without any edges, they struggle and lose their place in life. Frustration sets in and their lives are unenjoyable at best, hardly a picture of fulfillment.

What’s the solution?

If you want fulfillment you must create something every Dream Jobber has in their life—margins!

QUESTION: What other things do people miss when they don’t have margins in their lives? (Please comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts. And if you know someone who needs to read this, please encourage them by sharing this post)