Pruning. 2 things to cut from your life. And why to-don’ts are the boss of to-do’s. Today’s pick of the day.

It was hard but I did it. My hydrangea was top heavy, two leggy limbs nurturing blooms. But to sprout growth on the bottom, I had to prune the top, blooms included. Ouch. Now a few days later, lower limbs are filling in, and more blooms are budding. It was a productive pruning.

Such as life. Often the hardest cuts are the most productive. Negative people, bad habits, or time wasters are things we should eliminate, but we put them on the back burner without realizing the cost.

To don’ts are more important than to do’s. It is the equivalent of knowing who you are not in order to know who you are. “I am not a gossiper. I am not a liar. I am not a cheater. I am not an adulteress. I am not an over spender. I am not a person who runs late. I am not a person who won’t listen to others. I am not a perfectionist. I will not disrespect my…..” You get the drift.

Pruning  spurs growth. It creates room in your life to allow boundaries to do their job. Here are three suggestions.

1. Who are you not? Start a journal. Make a list. I am not a ….. for me those would look something like. “I am not a wimp. I am not quick to speak. I do not spend what I do not have. I am not a gossiper. I am not a complainer. I am not lazy.” Yours will vary.

2. Who am I as a result of who I am not? (Note the opposite effect). Keep the journal going. “I am strong. I listen before I speak. I operate within our budget. I am an encourager.  I will speak words of life and faith. I will work out regularly.”

Our agenda’s are our biggest tool or either our worst enemy. Are you a tough you? One who guards carefully what you allow to grow in your life?  Excersise discipline to know who you are, who you are not, and make an intentional to-don’t list.

The most important meeting you have is the one with yourself. Alone. With God and that journal. Start cutting. You know what needs to go. Prune it.

There is no person so magnetic as one who is confident, content in their own skin, and free to make decisions out of a strong sense of self. That is the person unafraid to exert boundaries that protect themselves from who they are not.

Pruning. Cut back so that you can grow stronger.  Today’s pick of the day.