The Next Book....

Beginning today I'll be reading Getting Things Done by David Allen.  There are 256 pages and I'm committing to reading 15 pages daily.  My target complete date is March 14th.  What I hope to get out of this book is some inspiration and tips for squeezing all the important things into every day.  I need to do this.

I don't know how much time I have left to live but time is a conscious factor in my life now.  As a younger man time seemed to be an inexhaustible resource.  I am now quite aware that this is a very incorrect assumption with far reaching consequences.  To start my spiritual journey I'm focusing on what was known in my time as the 7 Deadly Sins which are:

1. Pride-excessive belief in one's own abilities to the point that the individual's ability to recognize the need for the grace of God is interfered with.  Pride has been called the sin from which all others arise.
2. Envy-the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situations
3. Gluttony-is the inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires
4. Lust-is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body
5. Anger-is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury.  It is also known as wrath
6. Greed-is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual.  It is also called avarice or covetousness
7. Sloth-is the avoidance of physical or spiritual or physical work

Although the list of the 7 deadly sins has it's roots in Catholicism, it doesn't really matter what you think about organized religion or spirituality, these notions definitely have a bad vibe and have caused endless human suffering and grief.  Oddly enough they have also served as inspiration for hundreds, maybe thousands, of books, movies and plays.

My plan is to honestly evaluate myself against each of these behaviors and ensure I'm not immersed in any of them.  Right now I feel the closest draw to Gluttony, Anger and Sloth.  My next ring of trouble includes Pride, Lust and Greed with Envy a distant number 7.  We'll see if the evaluation changes the pecking order.

Now back to "Getting Things Done".  Following up on my self evaluation I need to assume that my days are numbered (and they are), then determine what I will do today if tomorrow is my last day on the planet.

Well enough for now.  As Arnold might say "I'll be back"

Slan......