Life is working down your list

The key to life is working down your list. 

We've all got a list. Life starts getting the best of us when our list gets out of control, but all we can do is take the items on it one at a time and try to take care of that single item. 

Sometimes we can't seem to get that done. That often means we have a task on our list that is too large to get done so it defeats us, confounds us. That's when we need to break it down into parts, small pieces that we can accomplish, and work it down that way.

A list is immortal. We never finish it, and when we die someone else has to take over what is left on our list and finish the items on it, along with the task of planting us. But what if there's something on our list we simply can't do? We all know the Serenity Prayer, "Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference."

This is a classic, and it became a classic because of the eternal truth contained in it. We have to know when to turn things over to God. I'm bad about that. I was raised as many men were to saddle my own broncs and take care of my own problems, to accept responsibility for taking care of those in my charge.

The Lord has taken me to the woodshed several times for that, let me crash and burn for trying to do things myself instead of turning them over to him. I do have to learn what I can and should do and what I need to turn over to the Lord, and I need to seek his counsel and guidance in the rest of it.

I have a lot of trouble breaking myself of riding that old horse named pride. I've ridden him far too often.