Joyful Transformation

There is a gas/station convenience store close to my house that has a boat launch across the road. For years we have called it “The Shell” as they sold Shell gasoline. Inside they sold fishing tackle, bait and water toys. In my little community if you are a Shell station you will price your gas the same as every other Shell station in town. So the other two stations would often be as much as 10 cents per gallon cheaper on gas. A few years ago they changed owners and while they are closer to my house, I will drive past them to go to the “other” store where the groceries are fresher and the people are nicer. Evidently the owners realized that there relevance to the community had been erased by a number of these factors. This week they have closed the gas pumps and added hot sandwiches and biscuits. In front of the pumps they have placed floating boat toys and other lake paraphernalia. I would assume that the owners finally realized that they had to make changes to attract customers. Repeating the same things they had always done in the past was not going to work anymore. There were two stations in close proximity that were giving more options and giving them cheaper and with a more welcoming spirit. However, this one station does have something to offer that the others do not in their lake toys and tackle. They are trying to emphasize their uniqueness and their strengths and giving up the areas in which they were ineffective.

I think I need to apply this principal to my own life. There are many things that I have done for years but that does not mean that I am doing it well or effectively. I cannot add things to my life and sacrifice having a good attitude about doing them. I AM unique. I have some things to offer that others do not. I need to spend my time and energy focusing on these things and drop some areas in which I am ineffective. Lately, life has forced me to make many of these decisions, but I want to be purposeful about it. I want to eliminate guilt over things not done and live each day with joy. Perhaps I can learn a lesson from “The Shell”.