“Decision fatigue is the deterioration of our ability to make good decisions after making lots of decisions. . . . One key to making good decisions is making fewer decisions, and that’s where predecisions come into play. That said, seeding the clouds is not one and done. You have to reset throughout the day.”- Mark Batterson
In Chapter 13 (“Now or Never”), the final chapter of Win the Day, Mark Batterson offers an important observation on seeding the clouds. He views the process as the sacred awareness that you possess one shot at life. Therefore, you only live in this moment – right here, right now.
However, Pastor Batterson cautions, we must guard against decision fatigue. Mark defines the term as the deterioration of our ability to make good decisions. That after making lots of decisions. Hence, predecisions enable us to make fewer — and thus good — decisions.
Next, the author notes, a curious word surfaces in the Psalms severity-one times. While the derivation of the word appears to be a mystery, it seems to refer to a musical notation. For the word Selah represents a short rest. Think of it as little moments in the day when you’re not conscious of the clock.
Above all, Mark contends, we need a few more of these eighth rests. Therefore, selah helps us live fully present in the moment. And, selah turns up the volume on the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, Mark offers three ways to remain focused, positive, and centered:
- Start your day with silence. Now and then we all need a little peace and quiet. Because that’s when God speaks the loudest. As French philosopher Blaise Pascal said, “The sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he doesn’t know how to stay quietly in his own room.”
- Take your thoughts captive. Your focus determines your reality. One aspect of selah is stopping long enough to smell the roses. Finding little ways to be grateful for turns minutes into moments.
- Play the long game. Again, Blaise Pascal weighs in: “Our imagination so magnifies the present because we are constantly thinking about it, and so reduces eternity because we do not think about it, that we turn eternity into nothing and nothing into eternity.”
Today’s question: How does decision fatigue affect you? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Pounding the pavement – seeding the clouds”
