A Space for Margin
I’ve been thinking a lot about margin.
A margin is the portion of the page that you intentionally leave blank. You don’t write all the way from the left side of the page to the right side—no, you typically leave space all the way around, and we call those margins.
Yet in life, everything in our culture is telling us to ignore margins. Spend more money than you make and you will have no financial margin. Fill your schedule from early morning until late night—and you will have no time margin. Surround yourself with needy people and be constantly reactive to their expectations—and you will have no emotional margin.
Mark Batterson wrote, “You need margin to think. You need margin to play. You need margin to laugh. You need margin to dream. You need margin to have impromptu conversations. You need margin to seize unanticipated opportunities.”
I want to live a life with margins.
When I live on less than I make, I have the financial margin so an unexpected expense won’t capsize me, and so I can respond in the moment to someone else’s real need.
When every moment of my life is scheduled, I don’t have the margin to stop and listen to someone who needs an ear; I don’t have the time to jump in and help a neighbor fix their sprinkler; or don’t have the flexibility to go to my kids sporting event that was scheduled at the last minute.
Margin makes you pleasant; no margin makes you grumpy.
Margin allows you to be generous; no margin makes you Scrooge-like.
Margin helps you listen; without margin, you come across like someone who doesn’t care.
Margin gives you the space to learn, grow and dream; without margin and you become stale and empty.
Margin increases the chance you will hear the still small voice of God when He speaks; without margin and you might continue through life without the blessing of God.
Where are you feeling the lack of margin in your life? What should change?
Posted by Tim Stevens | 7 comments
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Alan Isted
It's funny that I just got through reading an excellent book – "Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives" by Dr. Richard Swenson, and I was forwarded this by a fellow minister. Hmmm…Maybe God is telling me I need more margin in my life
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[...] We all need more margin in life. You know, the space where there is nothing. We fill that space with stuff, but in reality, that margin is what helps us to do ministry. Tim Stevens has some great words on this in his post, “A Space For Margin.” [...]
dana metzger
it's really funny to read this and substitute "margarine" for every "margin".
Will Green
A few things stand out to me here:
First: emotional margins. Personally, I disconnect emotionally quite easily, and tend to ignore my inner feelings until they get too big to ignore, leaving me spewing all over the place; or I simply let them simmer, stressing and suffering from physical symptoms all because I don't know how to express myself.
Second: I think its important to note that under-planning can be just as destructive to one's margins as over-planning. The last letter in my MBTI personality type is 'P' (for perceiving), and I completely maxed out that scale – which is a fancy, psychological way of saying that while I have long term goals, I can't/don't plan at all, and live lify flying by the seat of my pants. Oftentimes I'm proud of the fact that I'm laid-back and flexible, able to react smoothly when life gets in the way. But at the same time I'm generally aimless, not getting things done when I need to get them done, and wasting inordinate amounts of time of things that – while worthy in their own way – shouldn't be my focus then and there.
…probably why I'm a horrible college student. Ugh.
Practical Thoughts on Margin – LeadingSmart
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