Richard A. Swenson - A Minute of Margin: Restoring Balance to Busy Lives--180 Daily Reflections

THIS BOOK IS the result of creative work that stretches back two decades. Throughout much of that time, Don Simpson has guided the editorial process with the wise advice of a true literary scholar and the gentle touch of a sensitive human being.

Bill and Gail Thedinga have once again provided literary resources and invaluable practical helps that allow ease of continuation despite other scheduled requirements. Members of our extended family and many close personal friends have provided books, research materials, and exceptional ongoing affirmation and prayer.

Our children, Matt, Adam, and daughter-in-law, Maureen, have provided understanding and support during the weighty distraction of manuscript deadlines. Adam, in particular, has endured significant delays in writing his own novel, portions of which we are working on jointly. I appreciate his patience and now hopefully we can jump back into the flow of fiction with both feet.

My wife, Linda, has once again carried the heavy demands of researcher, copy editor, and literary navigator. As always, she willingly walks step-by-step through this long process: sharing the load, comforting the frustrations, and inspiring the text. It is an honor to co-laborin writing and in lifewith someone whose beliefs and passions so completely mirror my own.

RICHARD A. SWENSON, M.D., is a physician and futurist with a B.S. in physics Phi Beta Kappa from Denison University. After having taught at the University of Wisconsin Medical School for fifteen years, he currently conducts research and writes full-time about the intersection of culture, health, faith, and the future. He is the author of Margin, The Overload Syndrome, Hurtling Toward Oblivion, and More Than Meets the Eye. Dr. Swenson and his wife, Linda, live in Menomonie, Wisconsin. They are the parents of two sons, Adam and Matthew.

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2003 by Richard A. Swenson, M.D.
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ISBN 1-57683-068-3

Cover design by: Ray Moore
Cover photo by: PhotoSpin
Creative Team: Don Simpson, Amy Spencer, Darla Hightower, Pat Miller

Unless otherwise identified, all Scripture quotations in this publication are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Other versions used include the Revised Standard Version Bible (RSV), copyright 1946, 1952, 1971, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, used by permission, all rights reserved; and the King James Version (KJV).

Swenson, Richard A.
A minute of margin : restoring balance to busy lives / Richard A.
Swenson.-- 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57683-068-3
1. Time management--Religious aspects--Christianity--Meditations. 2. Stress (Psychology)--Religious aspects--Christianity--Meditations. I.
Title.
BV4598.5.S94 2003
242--dc22

2003014377

Printed in Canada
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 / 08 07 06 05 04 03

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Accessibility overload,

Activity overload,

Advertising,

Affluence,

Allen, Tom,

Ardell, Donald,

Arnold, Matthew,

Asimov, Isaac,

Augustine, Saint,

Authenticity,

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Balance,

and work,

decent minimum,

need to say no,

Banks, Robert,

Beecher, Henry Ward,

Benson, Bob,

Berry, Wendell,

Bierce, Ambrose,

Billings, Josh,

Blackaby, Richard and Henry,

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich,

Boreham, F. W.,

Boundaries,

Brain,

Brand, Paul, M.D.,

Breese, David,

Brown, Steve,

Browning, Robert,

Burnout,

Burroughs, Jeremiah,

Busyness,

Byron, George Gordon,

Canterbury, Archbishop of,

Carlyle, Thomas,

Cerletty, James, M.D.,

Change,

Chesterton, G. K.,

Children, and stress,

Choice overload,

Chouinard, Yvon,

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Cloud, Henry,

Clutter,

Colson, Chuck,

Commitment overload,

Complexity,

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Contentment,

advantages of,

boredom and suffering,

defined,

money,

prosperity ladder,

related to expectations,

relationship-enhancing,

secret of,

set points of,

spiritually authentic lifestyle,

what it is not,

Cooper, Kenneth,

Counterculture,

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Cousins, Norman,

Cowper, William,

Crabb, Larry,

Crane, Stephen,

Crosson, Russ,

Cyprian, Saint,

Dante,

David, the King,

Day, Doris,

Deaccumulation,

Death,

Debt,

Dekker, Thomas,

Denmark, Leila,

Denton, Michael,

Depression,

sensitivity to those suffering,

value of exercise for,

de Saint-Exupery, Antoine,

Desert experience,

Dickens, Charles,

Dillard, Annie,

Disconnect,

Discontent,

deprives us of rest,

disadvantages of,

DNA,

Dobson, James,

Dostoyevski, Fyodor,

Dreyfus, Jack,

Dylan, Bob,

Eccles, Sir John,

Economics:

as if people mattered, 140

Einstein, Albert,

Eliot, George,

Eliot, Robert S., M.D. 72

Emotional:

disorders,

energy, quantum of,

margin,

reserves,

stamina, contemporary level of,

Emotional health,

aided by laughter,

nature, laughter, and music,

pets,

related to gratitude,

related to kindness,

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vision,

worry,

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Escriva, Jos,

Evans, Louis H., Jr.,

Exercise,

cardiorespiratory conditioning,

increased sense of well-being,

muscles,

Expectation overload,