Eliminating the drains...

Did you know a mouse running on a little exercise wheel would have to do so for 25 hours straight in order to charge your smartphone battery? Yep, I saw this on a science program yesterday. The 'experts' theorized the mouse could produce X amount of joules (joule = electrical unit of measurement) per hour. They checked the number of joules needed to charge a phone, did some math, and came up with the magic figure of 25 hours. Somewhere there is an animal rights activist outraged at the prospect of this mouse being abused. NOTE: No mice were injured or abused in the production of this show.

Smartphone batteries are an interesting thing. From my first 'tracfone' 10 years ago to the phone I now use, the battery life has grown exponentially. Unfortunately, the demand for battery power has increased with the same exponential need. There are so many applications (apps) that run on smartphones. The battery is always being drained and in some cases, an older unit will need charged throughout the day.

Many of the 'running' apps are necessary for the smooth operation of your phone. Here is the kicker. Many are not! Just yesterday, I had to charge my phone battery twice. It seemed as though a Martian spaceship was hovering over me and systematically draining my phone! (It was black and had flashing lights on it)..... [The phone not the spaceship!!!]

There is a useful Rx for drained phone batteries aside from occasional charging. Last evening I went into the application manager and began to 'force stop' many of those needless apps. I'm talking about stuff that churns away all day, unseen, diminishing the battery of my phone. If you're still thinking about the spaceship, stop!

Our life is much like a smartphone. We are given X amount of joules to operate each day. Useful lives are expended in caring, working, loving, serving, and being useful. However, there are a lot of things running in the background of our lives that eat our batteries to pieces. Many times throughout the day, we'll need to stop and recharge the batteries. The unnecessary things that fill our lives and kill our batteries need to be identified and controlled. Better to have to recharge our batteries because we were doing something meaningful than to need recharged for doing nothing.

Our questions of the day are simply this. What apps are running in the background of our lives that are unnecessary? What apps are grinding our batteries into dust so that when we really want to do something useful we can't because of diminished batteries? These questions require us to introspect and see what we do in a normal day. Are our days filled with meaningless activities? Do we actually have meaningful opportunities to do something of worth only to find our batteries are blinking 'low charge'?

A good place to begin is in the Bible each morning. Pause to reflect on a particular passage. Charge the spiritual batteries and begin the day fully charged to fulfill God's will for your life. Then, go through your day with expectation and purpose. Focus your life on useful meaningful activities. Take some time to do the mindless things but don't let them become the thing that runs your life aground.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your

mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

(Romans 12:2, NIV)

Renew and recharge!