Lately, I’ve been wondering, am I running my life or is my life running me?

Is the dog wagging the tail, or is the tail wagging the dog?

More and more, it feels like my life is in control of me, and I am just fighting to keep up with a relentless clock and an ever expanding "to do" list.

My problem started when I was a young boy.

My mom and dad would take me to "cafeteria style" restaurants, and I would just load up the tray with this, and that, and, oh yeah, that too, and those and those and that…

It was inevitable.

I would end up with way more on my tray than I ever could hope to finish. And so it has been with my adult life as well.

I have so many interests. Life is so interesting. But it’s getting harder and harder to find time to do all the things I want to do.

I’m starting to realize that there is a limit. I am just one guy. There are only 24 hours in a day and there are only 7 days in a week.

It’s hard to resist taking on new activities and challenges; because they can be so much fun and they can be very rewarding.

It’s especially hard, in a small community, to say, "no" when asked to help with a given project or community effort.

For example, I’ve been asked to join our church’s choir and I would really love to be a part of this group. Not just because I enjoy music and singing, but also because they are a wonderful group of people and they are a whole lot of fun to be around.

But it’s something that, if I were to take on, would mean I’d have to let something else go.

It’s as if I’m riding a horse and the horse is loaded with as much as it can carry, and suddenly, someone approaches and tosses up a bright gold package.

I’m faced with a choice: Do I let go of one of the many packages that I’m carrying so I can catch the package? Or do I let the package fall to the ground and watch as it fades farther and farther from view as I continue on my ride?

It’s a difficult choice, but one that all of us make each day as we are constantly setting and resetting the priorities in our lives.

So is my tail wagging me?

The old question is, "Why is the dog wagging his tail instead of the tail wagging the dog?"

The answer is simple.

It’s because the dog is smarter than his tail.

It’s something to think about.

I suppose the lesson to be taken from this analogy is that we all have the choice to either wag or be wagged – to live or to be lived upon.

I want to wag.