Tag: #decisions #choices #goals #guidance

Living Life to the Fullest: Part Three

Review: A full life is a grateful life. Start each day by being grateful on purpose, and also make sure you take care of you. If we go full steam without refueling, we will fizzle out, and we won’t be able to do the next step…

Step 3: Do something for someone else

(Your Kingdom come; your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven)

Again, you may wonder where that is in the Lord’s Prayer. After I pray God’s will to be done in my life, I then begin praying for his will to be done in others’ lives – for him to fix my people, help with needs, turn things around for them. This is the place where I pray for everyone in my life; I pray for the country and leaders etc…

Hence, the step – doing something for others.

  • People often think it’s “how can I make my life better.” While we do, indeed, strive to better ourselves, one of the greatest ways to live life to the fullest is to give of yourself to others. People need to know they are appreciated, that they matter, and you can be the one that does that for someone. By doing this, you also begin to feel better. It can be as simple as calling someone that you haven’t talked to in a while. People do still call, I believe, right? If they have a smart phone, text or video message them. Don’t forget, our elderly friends and family may still need a phone call. Simply ask how they are doing, then let them talk, and truly listen.

 

  • Stop and help a person get their stuff into their trunk at the grocery if they are struggling. Smile and look the person in the eye that you meet in the aisle or on the sidewalk. It amazes me how people can walk, looking straight ahead as you pass right by them. I always try to catch the eye of the person I’m passing and simply, smile. If you look for something to give or do for another, opportunity will avail itself; you’ll bless someone, and you will feel fuller, yet lighter.

ACTION:  Look around you right now. What do you see that you can do for someone in your immediate family?  Take a moment and think about the people in your circle; who has been having a hard time financially, physically, mentally? Write down at least 3 people that you know you could brighten their day or lighten their load, and write down what you will do.

Person I can do something for.                                  What I will do.

 

Faith Friday

A paraphrased quote from Darrin Hardy, motivational mentor and speaker, relates the idea that simply consuming more content is not the goal; instead, growth is the goal.

For instance, do you really need to read another fitness article? Another clean eating article? How many healthy eating ideas and exercise clips can you share or repost on Facebook?  Yes, reading all these things is good, but if “growth is the goal” then there comes a time to stop “consuming more content” and get to work. Right?

It’s the same with faith. Yes, reading and hearing the Word is how faith is “consumed,” but the spiritual growth is in the doing. James 2:17 says, “So too, faith by itself, if it is not complemented by action, is dead.” Yes, reading the Bible is good, nay, absolutely necessary! But, if we are hearers only and not doers of the word, then according to James 1:22, we are deceiving ourselves. Our religion is dead.

Question:

What will you do? Continue reading and reposting, or will you rise up and grow?

Action:

Right now, do something with eternal rewards: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, help the orphans.

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Is it God or Indigestion…

When making big decisions (or even little ones), I want to be sure I’m on the right track….I believe there are a few things that any of us can use to “know” that our goals are truly God’s goals (his will) for our lives…

Is it God talking to me, or is it indigestion?  We really need to know the difference. Some would say that God doesn’t talk to people, or that we cannot know what God’s will is. To that I say, then why bother with God at all if we can’t know him and what he wants? I can already stumble and guess my way through things. So….

However, I’m not into living on the fly, so to speak. When making big decisions (or even little ones), I want to be sure I’m on the right track. While my life has not been perfect, and surely it was indigestion I was feeling a few times during my planning, I believe that God does help me. I believe there are a few things that any of us can use to “know” that our goals are truly God’s goals (his will) for our lives.

  • It simply won’t leave you alone. By this I mean, when something stays on my mind and won’t go away, I know something’s up. Little things (and sometime big things) keep appearing/happening that lead back to it – my mind won’t let go of it. Like with Samuel (the prophet, not Perez) when he kept feeling like someone was calling his name while he was trying to sleep. Up and down. Up and down, trying to figure out what that voice was. Finally, Eli the priest said, and I paraphrase “this time simply say, ‘what is it, Lord. I’m listening.'” When we get that “something” that just won’t let go in our minds, we need to recognize that God may, indeed, be trying to get our attention.

 

  • Crazy things fall into place. This ‘thing’ that keeps staying on your mind may seem crazy or impossible, exciting or maybe scary, then something happens that opens a door of possibility. For instance, I’m about to leave Texas and move back to my hometown of Kentucky to be close to my parents in their Golden Years.(I know!) It’s been on my mind for over a year. It seemed impossible. Crazy. No way. Then my husband’s work said, “Sure. You can work remotely from there!” Hmm. A couple of months later, my boss said, “You’ll teach remotely, one day a week!”  Whaaaaa! Then, my realtor says, we have about 3 buyers interested in your house THAT’S NOT EVEN ON THE MARKET YET!  So, yeah. You know, the animals start walking up to you 2 by 2.

 

  • There’s peace that’s unexplainable. One thing I’ve learned is that, if there is confusion, strife, wringing of the hands, then something is off. But, when there is peace, then something is right. Seeing that God’s word says, “…they will go out with joy and be lead forth by peace…” Well, that’s always been a deal maker for me.

 

  • It lines up with scripture. Finally, (and of course, if you do not believe the Bible, then this will not apply). There is no scripture that says, “thou shalt move to this state” or “thou shalt not buy that purse,” but there are many scriptures that deal with family and many that deal with finance, so I have something to gauge my plans on. We have to train our minds – fill them with the knowledge of God, THEN we will be able to…”prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2.

Our finite minds can, by no means, know everything there is to know about a situation, but when these 4 things are at work in a process, I have found it to be a good indicator that I’m on the right track. Have I been wrong before? Yep. Remember the indigestion possibility?  Still, I know I have a partner in planning whose mind is infinite – who knows the end from the beginning – who has numbered the hairs on my head; therefore, I keep moving forward.

Take a moment and be still. Is there something that keeps coming back to your thoughts? Something that you think about, especially when you have time to ponder? You should consider saying, “What is it, Lord? I’m listening.”

Have you ever had experiences like this? I’d love to hear about it in the comments belowconfused

Feeding the Trolls

Your vision is clear. But, there are the trolls…waiting by the bridge of success, shaking their heads at you, wagging their knobby finger back and forth saying

“Really? You? I know where you’re from. You don’t have what it takes. Who do you think you are?”

Are You Feeding the Trolls?

Today I read a chapter in my Personal Development titled, Don’t Feed the Trolls. (Michael Hyatt) You know, those wart-nosed, green colored, wild-haired little creatures waiting under the bridge to eat you up when you cross?

That’s the vision that came to mind when I saw that title. The analogy, to me, is this: you’re on your way to the best version of you; you feel it. Your vision is clear. But, there are the trolls…waiting by the bridge of success, shaking their heads at you, wagging their knobby finger back and forth saying

“Really? You? I know where you’re from. You don’t have what it takes. Who do you think you are?”

You shrink back a little, maybe even turn around thinking he may be right. His rotted teeth appear as he smiles and slinks back beneath the bridge, feeling superior, satisfied that he’s put you in your place.

You’ve just fed the troll: the troll of fear. The troll of mediocrity. The troll of negativity.

If we will step on that bridge in spite of these trolls, while it may be scary and even difficult sometimes, we will find that these ugly trolls get weaker and can be overpowered completely when we starve them by believing in our dream and the one who created us to overcome and refusing to entertain their negativity.

Is there a troll trying to block your progress and eat away at your confidence? Call him by name and remember, his teeth are rotted and he can’t stop you from crossing that bridge unless you feed him.

You Should Curse God and Die

Winston Churchill once said, “Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm”!!!!! I love it.

Poor Job. He was in a state of bother, scraping the scabs off his skin with a piece of a broken clay pot; his world had crumbled around him – bankrupt; his children were dead – well, you know the story. Then, his ever-loving wife tells him he might as well give it up.

But, he didn’t. He is an example of one who embodies the cliche “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” There’s a lesson here:

Some try and try and try then quit, listening to the voice of Job’s wife that says “what made you think you could do that anyway?” Thus, they end up with a mediocre life, always thinking… if only…

Some try and try and try, then try something else, then try something else, then something else, going after every “new venture” that is presented to them, ending up with a frustrated life and a laundry list of unfinished projects, always thinking… if only…

Some never try and just…settle. No commentary needed.

Then, there are those who try, try again ad infinitum. The definition for that phrase “ad infinitum” says again and again in the same way; forever. There’s a slight difference in those who try, try again ad infinitum and succeed, though. They will not keep doing it the same way when one way doesn’t work. I think that’s defined as insanity! – doing something over and over the same way expecting different results, right? Ha.

Take that and consider Google’s list of synonyms, and the real meaning comes out:

for ever and ever, evermore, always, for all time, until the end of time, in perpetuity, until hell freezes over;

In particularly, that last one. There are those who keep working toward their goal, and no matter what obstacle comes their way, they get right back up and move forward, doing whatever it takes, however long it takes. Those are the ones who make it. For instance,

  • Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star because his editor felt he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” He was cheated and nearly penniless. The legend goes that Walt, working in a beleaguered office tamed one of the many mice that scurried around, kept him in a desk drawer, and fed him from his own small rations – thus Mickey Mouse was born (first known as Mortimer Mouse). -Google Books.
  • Steven Spielberg was rejected by the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts several times before winning numerous Emmy awards for numerous films
  • R.H. Macy had many retail flops before the retail giant, Macy’s -my favorite store, became a success
  • Soichiro Honda was hated by his Japanese business community because he dared to be different.Vroom, vroom, anyone?
  • Colonel Harland David Sanders, my own home state of Kentucky icon, was fired over and over No one wanted his chicken recipe! Losers…
  • The list goes on and on… Sir Isaac Newton, Vera Wang, Thomas Newton…. You should go read the list

What if they had settled? What if they’d said… if only…. What if they’d quit!

Even Scripture tells us we should keep “trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.” Ephesians 5:10.  Some just take the philosophy of eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die, thinking…I can’t ever be good enough anyway.  Well, join the club. Yet, we are told that we are not to give up! We never stop seeking what God wants. We never settle! Keep reading, keep praying, keep trying…all the while, resting in the confidence that He knows your frame, that you are but dust. He knows your failures and faults, but he loves and died for us anyway!

Winston Churchill once said, “Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm”!!!!! I love it.

How many times have you failed? Good! Now, change your perspective, your methods perhaps, and try again!

Challenge:  write down your goal, your desire… then plan how you will go after it…again. Leave a comment of what you are going to do.