#37- Change Your Playlist and Change Your Life
by Cory MacNeil
It's been a good morning. The birds are singing. The run is done. Devotions were great. There's a trajectory. But things weren't always that way. They mostly, never are. Otherwise there'd be no growth....no development.
How about you? Are you growing? Are you chasing your dreams or still warming up? Are you more loving than you were a year ago? More patient? Joyful? At peace? Maybe it's time to change some tapes.
If you're like a lot of people, you find yourself listening to the same old tapes all of the time. There is the tape that tells you there is not enough time. Maybe there's a tape that tells you it's too late. There's the tape about the divorce. The tape about your unloving father or your alcoholic mother. The tape that life is a drag or survival of the fittest. Right?
Why don't you change the tapes? If you spend more time watching T.V, than reading the bible, you should change the tapes. You wouldn't pump raw sewage into your basement, so why are you allowing your soul to be flooded with input that only discourages and depresses. Maybe it's time to get the smell of couch potato off of you and go take a run or a walk. Reconnect with a friend who fills your tank. Lift some weights. Rake a neighbor's lawn. A rut is just a grave with both ends kicked out.
I know, you're spiritual. I know you are probably doing the best with what you have. I know you're a good mom. But I also know that like most humans you need a little prodding sometimes.
Are the tapes you're listening to, helping you to move in the direction of your preferred destination or are they taking you further away? Will your diet allow you to watch your kids graduate or will it lead to an early grave? People who live dangerously and reckless lives are often shunned, while others are ignored while they slowly but surely kill themselves one Twinkie at a time. (Isn't it funny now Hostess products always take the hit for junk food). If you don't think Jesus has anything to say about this, think again...or Paul....or Peter. Your body is your temple.
Too often, salvation and eternal life are viewed as Fire Insurance and not a way of living. Yes, Heaven is going to be a wonderful place, but what about NOW?! What are you being saved from now? Is your marriage the pits or is it being rescued from sliding over the cliff? What about your neighbor? You do know her name, right? And her hobbies?
Jesus was quoted as being about his father's business. Which begs the question what is his business? You may be wondering what the family business is all about. Good question. Let's flesh that out a bit.
"My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves." 1 John 3:18-20. The Message
(I underlined the section in the verse because it ties in with the idea of changing the tapes.)
The only way to rise to the top of a family business that makes any sense at all is to start on the ground level. That by the way is very Tweetable! You start with basic responsibilities and advance as you master the small things. That probably reminds you of another scripture or two. The reason, unsuccessful people never master the immensities of life is because they promote themselves too quickly without mastering the basics. Love is one aspect they never master from top to bottom. And in our Family Business as believers, love MUST be mastered from top to bottom. Very often, people are placed on a pedestal because of their ability to earn, but it's not very often when people are scored on their ability to love. Do you want your children to be successful financially or are you more concerned with how well they treat God and others?
So what tapes do you need to change today? If you already have friends, maybe it's time to start meeting with some mentors. Is there anything on your hard drive that needs to be replaced? Your bookshelf? I realize you're probably doing the best with what you have right now, but if what you have is taking you in the opposite direction of your preferred destination, then it needs to go! Today. Period.
1) Why don't you do something practical and make up a quick playlist on your iPhone of songs that inspire you to run your course? Add an encouraging sermon or podcast while your at it.
2) Now time the length of your playlist so that as you get ready in the morning it ends when it's time to head out the door. Chances are a normally mundane part of your day will start to be enjoyable. Make the playlist 30 minutes long or so and you have something to play in the afternoon if you need a time to renew or divert. It's better than Facebook and won't leave you half as blue.
And now for the benediction. May you have the courage to evaluate your life and dispose of harmful habits and routines. May you be filled with and experience the joy that comes when you put the rights of others before your own rights. May you find the energy to throw the football on the front lawn with your son before the bus comes. May you be conformed to the image of the Son. May you be BLESSED!
#36- Ghost Post
by Cory MacNeil
It's three thirty a.m and I'm sitting in the parking lot of Grace Fellowship Church in Latham, waiting to pick my oldest daughter up from a field trip to Pennsylvania. Most of the other cars have their lights off. A couple have parking lights on (presumably new car owners who don't want to incur dents or a full on collision). A few are texting. One lady has her interior lights on (probably reading my blog....or not. Ooops! The bus just arrived. Be back in a few.
I've decided to write this morning, because I believe I'm experiencing something holy. This morning I'm part of a group in process. Many times, life seems circular and repetitive. Today it feels linear....like this is all going somewhere. It's not that it's not going forward all the time, it just doesn't feel that way sometimes. Sometimes it's just plain hard.
The moment the bus pulls in is always a joy! You get out of the car and walk through the dark toward the light and YOUR amazing person walks back into your life. It's like you're meeting them again for the first time. You realize you don't know who was driving the bus and they could have ran the thing off the road and killed everyone. You can't wait to hear her story.
The story is not all that long, but AMAZING! She shares it in bits and pieces. "Philadelphia was really cool!" At Sights and Sounds Theatre, while watching the Joseph story from the bible, "they lifted him up above the stage during the dream parts by wire". O.k, not long stories, but pretty incredible coming from a teenager who normally has to be prodded.
In the car you talk and ride through the darkness. Everything bright and beautiful is punctuated in the darkness. She falls asleep in the passenger seat after a twenty four hour day. It feels amazing to be of service in a special way. As a bonus, there are a couple of deer mulling around on a lawn in the middle of the city- someplace you'd normally never see them in the daylight hours.
A car goes whizzing by very fast. What? A lone soul is walking the streets. Are they heavy hearted? Working toward a dream? Sad? ______________?
On the highway a car goes by doing about ninety miles per hour. Is this an epidemic? What's the hurry? You roll down the window, but rather than shouting profanities, you listen to birdsong.
You decide to get off the highway and take the slow way home. You decide to drive past your first apartment and your first home. What a blessing to be able to revisit two such important mile markers on Memory Lane.
As you pull off the highway, the firmament (fancy name for sky from the bible in Genesis chapter 1) is amazing like Philadelphia. You decide it would make a great scene in the movie you've been wanting to make. It's Charles Dickensian behind the stark outlines of the new Schenectady Community College Dorms, if that's a word. If not, who cares?
Pretty soon it will be 7:00 in the morning- your routine wake up time. Pretty soon it will be time to rerise, put the coffee on and lace up your running shoes. Part of you thinks about ditching the routine for the day, given your mid night excursion, but you decide not to.
You decide to run because lately you feel amazing. You run because you're more alive then you've ever been. You run because everything is going in the right direction and it feels good to battle the oncoming traffic of life. For the first time in a long time you have PEACE. For the first time in a long time something tells you everything is going to be more than fine. For the first time in a long time you're not wondering if you're going to get a flat tire today or die of a stroke at 50.
We pull into the drive way and park. I tell my daughter WE'RE HOME. She forgoes a bowl of cereal before crashing.
Today, may you find joy in ordinary occurrences. May you inflate your routine with something wonderful and sugary to your soul. May you take time to reflect and renew. May you rerise a thousand times today. May you be a blessing to someone who least deserves it. May you have a ....GOOD MORNING!
by Cory MacNeil
It's three thirty a.m and I'm sitting in the parking lot of Grace Fellowship Church in Latham, waiting to pick my oldest daughter up from a field trip to Pennsylvania. Most of the other cars have their lights off. A couple have parking lights on (presumably new car owners who don't want to incur dents or a full on collision). A few are texting. One lady has her interior lights on (probably reading my blog....or not. Ooops! The bus just arrived. Be back in a few.
I've decided to write this morning, because I believe I'm experiencing something holy. This morning I'm part of a group in process. Many times, life seems circular and repetitive. Today it feels linear....like this is all going somewhere. It's not that it's not going forward all the time, it just doesn't feel that way sometimes. Sometimes it's just plain hard.
The moment the bus pulls in is always a joy! You get out of the car and walk through the dark toward the light and YOUR amazing person walks back into your life. It's like you're meeting them again for the first time. You realize you don't know who was driving the bus and they could have ran the thing off the road and killed everyone. You can't wait to hear her story.
The story is not all that long, but AMAZING! She shares it in bits and pieces. "Philadelphia was really cool!" At Sights and Sounds Theatre, while watching the Joseph story from the bible, "they lifted him up above the stage during the dream parts by wire". O.k, not long stories, but pretty incredible coming from a teenager who normally has to be prodded.
In the car you talk and ride through the darkness. Everything bright and beautiful is punctuated in the darkness. She falls asleep in the passenger seat after a twenty four hour day. It feels amazing to be of service in a special way. As a bonus, there are a couple of deer mulling around on a lawn in the middle of the city- someplace you'd normally never see them in the daylight hours.
A car goes whizzing by very fast. What? A lone soul is walking the streets. Are they heavy hearted? Working toward a dream? Sad? ______________?
On the highway a car goes by doing about ninety miles per hour. Is this an epidemic? What's the hurry? You roll down the window, but rather than shouting profanities, you listen to birdsong.
You decide to get off the highway and take the slow way home. You decide to drive past your first apartment and your first home. What a blessing to be able to revisit two such important mile markers on Memory Lane.
As you pull off the highway, the firmament (fancy name for sky from the bible in Genesis chapter 1) is amazing like Philadelphia. You decide it would make a great scene in the movie you've been wanting to make. It's Charles Dickensian behind the stark outlines of the new Schenectady Community College Dorms, if that's a word. If not, who cares?
Pretty soon it will be 7:00 in the morning- your routine wake up time. Pretty soon it will be time to rerise, put the coffee on and lace up your running shoes. Part of you thinks about ditching the routine for the day, given your mid night excursion, but you decide not to.
You decide to run because lately you feel amazing. You run because you're more alive then you've ever been. You run because everything is going in the right direction and it feels good to battle the oncoming traffic of life. For the first time in a long time you have PEACE. For the first time in a long time something tells you everything is going to be more than fine. For the first time in a long time you're not wondering if you're going to get a flat tire today or die of a stroke at 50.
We pull into the drive way and park. I tell my daughter WE'RE HOME. She forgoes a bowl of cereal before crashing.
Today, may you find joy in ordinary occurrences. May you inflate your routine with something wonderful and sugary to your soul. May you take time to reflect and renew. May you rerise a thousand times today. May you be a blessing to someone who least deserves it. May you have a ....GOOD MORNING!
#35- What Drives Habits?
by Cory MacNeil
I'll never forget my life coach's reaction as I sat across from him in his office. I was in the middle of making an excuse for my lack of performance in an area we'd talked about, when he put his hand up. I stopped speaking and he made me realize what I was doing. Why? He knew that if I stayed on my current path, I'd keep getting the same results.
Habits can be our enemies or our friends. For most people, the word habit suggests something bad. Either way, your current habits are giving you the results they're designed to give. If you are looking for better results, you need better habits. There are no shortcuts.
Fortunately, small changes in your habits can lead to dramatic results.
The first step is to identify your cravings or motivations. Why do you need to walk to the corner store to buy chocolate every afternoon on your break? Is it possible that you are using chocolate to feel better? Maybe you aren't in the position to change careers at the moment, but you could call or text a friend or relative- did you catch that? As if relatives aren't friends. Who wants to be a millionaire?- making a purchase that only provides temporary satisfaction and long term guilt.
Phone a friend. Phone your spouse. Get an accountability partner. Take a walk- minus chocolate. Listen to a motivational audio book or some soul lifting music.
An Olympian once said: "Poetry, music, forest, oceans, solitude- they are what develop enormous emotional strength. I came to realize that spirit, as much or more than physical conditioning, had to be stored up before a race." -Anonymous. Did you catch that? Spirit and energy are resources that can be stored up?
Success as the world defines it today is based on what's happening on the outside. You can fix up the outside all you want, but the question remains: how often do you focus on renovating your inner life?
It's been said it's not a question of what you're eating, but what's eating you. Again, the first question to ask is why am I doing this? This can actually be not only very disheartening, but very freeing. That question can also take you on a wild goose chase if you entertain indefinetly- peel one layer of the onion and there are more below it.
At the end of the day, your cravings drive your habit. For example, some people repeatedly spend more money than they have because they crave status. Some people eat to "feel good". Some people habitually put others down, to make themselves feel and look better. Some people work incredibly long hours and neglect their family and end up losing everything they worked for. Why? Cravings.
A better question is: what am I going to do achieve my goals? Doing is an action that can be measured. Sit-ups can be counted. Accountability software for your computer is tangible, etc. While you're at it, visualize the steps you need to take. Imagine yourself walking around your neighborhood after work and imagine how good it will feel, knowing you are working towards a goal.
There are healthy and unhealthy ways to satisfy cravings.
Maybe you already have a P.O.A (plan of action:- small doable steps that add up to large results). But what you really need is a better one.
I take that back; most people have a P.O.A to reach their goals. Successful people have a plan B, unsuccessful people "wing it". You don't just need a plan for when things go smoothly....you need a plan for when things don't go as planned. So if you plan on jogging, what do you plan on doing if you have a sprained ankle? See the difference? Successful people have a plan to "power through setbacks."
So what is your plan? Maybe you're perfectly content with your current results. Congratulations!! If not, maybe it's time to start examining the results you're getting and come up with a plan to get the results you want.
Going back to what my Life Coach did....if you are unhappy with the results you're getting, but intend to keep on doing the same thing over and over again- STOP!!! If you want to change your life, you have to change your habits.
by Cory MacNeil
I'll never forget my life coach's reaction as I sat across from him in his office. I was in the middle of making an excuse for my lack of performance in an area we'd talked about, when he put his hand up. I stopped speaking and he made me realize what I was doing. Why? He knew that if I stayed on my current path, I'd keep getting the same results.
Habits can be our enemies or our friends. For most people, the word habit suggests something bad. Either way, your current habits are giving you the results they're designed to give. If you are looking for better results, you need better habits. There are no shortcuts.
Fortunately, small changes in your habits can lead to dramatic results.
The first step is to identify your cravings or motivations. Why do you need to walk to the corner store to buy chocolate every afternoon on your break? Is it possible that you are using chocolate to feel better? Maybe you aren't in the position to change careers at the moment, but you could call or text a friend or relative- did you catch that? As if relatives aren't friends. Who wants to be a millionaire?- making a purchase that only provides temporary satisfaction and long term guilt.
Phone a friend. Phone your spouse. Get an accountability partner. Take a walk- minus chocolate. Listen to a motivational audio book or some soul lifting music.
An Olympian once said: "Poetry, music, forest, oceans, solitude- they are what develop enormous emotional strength. I came to realize that spirit, as much or more than physical conditioning, had to be stored up before a race." -Anonymous. Did you catch that? Spirit and energy are resources that can be stored up?
Success as the world defines it today is based on what's happening on the outside. You can fix up the outside all you want, but the question remains: how often do you focus on renovating your inner life?
It's been said it's not a question of what you're eating, but what's eating you. Again, the first question to ask is why am I doing this? This can actually be not only very disheartening, but very freeing. That question can also take you on a wild goose chase if you entertain indefinetly- peel one layer of the onion and there are more below it.
At the end of the day, your cravings drive your habit. For example, some people repeatedly spend more money than they have because they crave status. Some people eat to "feel good". Some people habitually put others down, to make themselves feel and look better. Some people work incredibly long hours and neglect their family and end up losing everything they worked for. Why? Cravings.
A better question is: what am I going to do achieve my goals? Doing is an action that can be measured. Sit-ups can be counted. Accountability software for your computer is tangible, etc. While you're at it, visualize the steps you need to take. Imagine yourself walking around your neighborhood after work and imagine how good it will feel, knowing you are working towards a goal.
There are healthy and unhealthy ways to satisfy cravings.
Maybe you already have a P.O.A (plan of action:- small doable steps that add up to large results). But what you really need is a better one.
I take that back; most people have a P.O.A to reach their goals. Successful people have a plan B, unsuccessful people "wing it". You don't just need a plan for when things go smoothly....you need a plan for when things don't go as planned. So if you plan on jogging, what do you plan on doing if you have a sprained ankle? See the difference? Successful people have a plan to "power through setbacks."
So what is your plan? Maybe you're perfectly content with your current results. Congratulations!! If not, maybe it's time to start examining the results you're getting and come up with a plan to get the results you want.
Going back to what my Life Coach did....if you are unhappy with the results you're getting, but intend to keep on doing the same thing over and over again- STOP!!! If you want to change your life, you have to change your habits.
#34- Building the Stairway to Your Dreams
Have you ever known anyone like my Grandfather? He was a farmer who woke up early and worked all day....almost everyday. Only towards the end of his life do I remember him taking a brief nap after lunch before resuming his labors. That kind of role model impacts you for life. In fact, as you get older you begin to ask yourself how they did it.
The answer is simple, successful people realize the power of....habits. His drive, momentum, and flow were the result of not just one, but many habits he had developed over the years. Take a look around and you’ll see people like this everywhere. Great athletes know this (investigate the daily habits of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps). Tiger Woods knows this secret. CEO’s as well as godly parents know this. Success does not come by accident, it is achieved not just by the development of one habit (though one habit can transform many as you’ll learn in a later post).
The power of habits works both ways. For instance, maybe you decide to stop for a donut on the way home from work because you need some energy. The next day you stop again. Now a month later you are ten pounds heavier and sixty dollars poorer according to your bank statement. Why? You’ve developed a new habit. Unfortunately, what seems harmless in the beginning can turn out to be dangerous.
Or maybe you decide to start walking everyday. It’s been a month now and your jeans are a little less tight. Because your jeans fit better, you started feeling better about yourself. Feeling better about yourself, you decided to stop visiting the donut bakery after work and because you stopped that habit you are now sixty dollars richer according to this month’s bank statement.
If you’re wondering what new habits are worthy of developing and which ones you need to ditch, play the video. If you stay on the path you’re on, and continue to practice your current habits, what is your destination going to be? Will you be healthier and happier five years from now? This sounds harsh, but will you even be alive? Imagine what would happen if you die because of your habit and your family is left to fend for themselves. Imagine you’re wife for instance. She is a homemaker so now that you’re dead she has no income. You’re children have no Dad to help them navigate their teenage years. You’re wife finally gets a job but it’s not enough to pay the mortgage so she has to sell the house and get an apartment in the city. You’re teenaged daughter longs for attention and starts dating a guy who is concerned with nobody but himself. You get the picture.
You're dreams aren't just going to fall into your lap. You have to chase them. Why do successful people enjoy performing mundane tasks like farming? Successful people see ordinary tasks as stepping stones to achieving the life they've always dreamed of.
The video we just watched is more than just a little unnerving. If you decide to change your habit, maybe the video will play out like this. You start walking every other day and talk with others who are trying to get healthier. Better yet you start a walking group. Five years later you attend your daughter’s graduation from college. Five years later you get to walk her down the aisle. Ten years from now you hold your first grandchild in your arms. You get the picture. No, we’re not in total control of our destiny, but we can stack the deck and be proactive.
There are three steps when it comes to forming new habits. We’ll talk about these three things more in our next posts. But for now, what is one small change you can make today that is going to take you in the direction of your dreams? While you're at it, spend some time playing the video of how this might impact your future.
#33- Are You Becoming or Doing?
by Cory MacNeil
Remember Christmas Eve as a child? You could hardly sleep in anticipation of Christmas Day. The first brother or sister to wake up would get every other child up and run and jump on Mom and Dad's bed. Finally, with a bit of coaxing and rough housing, my parents got out of bed and us kids would tear into our presents.
I'm not sure if I could lay a hand on a single Christmas gift I received as a child. Most of them ended up broken, abandoned or sold at a garage sale. But as long as I live, I'll never forget the anticipation of waking up to wonderful gifts. Isn't it ironic that as children we were so anxious over temporal gifts and as adults we are so bored with eternal gifts.
In the last post you learned about the magnetic power of your future and destiny. You learned that a bright future has the power to pull you forward. You learned that you can tie a rope to hope or drift. In the meantime, is today going to be a significant milepost in your journey or just another chalk mark on the wall of your cell? What is it about today that gives you something to look forward to?
Like most people, you probably think you have a problem. What is it....an insensitive spouse....a rebellious child....unstable or diminishing finances....failing health? Regardless of how old you are, some of these things may never change. That's the bad news. The good news is YOU can change.
Again, you may not be able to change your circumstances, but you can change your response. More than problems in your life, there are patterns. Patterns can be either your friends or your enemies. For example, when your spouse refuses to help with the dishes, you can either yell at her or go out and buy a new flat screen for your man cave. Just kidding! But you get the idea. We can resist openings to stand up for our rights or we can follow our egos like an Ox to the slaughter. Once we nail down the idea that we can resist temptation and begin to experience the joys that come with victory, things begin to change. Again, your wife may or may not start helping with the dishes, but your won't have oil under your nails and your monthly credit card bill will go down.
Put another way, imagine if you decided to build a shed in your back yard. Things are going well. You finish the foundation and begin the walls. Then, for various reasons you begin to spend increasing amounts of time, tearing down what you've built. For instance, you get mad because your son spills the bucket of nails and tear down a wall. Another day you kick a door down because your neighbor complains about all of the banging. If you're not careful, the shed will never be completed. Why? Because something that takes years to build can be torn down in a matter of minutes. This applies to marriages, character, reputation, ministries (times two!) and so on.
This principle can also be applied as follows. Great works take time. So why not start today. Begin with this question: are the patterns in my life giving me my desired results or does something in the mix have to be adjusted? The real conundrum is not what are you doing, but what are you becoming? If your desired self portrait at the end of your life is a woman surrounded by children and grandchildren who love her, are you more patient at the family gathering on Thanksgiving than you were five years ago or do you still fly off the handle when your five year old grandson spills the gravy boat?
Now, to get back to your day. I know you are not messed up, but your friends are, so the following advice may help. What should I do today is a good question. But a better question is what am I going to change today to become the person God wants me to be....that version of myself that's been alluding me for years? Another tip is to keep your eyes on God's performance rather than your own. His performance inspires, ours tires.
You may decide to begin by altering your calendar or the contact list on your cellphone. But wait a minute, before you get any ideas about axing your friends on Facebook, or quitting your job, you might consider adding a few friends or expanding your work circles. Why not kill two birds with one stone and schedule lunch with someone who is positive and successful? After all, you're not looking to downsize, you're looking to grow, right?
When you begin to look at each day as an opportunity to become all you were designed to be and not just slots to fill with activities, an amazing thing begins to happen: you begin to live and dream and not just drift. So why not program a better destination into your GPS today and begin the journey. The only other option is to leave the car in park and we both know that will get you nowhere. Besides, have you ever noticed that you can't change direction in a car unless it's moving?
by Cory MacNeil
Remember Christmas Eve as a child? You could hardly sleep in anticipation of Christmas Day. The first brother or sister to wake up would get every other child up and run and jump on Mom and Dad's bed. Finally, with a bit of coaxing and rough housing, my parents got out of bed and us kids would tear into our presents.
In the last post you learned about the magnetic power of your future and destiny. You learned that a bright future has the power to pull you forward. You learned that you can tie a rope to hope or drift. In the meantime, is today going to be a significant milepost in your journey or just another chalk mark on the wall of your cell? What is it about today that gives you something to look forward to?
Like most people, you probably think you have a problem. What is it....an insensitive spouse....a rebellious child....unstable or diminishing finances....failing health? Regardless of how old you are, some of these things may never change. That's the bad news. The good news is YOU can change.
Again, you may not be able to change your circumstances, but you can change your response. More than problems in your life, there are patterns. Patterns can be either your friends or your enemies. For example, when your spouse refuses to help with the dishes, you can either yell at her or go out and buy a new flat screen for your man cave. Just kidding! But you get the idea. We can resist openings to stand up for our rights or we can follow our egos like an Ox to the slaughter. Once we nail down the idea that we can resist temptation and begin to experience the joys that come with victory, things begin to change. Again, your wife may or may not start helping with the dishes, but your won't have oil under your nails and your monthly credit card bill will go down.
Put another way, imagine if you decided to build a shed in your back yard. Things are going well. You finish the foundation and begin the walls. Then, for various reasons you begin to spend increasing amounts of time, tearing down what you've built. For instance, you get mad because your son spills the bucket of nails and tear down a wall. Another day you kick a door down because your neighbor complains about all of the banging. If you're not careful, the shed will never be completed. Why? Because something that takes years to build can be torn down in a matter of minutes. This applies to marriages, character, reputation, ministries (times two!) and so on.
This principle can also be applied as follows. Great works take time. So why not start today. Begin with this question: are the patterns in my life giving me my desired results or does something in the mix have to be adjusted? The real conundrum is not what are you doing, but what are you becoming? If your desired self portrait at the end of your life is a woman surrounded by children and grandchildren who love her, are you more patient at the family gathering on Thanksgiving than you were five years ago or do you still fly off the handle when your five year old grandson spills the gravy boat?
Now, to get back to your day. I know you are not messed up, but your friends are, so the following advice may help. What should I do today is a good question. But a better question is what am I going to change today to become the person God wants me to be....that version of myself that's been alluding me for years? Another tip is to keep your eyes on God's performance rather than your own. His performance inspires, ours tires.
You may decide to begin by altering your calendar or the contact list on your cellphone. But wait a minute, before you get any ideas about axing your friends on Facebook, or quitting your job, you might consider adding a few friends or expanding your work circles. Why not kill two birds with one stone and schedule lunch with someone who is positive and successful? After all, you're not looking to downsize, you're looking to grow, right?
When you begin to look at each day as an opportunity to become all you were designed to be and not just slots to fill with activities, an amazing thing begins to happen: you begin to live and dream and not just drift. So why not program a better destination into your GPS today and begin the journey. The only other option is to leave the car in park and we both know that will get you nowhere. Besides, have you ever noticed that you can't change direction in a car unless it's moving?
#32- How Can I Secure My Future?
by Cory MacNeil
If you're like most people right now, you're beginning to wonder if Spring will ever come again. This winter in the Northeast has been one for the books and it's taken it's toll on many. If you're not careful, you can get to the point where you think nothing's ever going to change. But that's not the voice of God talking to you. Left unchecked, your hopelessness can infect not just your immediate future but your destiny. What if one realization could change all of that?
In the bible, we learn that our futures are anything but bleak! The book of Genesis begins in a garden and in the book of Revelation we find out there is a city beyond our wildest dreams. Not the kind of city we're familiar with- a place of poverty, ruin and despair- but a place where there is order and beauty and great joy! Not only that, but Jesus is there and will wipe away every tear. Yes, there is ruin in this lifetime, but there is also redemption and restoration. The world is a mess, but Sunday is coming!
If you're not careful, you can long for this kind of world to the point that you become inactive in this one. When you do, you miss out on the opportunity to be a light to the people who are in darkness here. The people who especially pay the price for our lack of presence are the ones we care for the most.
So what is the key?
The key is to reexamine your beliefs. Do you believe there is someone larger than you who has your best interests in mind and they are drawing you to themselves? Or do you believe it's all in your control? Jesus frequently used the image of fishermen who used nets. Peter, James and John were this type of fisherman. When Jesus first encountered them, they were mending their nets. Jesus told them if they followed him, he would make them fishers of men.
Today if you've been captured in the net of God's love, I want to remind you that you have a brighter future than you could ever imagine or believe. What if your only requirement was to trust. Stop flopping around in the net and let a power bigger than you haul you to shore.
Common thinking tells us to resist power outside of ourselves. We'd rather fight or flee than rest and see.
So what impact is your future having on you today? Is it strong and powerful? Are you confident it has the strength and ability to reel you in or are you hopeless and just floating around in the flotsam and jetsam?
What if you started viewing the brightness of your future in such a way that you ran towards it? To know God is to love God. So do you know Him? If so, how well. Maybe part of the reason you're not to excited about what lays in store is because you don't know Him all that well and the plan He has for you.
Paul said to the believers in Thessalonica: "It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special."
Maybe it's time you traded in your version of your story and started believing God's version of your story. Your story is a jewel embedded in His story. Just imagine, in His story you are a trophy beyond compare....so much so that He brags about you! Catch a glimpse of that kind of future and you'll run for it!
#31- What’s in Your Pot?
Noah Rondeau, the renowned Mayor of Cold Brook- population of 1- was a hermit known for his everlasting stews. Those who visited him at anytime of the year were sure to be served a meal from his pot. The only problem was you never knew what you were eating and how long it had been cooking! Noah, you see, would simply cook whatever he could get his hands on, be it a rabbit, deer, bird or....well you get the idea. Thus the creation of his Everlasting Stews. Rule number one was he never started a fresh stew, he always added to the old one! As eccentric as Noah was, he may have been onto something. The question today is what’s in your pot?
Maybe in your quest to launch new projects and ideas, you’ve forgotten the long lost art of having a ‘work in progress’. Some people have mastered this concept. I know a guy who never finishes anything. His whole life is one big ball of loose ends. We’re not promoting that path. Others on the other hand, never start anything, let alone finish it. As author Dave Kraft says, “They are so afraid of making mistakes that they never make much of anything.” Then there is a third type, someone who always has something in the pot.
Here’s a question to better help you understand this concept. What do you do when you are bored? If you have no work to fall back on, when you are bored, you’ll constantly attempt to be creative at a time when your creative energies are at their lowest! We’re not talking about using work to muffle the emptiness or loneliness in your life. We’re talking about working from your sense of fulfillment. You realize life has meaning and you can contribute in a meaningful way. Are you someone who works to live or someone who lives to work?
Author F.B Meyer was someone who did both. He enjoyed his life’s work to the fullest, but it was not an escape from a life half lived, but a joy he embraced whenever time allowed. Most of his books were written during brief intervals while waiting for trains, in a dentist’s office, during lunch, using snippets of time that would otherwise be wasted. C.K Chesterton, a literary giant in his own right, possessed the same habit as well. These men were masters of the Everlasting Stew.
So what’s in your pot? Is there a meaningful project you can work on while you are waiting for fresh cascades of inspiration, or are you passing the time unproductively? It’s your time, and you can do what you want with it. But if your looking to pass the time in a productive manner maybe this is just the recipe you’ve been looking for.
With the advent of technology in the form of laptops (even smartphones) you can carry your work with you at all times. Never before have we had such amazing tools at our fingertips at all times. Imagine! We can singlehandedly carry the libraries of the world in one hand!
For you, maybe it’s not a book or an entrepreneurial pursuit, maybe it’s redecorating the Dining Room or building a boat with your son or daughter. Perhaps it’s your marriage or a relationship with someone you are trying to reach with the Gospel. Use the otherwise wasted time in your schedules to follow these pursuits and you may be surprised.
In the meantime, pass me some Everlasting Stew!
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