Working on You

A wise person once said “The hardest work we will ever do is the work we do on ourselves.  The old adage “Know Thyself” is more important now than at any other time in our lives. 

We are bombarded with advertising of products to make us smarter, more beautiful and handsome, healthier, improve our bank account standing, and on and on. 

So, do we need all of these ads and all that they promise us? 

Who are we really?

That is the heart of the issue, isn’t it?  Who am I indeed.

If you’ve lost your sense of identity, purpose and the essence of you, then think on these things. 

Work on yourself.  You are your greatest asset or detriment.

Where are your thoughts taking you?  Are they good thoughts?  Are they important thoughts?  Are they the right thoughts? 

There is a scriptural admonition that is important for all of us:  “Take every thought captive.”  Your thoughts are what make you, so guard your heart, and guard your thoughts. 

What are you reading?  Books can take you anywhere you want to go.  They open new vistas, new ideas and inspiration.  Be good to yourself and feed your mind with good stuff.

Work at your priorities.  You will have to fight for them.

Priorities are necessities, not wishes.  As you think about your life and your business, what acts today will propel you forward toward success in your world?  The answers you come up with should point you toward your priorities. 

Only you can develop your priorities, so spend some quality time in considering what your priorities are and then map out a strategy for accomplishing them. 

And you will have to fight for them, every moment and every day.

What are you good at?  What is your passion?  If you could do anything in the whole world, what would it be?  What makes your heart beat faster? 

The book Acres of Diamonds helped me and countless thousands of others define their mission, their reason for living.  Once you understand your passion, it becomes a magnet and will continually pull us toward it. 

As Kevin Hall says in Aspire, “We are better at what we are great at than what we are good at.”

Work in your strengths.  You can reach your potential.

This one is tied to the one above – knowing what you are good at.  One of the adages in today’s business books is this:  “work your strengths – hire your weaknesses.”

Study, read, explore your strengths and find ways to be a better YOU!

Above all … work on you every day!

Choose Your Color

If you won a million dollars in the lottery, what color would you use to color your life?

If you were injured in a tragic auto accident and came out crippled, what color would you use?

Someone once said, “Suffering colors all of life, doesn’t it?

“Yes,” came back the response, “but I get to choose the color.”

“I GET TO CHOOSE THE COLOR!”

I love that!

The word we are dancing around is “Attitude.”  It’s not the circumstances in which we find ourselves in life that matters most.  It is our “ATTITUDE” in the midst of those circumstances.

We get to choose the color during our disappointing moments.

During my lifetime I’ve faced stuff that was hard, lonely, and difficult to understand.  .  No one likes going through those times, however, if we can come out on the other side with insight and perspective, then perhaps we can appreciate the “valley of heartache” for what it was.

But mostly, we can choose the colors with which to paint the valley walls.

In December of 1980, I awakened one morning and discovered that a third of my back yard had washed down the ravine behind my home.  At first, I wanted to go to bed, cover my head and never come out again. 

I was worried, and I experienced periods of depression and despondence.  But soon a level head and an optimistic heart prevailed and I began seeing the small steps that could be taken to lead to the larger decisions toward a remedy.

Here is a formula I used:

1.       Process the situation.  What has happened?  Did I cause it?  How serious is it? 

2.      Accept what has happened as fact.  You can’t change what has already come to pass.

3.      Act!  What can I do today to help?  Ask for help.  Find a remedy.  Begin the steps of rebuilding and recovery. 

4.      And above all, CHOOSE a good color with which to paint this experience.  If you are still standing then it is not the end of the world.  Color it as bright as you can allow yourself. 

Maintain an attitude of “we’ll get through this.”  “This too shall pass.” 

Easy?

In a word, NO!

However …

However

In time the situation got resolved.

Life happens.

Color it … WISELY!

Henley captures it perfectly. 

It matters not how straight the gate,

How charged with punishment the scroll,

I am the master of my fate;

I am the captain of my soul. 

William Ernest Henley

Facing a New Year

I’ve been reviewing old blogs, I’ve been thinking for some time now about this blog at the doorstep of 2012 and I want it to be memorable, yet not resort to the typical thoughts I’ve already been receiving in my inbox.

So, here is what is on my mind.

I will endeavor to travel these paths in 2012. 

-I will honor God in my living, in my thinking, in my acting.

-I will find ways to add value to my wife. 

-I will continue reading good and wholesome stuff – books, magazines, internet content

-I will model integrity in thought, word and deed.

-I will write to the best of my abilities.

-I will treat my fellow man with respect, cordiality and kindness.

-I will do a better job of honoring my body and bring balance and health to a higher level.

Do you notice that all of these center on making good choices? 

Choices!

That’s it.  One word that now becomes the focus for my life this year.

I Choose – every day, every moment, every circumstance.

Will you join me in pursuit of good choices this year?

Christmas Wins Again

In Stanley Weintraub’s book Silent Night, I want to offer you an abridged version of the gist of this book.

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On Christmas Eve, 1914, in the beginning days of WWI, a Christmas truce was called for.  At midnight on Christmas morning, all guns were to be silenced for one hour.

On this particular battle field, an entrenched squad of German soldiers faced an entrenched squad of French and Belgian soldiers. 

Moments before, each side had been shooting at anything that moved on the enemy’s side, but for this moment in time, all guns fell silent.

As midnight approached, the night became still.  Snow was softly falling. 

Listen to the stillness.  Take in the beauty of snow covering a barren landscape, and hiding all the ills of war.

As we listen, we hear … we hear …

Could it be?  It sounds like …

Listen.

“Si…  Ho…”  I can’t quite make it out. 

Listen.  Did you hear that?

And then with clarity, one lone German voice sang out “Stille Nacht.” 

The melody lingered in the air, and soon, from the French side you could hear an echo. 

“Silent Night, Holy Night.”

Cautiously, slowly, one lone German soldier ventured out of his trench and made his way to common ground - the middle of the battle field.  And then a French soldier joined him at center point. 

Soon others came crawling out of their fox holes and trenches. 

For this moment in time, these men of the human race chose to put down their weapons and open up their hearts, all because of Christmas.

Before you could say “Jack Rabbit” some food was produced, and some drinks were passed around. 

And grown men, formerly sworn enemies, were enjoying a moment of friendship and celebration with fellow members of the human race. 

They were singing and making merry, offering hugs of acceptance and celebration, showing photos of loved ones back home, and communicating as best they could, all because of Christmas.

Rumor has it that the high command from both sides of this battle field did everything in their power to establish decorum of war-like conditions, but their commands and warnings went largely unheeded. 

Christmas broke out on a field of battle. 

Christmas and all it represents.

Peace on earth, good will to all men.

     Joy to the World!

          Hope has come.

On both sides, the conversations ran like this: 

“Wish we could go home.”

“Wish we weren't enemies.”

“Wish we could live in peace and harmony.”

As the cold Christmas day wore on, the soldiers moved back across their lines of battle, back to their lonely fox holes and muddy trenches, but with a warm glow of Christmas on their hearts and in their minds. 

It is said that later, on Christmas day, ranking officers on both sides continued issuing commands to resume fire, and the firing of weapons did eventually begin again.

But for a period of a few days, the bullets zoomed high above the heads of the enemies on the other side of the field.  High on purpose. 

For how could they fire upon someone they now considered “friend”?

You see, Christmas revealed itself to those soldiers that day on that particular battle field. 

Christmas came to war, and Christmas won.

Hope Is Coming

Hope was promised in the ancient scriptures.  Isaiah 7:14 said it this way.

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

And in Isaiah 9:6 we read:

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.

And then, then it happened.

Luke 2:1-20 “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)

And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

What the Bells Say

 (This is the #2 in Our Christmas Blog Series)

Perhaps you need a word of hope this Christmas season.  If you do, keep reading.

From the carol I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day we find this phrase:

“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep

God is not dead, nor doth He sleep”

Sit with that for a few minutes.

Some in our world might sing to us a doomsday song.

Some might paint a bleak picture.

Debt on every hand.

               War

               Strife

               Confusion

Dissonance at every turn.

However …

However, these words ring out loud and clear.

GOD IS NOT DEAD,

NOR DOTH HE SLEEP.

What a comfort.

What a hope. 

God is still on duty 24/7.  How about that?

Is the world going to hell in a hand-basket?

Not on His watch.

God is very much real, alive and in control.  He doesn’t even take Sunday afternoon naps.

Simple message?

You bet.

Take heart.

God is watching over you!

What Child Indeed

A Christmas Blog - Part One of Four

(Today we begin a four-week Christmas series in these blogs.  

Wishing you a season of hope, joy and wonder.)

It is interesting to ponder the baby who became a King.  He was brought into the world into such humble settings.  His place of birth was less than wonderful.  His first swaddling left much to be desired.  His first visitors were farm animals, and then came shepherds fresh from the fields. 

Not a very exciting way to welcome THE KING, was it? 

His birth surprised the establishment of the day as well.  They were looking for a deliverer. 

Instead they got a baby.

They were looking for a warrior to lead the charge against their enemies and oppressors. 

Instead they got a baby.

They were looking for a hero.

Instead they got a baby.

But most of all … they got love.

Ponder the child in the manger. 

Love expressed in the 

most wholesome, 

beautiful way.

Love expressed in innocence.

Love expressed in cries 

in the night,

just like the sounds

any normal baby

would offer.

Love expressed through a lifestyle of peace,

compassion, caring, passion. 

Never before had the world seen

such a life, nor would we ever see it

again in such a pure state.

This baby, this little one named Jesus grew to become …

Well, what do you need this Christ Child to be in your world?

Do you need …

A friend?     He is.

         A healer?     He is.

                A savior?     He is.

                       A comforter?     He is.

                A model of integrity?     He is.

            A pathfinder?     He is.

A protector?     He is.

What child is this?

Indeed, what child is this!