Category Archives: Growing

Growing, mindfulness, Personal, Suffering, Uncategorized

Challenges Come And Challenges Go!

This past Sunday, I shared a message entitled ”Speak Blessing!” The message was basically an encouragement to realize there is power in our words and we need to choose them carefully. I do my best to practice what I preach, so my goal was to live a positive life and only speak blessing this week. Great goal right?

Of course you know what happens whenever you get committed to living a positive life? Life seems to throw as much negative as it can and before you know it, your best intentions have become paving material for a road to you know where…

Live life long enough and you will discover that this is in fact life. Just because you are thinking, living and speaking positivity does not mean that you won’t have challenges, disappointments and frustrations. Life is made up of ups and downs, mountain tops and valleys, success and failure.

I’m not going to go into detail of all that has gone wrong this week, but I will tell you, I am doing my best to stay positive, upbeat and teachable. There are a few things I have to keep reminding myself about and I’ve become very fond of the saying: ”What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.”

Here are a few good reminders for you to remember when you’re trying to keep in the positive lane of life, even while it seems that everything and everybody keeps trying to force you into the negative…

CHALLNGES GROW YOU LIKE NOTHING ELSE CAN!

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross in her classic on ”Death And Dying” said: ”If you shield the mountain from the wind storms, you never see the beauty of the carvings. There is a purpose to your pain. This does not make it easier, but it helps to know and remember that it’s not all for nothing. We are continually being shaped, grown and developed and this is what we call living.

GROWTH AND HEALING ARE A PROCESS!

We are born into this human experience as a baby, but we don’t stay a baby, we grow, develop and learn, but it takes time, because it’s a process. When we fall down and scrape our knee, as it heals, it gets a very ugly scab, which we are tempted to pick at and remove, but it is actually our bodies way of healing and healing takes time because it’s a process. This life is a process, so nothing, no matter how bad it may seem is ever final, not even death.

THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING TO LEARN!

The question we need to always run to is: ”What is this trying to teach me?” The quicker I learn the lesson, the quicker I get free to live the positive life of blessing I was created for. What is life and the challenges you face trying to teach you???

Creativity, Growing

Stoking The Creative Fires!

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I have been participating once a week in a creative meeting!  I am really enjoying the sessions and here are a few things that I would like to pass on to encourage creativity in all of our lives!

1.) Write your ideas down! It does not matter how simple, silly or small the ideas may seem – write them down!  You may have just a seed, but seeds that are planted and nurtured – grow into big trees!  Keep a little notebook, moleskin, digital file or small recorder to record your ideas.  Don’t think that you will remember them – you won’t!  Record it and you will free your mind up for even more creative ideas!

2.) Brainstorm! Think out loud with other people and listen to their thinking out loud.  It is amazing the ideas that this will generate.  How many times have you found yourself in a conversation with someone and something they said sent your mind to thinking in a totally different direction than what they were talking about?  Find someone, if possible several “someones” and allow your brains to storm!

3.) People Watch! Observe what is going on around you.  We miss so much, because we are often so busy that we just live life in a blur!  Slow down, smell the roses and enjoy the ride by really seeing everybody and everything that God has put around you!

4.) Relocate! If you work at a desk all of the time, then move to a couch.  If you are inside all of the time, then get outside.  You get the picture – put yourself in a place to see things from a different perspective and you will be amazed at the creativity that will flow to and through your life!

5.) Get Spiritual! You were created by a very creative God.  If you don’t believe that, just look around you at all of the variety!  You were created in the image of your creative God, so you are creative too!  Talk to God and listen to God through prayer and take some time to read and look for understanding and challenge from His Word!

These are just a few of the ideas that we have been utilizing to stoke our creative fires!  It’s fun and it’s exciting and you really will be glad you did!

Excuses, Growing

5 Excuses To Ignore!

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I was thinking this morning of all the different excuses that people use to try to stop themselves or others from accomplishing something that really matters in life.  As you journey through life listen carefully and make sure that you ignore these excuses!  (By The Way – This is a lot easier said than done!)

1.)  “It Will Never Work!” We can’t discover what will work, without learning some of what won’t work!  Failure is just one more way that won’t work, which puts you one step closer to what will work!  Take a chance if it’s worth the risk!

2.)  “We’ve Never Done It That Way Before!” And at some point in time, the way you are doing it now wasn’t being done, but someone said:  Let’s try it this way and “presto!” almost like magic a new way of doing it emerged!  There is always room for improvement and growth!

3.)  “We Can’t Afford It!” And with that attitude, we probably never will be able to afford it.  If you can’t afford it, but it is necessary, then find a way to make it affordable!  Wherever God gives a vision, He also provides a path!

4.)  “It’s Not My Responsibility!” How many blessings in life would have been missed if everyone lived with this attitude?  It may not be your responsibility, but if it needs to be done, then do it and know that it is going to make a difference in someone’s life!  If somebody is willing to do what nobody wants to do, then everybody is going to benefit!

5.)  “We’re Just Not Ready!” If you wait until you are ready, the opportunity may just pass you by!  Jump in and get the job done – you will be glad you did when you see the difference that it makes in your life and in the lives of others!  If God allows your life to intersect with opportunity then consider it a personal invitation!

Blessings & G3!