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Simple Pleasures!

This amazing gift we’ve been given, that most of us call life, is such a wonderful and beautiful thing. We really do fail to appreciate life in it’s simplicity, because somewhere along the way we have become convinced that it just has to be complicated.

I’ve been hanging around this human experience for a little over a half a century and what I have discovered and what I am rediscovering almost everyday is that simple pleasures are such a blessing, if we will just allow ourselves the time and permission to enjoy and be blessed by them.

Here are just a few of the simple pleasures that I am grateful for. These simple pleasure make each day meaningful and help to keep me focused on what really matters. These simple pleasures take me away from my ego and get me in touch with my soul.

1. Going Outside! I love the outdoors. Nature has become one of my best friends. I love to feel the warmth of the sun on my face, the cool from the breeze as it blows through the trees and the sounds of life all around me.

2. Time To Enjoy A Beverage! One of my favorite things is sitting in a comfortable chair and “sipping” on a cup of mocha flavored coffee as I think about the day in front of me and look forward to living it.

3. A Journal To Record, Plan & Dream! Not sure what I would do without paper and pen. I try everyday to write down my Scripture focus for the day, a list of at least three things I am thankful for, my tasks list of things I hope to get accomplished and any thoughts or ideas that are influencing me at the time.

4. My Favorite Pen! I love writing instruments. I love to sketch and draw with pencils, write with different kinds of pens and color with markers, paints and such. I like a pen that allows my thoughts and ideas to freely flow. Sometimes I am totally amazed at what comes out of the pen onto the paper and think: “Was that really me.”

5. Conversations With Friends! Having someone to talk to is a vital part of life, living and growing. It’s also important to have people we listen to, because as we listen, we learn and as we learn, we grow. One of the great blessings of this human experience is that we get to do it with such interesting and amazing people. So many times, we miss this magic…

6. Enjoying The Taste Of Good Food! I love to eat, but even more than eating, I love to cook. When I cook, I like to cook to taste, which means I am trying to create something that I am pretty sure I’m going to enjoy. So many people, grab their food, scarf it down and move on to whatever is next. The tragedy in this rush to feed our face is that we miss the opportunity to savor the flavor of life. I like it all, so the main thing for me is just making sure I slow down and enjoy it.

7. Exercise! This has become a dirty word for a lot of us, but it doesn’t have to be and it shouldn’t be. A few things that make a big difference for me is just keeping it simple. And by the way, we need to exercise physically, mentally and spiritually. Physical exercise for me consists of stretches, walking, some time on an elliptical and a little work with weights. Mental exercise is made up of being open to learning something new and there is education all around us. I enjoy reading, listening to podcasts and even researching the web. Spiritual exercise does not have to be complicated and I like to keep mine going all throughout the day. I try to stay in a spirit of prayer. I read and meditate on scripture. And I look for opportunities to serve and minister for others. When it comes to exercise, remember this: A little is better than none at all.

8. Something To Read! I love to read and we have access to all sorts of material to choose from. Sometimes, I like to have an old fashion book with pages in my hand. At other times, I enjoy reading from the convenience of my smart device. And one of my favorite ways is to listen as the book is read and read along. I love to read history, leadership, biographies, blogs, motivation, how to books and Scripture.

9. Sitting In Solitude! The older I get, the more I really do seem to enjoy and need this one. There are times when I like to sit in a comfortable chair and do absolutely nothing, but enjoy the stillness and silence of the moment.

10. Meaningful Purpose! Getting up everyday energized with something meaningful to do and going to bed bed every night tired because you’ve done it, is a big part of what this human experience is all about to me. I love helping others and I get to do that everyday in a variety of ways. I love my routine and it drives me to try and make this amazing gift called life better for everyone.

So, there you go – that’s a few of my simple pleasures and if you see me with a smile on my face, then you probably know why. I pray that something you’ve read here today, might help you to find and wear a smile on your face too…

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The Thought Monster!

When we are young, we have a way of turning things into monsters that are not really monsters. We can be laying in bed and all of a sudden the shirt we left hanging on the bed post turns into some demonic entity that has escaped the underground prison it’s been caged up in, just to come kill us and destroy our hopes of growing up and one day driving a car to the moon and back. The crazy thing is, the more we look at it, the more real it becomes and the less sleep we get.

When we become adults, it really does not change all that much. The major difference is that we don’t have to be laying in the bed in a dark room. We can be sitting on the beach in the beautiful sunshine and our thoughts become, negative, dark, depressing and before we know it, inside of our heads we find ourselves in the midst of the most viscious storm that it sure to take our lives and ruin everything we have ever counted as dear.

Thoughts are powerful and with them we can imagine the absolute worst or the most magnificent best – the choice is ours! We really do have the power, but we fail to realize it and often empower the wrong side of things, tipping the scales against ourselves, rather than in our favor.

For most of our lives, we are often just one decision away from a totally different life and this can be a negative or a positive, we just have to decide for ourselves. This is why our thoughts are so important, because our thoughts become words, which turn into actions, which grow into habits, which eventually become apart of our character and our character ultimately leads us into our destiny.

It is very important for us to understand: The Battle For Our Heart Is Most Often Fought In Our Mind. It is in fact a battle and it always will be on this side of eternity. This is why it is important to challenge, question, inspect and change the way we think, because when we change the way we think about things, the things we think about change and the goal here is change for the better.

Here are three thoughts to help all of us think better thoughts:

1. Think about what you are thinking about! Is the majority of your thinking negative or positive? Is it building up toward a meaningful goal or tearing down what could really make a difference? Be honest with yourself and when you identify wrong, hurtful and negative thinking, be prepared to take it on and take it out.

2. Make Room For The Right Thinking By Getting Rid Of The Wrong Thinking! We have a limited amount of space in our minds and if we are honest, a lot of that space has been taken over by thoughts that are doing more harm than good, so what can we do about it? Challenge those wrong thoughts so that they change into right thoughts that are taking you closer to where you were created to be, rather than farther away.

3. Increase Your Right Thinking In Every Way You Can Think Of! There are so many different things we can do to increase our right thinking. We can start a gratitude list that helps to remind us of all the amazing blessings we have flowing into and through our lives. We can journal our thoughts, ideas and learning on a daily basis that helps us to get it out of our head, so that we can observe things from a different perspective. We can intentionally set positive reminders by reading, writing, posting, sharing positive thoughts, quotes and ideas in as many different places and in as many diffferent ways as possible…

We can take on the THOUGHT MONSTER and win, we just have to have the thought that this is what we are going to do and then follow through on that thought! Once you’ve taken the step, you will be glad you did…

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My Word For The Year!

A few years ago, I started thinking about a word that helped to represent my goals for the new year. Last year, I decided to put a little more focus into selecting my one word and letting it motivate and encourage my goals, rather than allowing the goals to motivate my one word. It was a pretty amazing year and the concept seemed to stick with me and encourage me in some very positive ways all throughout the year.

My word last year was SATISFIED. I first got the idea for the word from Psalm 23 – “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…” I reasoned that if I don’t want, then I must be satisfied and this simple idea which I latched onto, became the driving force that helped me to shift my focus onto the things that were working and off of the things that weren’t working. This simple shift allowed me to empower the positive and weed out the negative that so often tended to distract and discourage. It was a very amazing year, filled with blessing and amazing opportunity.

I had planned on having my one word for 2020 picked out before the year began, but for a variety of reasons, I was just not ever able to focus in on it and figure it out. I didn’t give up, I didn’t freak out about it, I just kept the task on my list and knew that when the time was right, it would come to me. Today was the day and I now have my new word for 2020.

My word for the year is TRIUMPH, which carries with it the idea of victory, achievement, success, conquest, winning, growing, developing and becoming. It is what we were created for and is the ultimate fulfillment that we are all destined to experience.

My Scripture for the year comes from 2 Corinthians 2:14 – it says: ‘But thanks be to God, who always leads us in TRIUMPH in Christ, and manifest through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.”

My idea with this word is the encouragement to follow through, complete the things that the Spirit has laid out for me and expereince the fulfillment of accomplishment that comes with being in step with my created purpose.

I really want to encourage you to think about and discover your one word for the year. You can go to http://myoneword.org/ and it will help guide you through a simple process and give you a lot of good ideas for choosing yours… If you already have one or happen to figure your one word out, please feel free to share with me, I would love to hear it…

Telling Stories, Sharing Grace And Loving Folks!