1.  Know And Grow!  What is it that God has you doing with your life?  Whatever it is that you are doing – make sure that you are doing it better than anybody else!  Study and learn all you can about the field of your service!  Think everyday about how you can do whatever it is that you do better!

2.  Make People Matter!  Value people and relationships!  The old saying is true:  “People do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care!”  Take advantage of every opportunity that God gives you to add value to other people’s lives!

3.  Enjoy The Experience!  Find what God made you for and jump in with both feet.  Stick with it and give it your all everyday.  Take time to evaluate what is going on in and with your life and make sure that you are learning from your successes and your failures!  Enjoy your experiences, but don’t get stuck on or in them!

4.  Create Creativity!  Get some people around you that can help you think and dream in creative ways.  Ask yourself:  “Is there a better way?”  Look for people that are doing what God has called and gifted you to do and learn from what they are getting right and wrong!  Get out of your comfort zones and go to some new places and do some new things!

5.  Pursue Passion!  Look for what you are good at and for what you love and then give yourself to it completely!  Look for people that you can get around that will lift you up!  Stop spending so much time with “downer people”!  Invest your time with people that have passion and grow your passion, so that you will have some to give to others!

Live life long enough and you will get thrown more than your fair share of curve balls!  Every now and then life will ping you with a foul ball!  But always remember this:  There is nothing that life can throw your way that God does not already know about and have a plan for!  It does not matter what your circumstances are – God and His plans are bigger!  It does not matter how big your problems are – God and His plans are bigger!  It does not matter how impossible it all may seem – God and His plans are bigger!

Anything that life throws your way, will have to pass by God before it gets to you!  If God allows it to go past Him to get to you, then you know that there is a purpose in it!  You may not understand it and it may not make sense, but there is a purpose!  God is always up to something in your life.  God uses the situations and circumstances of life to mold and shape us into wonderful creations!

Don’t get anxious and don’t worry!  Take your eyes off of your circumstances and make sure that you place and keep them focused on Him!  Remember:  God has some special purpose and plan and you do not have to understand it for it to become a reality in your life!  

There is no grief that you will ever face that God is not in it – growing you for and toward His purposes.  There is no sorrow that you will ever encounter that God is not in it – bringing healing that will lead to fulfillment of His purpose.  There is no trial that you will ever face that is bigger than God and His plans for your life.

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and don’t let your own limited understanding get in the way!

I love this story!  The story is told of a businessman who was getting off of a cruise ship at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.  Seeing several large fish inside the small boat, the businessman complimented the fisherman on the quality of his catch and asked how long it took to catch them. “Oh, just a little while”, the fisherman replied.

A little surprised, the young business man asked, “Why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?”   The content fisherman said, “This is enough to feed me and my family and take care of our immediate needs.  I really don’t need any more.”   “But what do you do with the rest of your time when you are not fishing?” asked the confused young man.   “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a walk with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I have dinner with friends and play guitar with my buddies; I have a full and busy life.”

The lad scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could really help you out. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds from the extra fish buy a bigger boat.   With the proceeds from the bigger boat and all of the extra fish that you bring in, you could buy several boats and hire other people t help you fish, and eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.  Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, and could eventually open your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution!  You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to New York City where you will run your expanding, growing and profitable enterprise.”

The fisherman asked, “How long will this all take?” to which the young man replied, “15-20 years.”  “But what then?”  The business man laughed and said “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”

“Millions, sir? Then what?”

“Then you would retire, move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a walk with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could eat dinner with friends and play your guitar with your buddies.”

Makes you think doesn’t it!