There I sat dumbfounded. Everything froze and then began to move in slow motion. Then, like in some surreal time warp, my mind raced to and fro. It had hit me like a curve ball and sucked the wind right out of my sails. The unexpected unexpectedly grabbed the insides of my heart and began to strangle the intellectual jugular of my mind. EVERYTHING I ever believed or thought I believed was brought in front of my face and paraded itself before my eyes.
It was the fall of 1984 and I was an aspiring intellect at a well known Big Ten university. A college purveyor of ‘truth’ and intellectualism, I was on top of my world. I was at the pinnacle of my career as a young ‘professional’ student. Emboldened with the teachings of great professors I was going out into the world as secondary education teacher. If there was anyone in the world walking around with a chip on his shoulder, I surely could have been the poster child of chip holders. Filled with these ‘new’ philosophies, I would surely change the world. Child by child, student by student, I would teach and help facilitate a revolution of change into the heartland of the American mind set. How could I fail? I had the teachings of Nietzsche, Freud, Jung, and Maslow at the foundation of my pursuit. With Pink Floyd’s, ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ and the sexual revolution of the sixties pushing me forward into this mass matrix of society, how could I fail? The voices of feminists like Gloria Steinem and Marylyn French screamed down the corridors of my brain, reverberating and echoing their mantras on equal rights and the feminist movement. I had read so much of the feminist literature concerning the male patriarchs and the biases of this unequal system, that I was mad at all men, including myself. I was mad at all those who pushed their ‘ways’ and tried to make me into their image. I was mad at anyone in authority or anyone who was unrelenting in the quest to perpetrate an already too far gone and broken system. Armed with this vast array of knowledge, like an intellectual matador, I had the proverbial bull by the horns and nobody was going to get in my way. But then the bull came charging home!
“I am pregnant.” my girlfriend said in a shattered stare of unbelief. So there I was staggered and speechless, and all I could do was try to reign in the moment. Vacillating between what I thought I believed and what I truly believed, I momentarily sat stagnant in the midst of a truth that I could not deny. My girlfriend had just told me she was pregnant with my child. There in the student union my thoughts encompassed me with the reality of this truth. In her womb MY baby was growing and in an instant, all that I ever believed or at least what I thought I believed came to a crashing halt. Like the apostle Peter, weeping bitterly when he was confronted with what he really believed. I too sat motionless in a sea of emotions as my past crowed before me. I don’t remember thinking how could this happen to me, but realizing that there was a baby in her womb and that baby was mine. I don’t remember feeling like a victim or even bitter. To me, the next step was obvious, we would get married and I would be the father to my child. But to my chagrin the words my girlfriend spoke were carbon copies of all the things that I thought I believed. Pro choice, women’s rights, and the ERA spoke from her heart and when she said she wanted to have an abortion all I could hear her say was she wanted to kill my baby. Her lips moved, but I really could not hear what she was saying, because I was finally confronted with what I believed and it did not match anything that I thought I believed. All the feminist rhetoric and political ideology that was born in the pursuit of logic and intellectualism could not withstand the assault of the confrontation of my beliefs. This wasn’t a mere piece of flesh in her womb, nor was it a ‘fetus’, a blob, or any other politically protected name the feminist movement hid behind. This was a growing living human being and not only that, it was MINE.
Frantic and trying to come to grips with reality. My words were firm and sure, let’s do the right thing. But her right thing and my right thing were two different things. Now that I knew what I truly believed, I would not go down without a fight. Knowing I could not hit her with an ‘in your face assault’ I tried to move stealthily and subtly. Hiding pamphlets advocating the birth of our child or statistics concerning abortion, I tried a myriad of plans to dissuade her from her foundation of feminist ideology. Soon she became aware of my subtle ways and became more openly repulsed by the idea of keeping the baby. The more I seemed to fight the more determined she became to stick to her course of action. She insisted it was her body and she could do with it what she wanted. With or without me, she was determined to get an abortion.
I don’t really remember saying much as we walked together to the off campus abortion clinic. And though we walked together, we were both alone. Illusionary. Surreal. Dreamlike. Pretend. Make-believe. The memories of that day are faded and somewhat masked behind a pain that is very difficult to describe. Life as I knew it would never be the same. I was a changed man. And after the abortion, there was no doubt that she was a changed woman also. Her words expressed it and her emotions forever echoed from her conversations from that day on. Soon, our relationship began to spiral downward and out of control. Two very different worlds had collided and exploded in our faces. Like on some Hollywood picture screen, the inevitable course of sin had played itself out. Lust, sin, and then death.
I don’t know where she is today nor have I heard from her. I do admit, that I do think about her from time to time. How could I not? We shared this past and I do wonder how she is doing and whether or not she has recovered from that tragic moment in our lives. There is a saying that ‘time heals the wounds that no one can see’ and even though it’s been over thirty years, there are times when my past tries to reconvict me and put me on trial again for the murder of my unborn child, and I have to fight back with all that I have been taught in God’s Word. I have to resist, believe, and know that God’s forgiveness is as far as the east is from the west. His mercy is everlasting and my life is now in His hands. But these are the scars and weights of sin that many of us carry with us into the future. The deep and hidden pains of ignorant decisions guided by nothing but carnal knowledge that rises up to haunt us and try to stifle the new creature that God is creating in each of us.
And when this past tries to blur my future and cloud my mind, I look over at my beautiful wife who loves the Lord with all her heart and I hug my two precious daughters and love them with all the love that I can muster up from within me. I am a changed man. I am not the same and for that I am thankful. In these moments, I remember what I have learned and how that moment forever changed me. It was a very pivotal point in my life when I learned that talk really is cheap and it is easy to say you believe something, but in reality, you really won’t know what you believe until you are confronted with what you believe.
Saturday, April 9, 2016
Monday, December 6, 2010
The 'Blissful' Fires of Ignorance...NOT!
Ignorance is never out of style. It was in fashion yesterday, it is the rage today and it will set the pace tomorrow. ~ Frank Dane
Thomas Jefferson said, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." To be ignorant is to be lacking information or knowledge. An ignorant person may be smart in some areas, but still 'in the dark' in other areas. For the most part, in this day of information overload, it is probably difficult to be knowledgeable in ALL areas. Our minds have been over so saturated with a plethora of information it is becoming more and more difficult to even recognize 'truth' anymore. From junk science to government propaganda, our lives have been assaulted beyond measure. But this should come as no surprise. In a prophetic utterance, Daniel said, "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." THIS is the age we live in. The age of 'running to and fro' and the rat race has us so mentally helter skeltered that life itself is losing its true meaning. Material things, pleasures, entertainment, and such like have become the pseudo replacement for life's yardstick of the essence of life itself.
Is it possible that we are so caught up in the temporal world that life itself is measured only by our senses? The idea that living is only measured by what we feel, taste, touch, smell, and see has flipped everything upside down. The chase to fulfill any meaning in life through sensual obtainment is and will always be never ending. There will always be a another 'high' to chase. There will always be another newfangled fad to follow. There will always be a continued push for a pulling out of the wallet. In the Book of Proverbs, written by a man who had everything imaginable to his flesh, said this..."Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied." (Proverbs 27:20) Like burning fires, there are appetites within us that desire 'things' and pleasures. Those in know, corporations, advertisers, government agencies, and similar entities, have long known how to use and control us through our appetites. It doesn't take much to bring a dying fire back to life. Toss in a few pieces of wood and the fire is 'satisfied' and comes raging back to life. Yet the problem still remains, the new wood will burn off and again, and the fire will need more wood to continue its burning.
I find it interesting how George Washington described government as a fire. The Father of our Country said, "Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." Here he likened government like a fire. Fire (government) is good if used properly. There are many beneficial uses for fire, if contained and restrained. But once fire (government) leaps past the pit and border of rocks it was corralled within, then who knows where or who it will burn! Such are the passions of men! Contained within us are a myriad of fires which many, if used properly, are beneficial, but when left unrestrained, these passionate fires wreck havoc on our surroundings and God's creation. As unrestrained government leads to oppression, so does unrestrained lusts bring a man into bondage unto his own fires. This is easily revealed by a quick look of the world around us. The cornucopia of men and women bound by the fires of alcohol, drug, and similar addictions is clear evidence that the appetites of men have leaped up out of the pit, over the ROCK, and has become an out of control forest fire of spiritual decay and burning!
Dr. Don Colbert wrote a book that says. "What You Don't Know May Be Killing You"... but I would have to say that what you don't know IS killing you! It is easy to claim 'I am a victim' and in this day and age, where everyone is a victim, you may even win a 'victimhood' trophy to put on your mantel. Elbert Hubbard said, “The recipe for perpetual ignorance is a very simple and effective one: be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge” So if you were to truly examine yourself, your life, and the choices you have made, is it possible you have become ignorant to the impact of these choices have had upon your life? Is it possible you are still making choices that feed the fires of your problems? Is it possible the real problem resides within you? As the song says...have you been looking for love in all the wrong places?
A man by the name of Derek Bok said, "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." Think of what your ignorance has costs you over the years. If the definition of insanity is doing the same behavior over and over again and expecting something different, then why do you continually look for some temporal thing or person to be the impetus of change for your life? Life is NOT measured by temporal things nor can it be truly lived by the things one gained. Though, at the end of life, one may garner to himself the most toys...yet in the end, that man is still dead, and as I have yet to witness, I have never seen a U-Haul following a Hurst at a funeral.
"The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about." (Wayne Dyer) The Lord said in Matthew 4:4, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." When was the last time you picked up your Bible and read it? Remember, the world would have you unrestrained and your fires raging hot. There is much money to be had when the fires are burning bright and hot! The world has pieces of wood to feed your desires, but in the end, what has your out of control fire ever gotten you? The Lord also said in Matthew 16:26, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" YOU make the calculations! YOU add it up! YOU must balance the budget on the ledger of you own life! In YOUR life, only you can say whether the exchange rate has been fair! Maybe today, its time to make an honest summation of your life's choices and finally, once and for all, put out the forest fires of your life!
Thomas Jefferson said, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." To be ignorant is to be lacking information or knowledge. An ignorant person may be smart in some areas, but still 'in the dark' in other areas. For the most part, in this day of information overload, it is probably difficult to be knowledgeable in ALL areas. Our minds have been over so saturated with a plethora of information it is becoming more and more difficult to even recognize 'truth' anymore. From junk science to government propaganda, our lives have been assaulted beyond measure. But this should come as no surprise. In a prophetic utterance, Daniel said, "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." THIS is the age we live in. The age of 'running to and fro' and the rat race has us so mentally helter skeltered that life itself is losing its true meaning. Material things, pleasures, entertainment, and such like have become the pseudo replacement for life's yardstick of the essence of life itself.
Is it possible that we are so caught up in the temporal world that life itself is measured only by our senses? The idea that living is only measured by what we feel, taste, touch, smell, and see has flipped everything upside down. The chase to fulfill any meaning in life through sensual obtainment is and will always be never ending. There will always be a another 'high' to chase. There will always be another newfangled fad to follow. There will always be a continued push for a pulling out of the wallet. In the Book of Proverbs, written by a man who had everything imaginable to his flesh, said this..."Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied." (Proverbs 27:20) Like burning fires, there are appetites within us that desire 'things' and pleasures. Those in know, corporations, advertisers, government agencies, and similar entities, have long known how to use and control us through our appetites. It doesn't take much to bring a dying fire back to life. Toss in a few pieces of wood and the fire is 'satisfied' and comes raging back to life. Yet the problem still remains, the new wood will burn off and again, and the fire will need more wood to continue its burning.
I find it interesting how George Washington described government as a fire. The Father of our Country said, "Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." Here he likened government like a fire. Fire (government) is good if used properly. There are many beneficial uses for fire, if contained and restrained. But once fire (government) leaps past the pit and border of rocks it was corralled within, then who knows where or who it will burn! Such are the passions of men! Contained within us are a myriad of fires which many, if used properly, are beneficial, but when left unrestrained, these passionate fires wreck havoc on our surroundings and God's creation. As unrestrained government leads to oppression, so does unrestrained lusts bring a man into bondage unto his own fires. This is easily revealed by a quick look of the world around us. The cornucopia of men and women bound by the fires of alcohol, drug, and similar addictions is clear evidence that the appetites of men have leaped up out of the pit, over the ROCK, and has become an out of control forest fire of spiritual decay and burning!
Dr. Don Colbert wrote a book that says. "What You Don't Know May Be Killing You"... but I would have to say that what you don't know IS killing you! It is easy to claim 'I am a victim' and in this day and age, where everyone is a victim, you may even win a 'victimhood' trophy to put on your mantel. Elbert Hubbard said, “The recipe for perpetual ignorance is a very simple and effective one: be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge” So if you were to truly examine yourself, your life, and the choices you have made, is it possible you have become ignorant to the impact of these choices have had upon your life? Is it possible you are still making choices that feed the fires of your problems? Is it possible the real problem resides within you? As the song says...have you been looking for love in all the wrong places?
A man by the name of Derek Bok said, "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." Think of what your ignorance has costs you over the years. If the definition of insanity is doing the same behavior over and over again and expecting something different, then why do you continually look for some temporal thing or person to be the impetus of change for your life? Life is NOT measured by temporal things nor can it be truly lived by the things one gained. Though, at the end of life, one may garner to himself the most toys...yet in the end, that man is still dead, and as I have yet to witness, I have never seen a U-Haul following a Hurst at a funeral.
"The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about." (Wayne Dyer) The Lord said in Matthew 4:4, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." When was the last time you picked up your Bible and read it? Remember, the world would have you unrestrained and your fires raging hot. There is much money to be had when the fires are burning bright and hot! The world has pieces of wood to feed your desires, but in the end, what has your out of control fire ever gotten you? The Lord also said in Matthew 16:26, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" YOU make the calculations! YOU add it up! YOU must balance the budget on the ledger of you own life! In YOUR life, only you can say whether the exchange rate has been fair! Maybe today, its time to make an honest summation of your life's choices and finally, once and for all, put out the forest fires of your life!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Victim or Victor?
"God gave us two ends - one to sit on and one to think with. Success depends on which one you use. Heads you win, tails you lose." ~ Unknown Author
Sometimes it takes people to become sick and tired of being sick and tired of being sick and tired. Many people are definitely tired and many people are sick, but most of them have not come to the place of being sick and tired or they just don't see the connection between the two. It seems that sickness has become this idea that it just hits you. Like some invading enemy from out of the blue, sickness invades your body and pow! you are sick. Whether it is cancer or the common cold, most seem convinced or just accept the idea that it just happens. These things are just a part of life and when they happen you just deal with as best you can. We learn to cope with our sickness, both natural and spiritual, rather than overcome and conquer them!
It blows my mind how most people don't see or are blind to the understanding of the simple cliche I was taught in my youth. "Garbage IN, Garbage OUT!" The principle is simple, whatever you put into your body will produce a similar effect. It is the idea there is a cause and then an effect that was created by the cause. Like a rock or a stone thrown upon a pond, its energy is catapulted into many layered effects. The ripples from the stone surge outward in a surrounding radius of waves and depending on the size of the stone will also impact on the size of the effect. Then there is the unseen side of the rock hitting the surface of the pond and what happens under the surface of the pond. The rock hits the surface and we see the surface effects, but what happens after it leaves our sight, is and could be a whole different story. Maybe it hits a fish or some other organism. Maybe it crushes a home of one of the organisms. Maybe the rock or the stone had some micro organism on it that causes the nearby water it hits to be contaminated. The overall effects are unknown, but they will eventually reveal themselves in the harvest somewhere down the road.
To think the average person today eats over processed foods and dead foods and actually expects or doesn't believe they will face repercussions down the road is a tell tale sign of a very manipulated society, or dumb downed as some have termed it. Maybe its just human nature just to be irresponsible. It seems to be a prevalent mindset through out our culture to NOT have or desire to take any responsibility for what happens in one's life. This victim hood mentality has enveloped our society and woven itself into the fabric of the mental make-up of our way of life. It is far easier to blame something outside of yourself for where you are than to have to 'eat crow' and take responsibility for your condition. Whether it be a spiritual issue or a physical one, the blame game shares equal footing for both. Sophocles said, "It is a painful thing to look at your own trouble and know that you yourself and no one else has made it."
Napoleon Hill said, "If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self." Just because we may choose not be accountable for our actions does not omit the fact that we responsible. Though we may live by the motto, "Out of sight, out of mind" does not mean we don't reap what we sow! Abraham Lincoln put it this way, "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today." Its one thing to be ignorant, its a whole different thing to be 'willingly' ignorant. Denis Waitley said, "A sign of wisdom and maturity is when you come to terms with the realization that your decisions cause your rewards and consequences. You are responsible for your life, and your ultimate success depends on the choices you make." The blame game only works for so long. After awhile finger pointing must be fixed to the real culprit! YOU! "Peak performance begins with your taking complete responsibility for your life and everything that happens to you." (Brian Tracy)
This pervasive trend of playing the victim is easy to 'fall' into and latch onto, especially in a culture seemingly centered around the superficial and lacking the depth of discussion which is truly needed for honest growth. For true growth to take place in our lives, we must be willing to take responsibility for our choices. We have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout that have occurred during our lifetime. "Within each of us lies the power of our consent to health and sickness, to riches and poverty, to freedom and to slavery. It is we who control these, and not another." (Richard Bach) On a daily basis, we give consent by the choices we make. I know it may seem like sickness just appears, but you cannot evade the consequences of eating fast food and junk food plays havoc on the immune system.
But in spite of all this 'eating crow' it must be made known to you, that God allows U-turns. The beauty of coming 'clean' with yourself is this fact...YOU can change. You can turn your ship around and sail to a different port. Only when the finger pointing and blame game stops, can true maturity and growth begin to take place. "The best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses." (Napoleon Hill) You may not be able to change the circumstances, the wind, or the seasons, but there is one thing you can change...YOURSELF. Today, you can step up to the plate like never before and take charge of yourself! No more excuses. There are no more if's, and's, or sitting on your butt's about it anymore! Today you are going to hold yourself to a higher standard than the masses. Today, by taking responsibility of your all your decisions, past and present, you are going to refuse playing the victim and begin a determined pursuit toward becoming the victor!
Sometimes it takes people to become sick and tired of being sick and tired of being sick and tired. Many people are definitely tired and many people are sick, but most of them have not come to the place of being sick and tired or they just don't see the connection between the two. It seems that sickness has become this idea that it just hits you. Like some invading enemy from out of the blue, sickness invades your body and pow! you are sick. Whether it is cancer or the common cold, most seem convinced or just accept the idea that it just happens. These things are just a part of life and when they happen you just deal with as best you can. We learn to cope with our sickness, both natural and spiritual, rather than overcome and conquer them!
It blows my mind how most people don't see or are blind to the understanding of the simple cliche I was taught in my youth. "Garbage IN, Garbage OUT!" The principle is simple, whatever you put into your body will produce a similar effect. It is the idea there is a cause and then an effect that was created by the cause. Like a rock or a stone thrown upon a pond, its energy is catapulted into many layered effects. The ripples from the stone surge outward in a surrounding radius of waves and depending on the size of the stone will also impact on the size of the effect. Then there is the unseen side of the rock hitting the surface of the pond and what happens under the surface of the pond. The rock hits the surface and we see the surface effects, but what happens after it leaves our sight, is and could be a whole different story. Maybe it hits a fish or some other organism. Maybe it crushes a home of one of the organisms. Maybe the rock or the stone had some micro organism on it that causes the nearby water it hits to be contaminated. The overall effects are unknown, but they will eventually reveal themselves in the harvest somewhere down the road.
To think the average person today eats over processed foods and dead foods and actually expects or doesn't believe they will face repercussions down the road is a tell tale sign of a very manipulated society, or dumb downed as some have termed it. Maybe its just human nature just to be irresponsible. It seems to be a prevalent mindset through out our culture to NOT have or desire to take any responsibility for what happens in one's life. This victim hood mentality has enveloped our society and woven itself into the fabric of the mental make-up of our way of life. It is far easier to blame something outside of yourself for where you are than to have to 'eat crow' and take responsibility for your condition. Whether it be a spiritual issue or a physical one, the blame game shares equal footing for both. Sophocles said, "It is a painful thing to look at your own trouble and know that you yourself and no one else has made it."
Napoleon Hill said, "If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self." Just because we may choose not be accountable for our actions does not omit the fact that we responsible. Though we may live by the motto, "Out of sight, out of mind" does not mean we don't reap what we sow! Abraham Lincoln put it this way, "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today." Its one thing to be ignorant, its a whole different thing to be 'willingly' ignorant. Denis Waitley said, "A sign of wisdom and maturity is when you come to terms with the realization that your decisions cause your rewards and consequences. You are responsible for your life, and your ultimate success depends on the choices you make." The blame game only works for so long. After awhile finger pointing must be fixed to the real culprit! YOU! "Peak performance begins with your taking complete responsibility for your life and everything that happens to you." (Brian Tracy)
This pervasive trend of playing the victim is easy to 'fall' into and latch onto, especially in a culture seemingly centered around the superficial and lacking the depth of discussion which is truly needed for honest growth. For true growth to take place in our lives, we must be willing to take responsibility for our choices. We have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout that have occurred during our lifetime. "Within each of us lies the power of our consent to health and sickness, to riches and poverty, to freedom and to slavery. It is we who control these, and not another." (Richard Bach) On a daily basis, we give consent by the choices we make. I know it may seem like sickness just appears, but you cannot evade the consequences of eating fast food and junk food plays havoc on the immune system.
But in spite of all this 'eating crow' it must be made known to you, that God allows U-turns. The beauty of coming 'clean' with yourself is this fact...YOU can change. You can turn your ship around and sail to a different port. Only when the finger pointing and blame game stops, can true maturity and growth begin to take place. "The best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses." (Napoleon Hill) You may not be able to change the circumstances, the wind, or the seasons, but there is one thing you can change...YOURSELF. Today, you can step up to the plate like never before and take charge of yourself! No more excuses. There are no more if's, and's, or sitting on your butt's about it anymore! Today you are going to hold yourself to a higher standard than the masses. Today, by taking responsibility of your all your decisions, past and present, you are going to refuse playing the victim and begin a determined pursuit toward becoming the victor!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Are You On Target?
The timid and fearful first failures dismay,
but the stout heart stays trying by night and by day.
He values his failures as lessons that teach,
The one way to get to the goal he would reach.
Edgar A. Guest
Its been almost five weeks since I ran the Detroit Free Press Marathon and lately I have found myself in a very odd place. Unmotivated! They say this happens for marathon runners. Its called the post-marathon blues. After completing nine marathons I have had some of this post 'depression' happen before but just not to this extent. I just don't feel like doing much and it is very difficult to expend any energy to go out and run a few miles. Its quite a change from four weeks ago, when I looked forward to running ten or eleven miles. Now, its difficult to feel motivated to run three miles, let alone go out and do much of anything. When you are training and disciplining yourself for an intense eighteen weeks toward finishing a marathon, when the marathon is over, you wake up with 'nothing' to do! Weeks and weeks of staying and keeping yourself motivated toward that big day have been so ingrained into your psyche, when its over, a foggy like depression seems to overcome your mind.
As I have journeyed through these last few weeks, I have been searching my mind and examining these feelings. It has come to my attention the importance and value of a goal. How the mind works and the necessity of working toward a 'fixed' destination. Elbert Hubbard said, "Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage but simply because they have never organized their energies around a goal." It's not that people don't have the potential, but most do not take the time to set concrete goals. Though they idealize where they want to go, they do not take the time to truly mark their course toward a certain destination.
Since I began running marathons, and as long as the Lord tarries and affords me the blessings of good health, I have set it in my heart to run at least one marathon a year. Through this small event of life, I am able to get a larger than life snapshot of the power of goal setting. Long before I commit myself to train for a marathon, I am already pondering the 'best' time to commit my energies. When I finally commit to train, I write out my entire training plan on a calender. "Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner." (Les Brown) Here I can 'see' my entire eighteen week schedule toward my goal of completing a twenty-six mile run. There is something about marking 'Race Day' on the calendar. From the pen to the mind, a vision is set in your heart that transcends the moment. There is a truth that knowing your destination is half the journey. From that moment on I know where I am going, but more importantly, I know how I am going to get there! Jim Valvano said, "How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal and you have to be willing to work for it."
What is our life without goals and not just any goals, but concrete purposeful goals. Aristotle said, "Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals." I know we hold certain dreams and hopes in our minds of where we would like to be or become, but there is more to obtaining than just wishing it to come to pass. "No matter how carefully you plan your goals they will never be more than pipe dreams unless you pursue them with gusto." (W. Clement Stone) With a proper vision, and your heart set, you must work to achieve your goal with a tenacity of a pit bull. Your vocabulary must change. Your work ethic must change. Your energy must be funneled away from waste and into what will help you to achieve your goal. "Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help with man with the wrong mental attitude." (W. W. Ziege)
Its time we get off our bed of ease and begin to really contemplate where we are heading and then decide if we really want to go there. This requires examination and honesty, which is a difficult task, because it is within our own nature to deceive ourselves. The world has us busy and keeps us busy, but what are we busy about? Is it quality energy propelling us toward our goals, or is it empty energy spent toward some vague point in the distant future? Mary O'Connor said it this way, "It's not so much how busy you are, but why you are busy. The bee is praised. The mosquito is swatted." We must move with purpose and the only way to move with purpose is to create a target worth shooting for! "If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's ok. But you've got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot." (Robert Townsend)
Zig Ziglar said, "Outstanding people have one thing in common: an absolute sense of mission." What is YOUR mission? What are your goals? Today its time to take some time to contemplate and examine yourself. Don't rely on others to dictate or create your life's goals. Don't allow yourself to be deceived into believing your life is not worth the pursuit of something beyond the statistical many who live without a vision. "Here is a test to find out whether your mission in life is complete. If you're alive, it isn't." (Richard Bach) Today...as a matter of fact...right NOW...get out that piece of paper and begin to draw the target of your dreams. You may be surprised at what you come up with!
but the stout heart stays trying by night and by day.
He values his failures as lessons that teach,
The one way to get to the goal he would reach.
Edgar A. Guest
Its been almost five weeks since I ran the Detroit Free Press Marathon and lately I have found myself in a very odd place. Unmotivated! They say this happens for marathon runners. Its called the post-marathon blues. After completing nine marathons I have had some of this post 'depression' happen before but just not to this extent. I just don't feel like doing much and it is very difficult to expend any energy to go out and run a few miles. Its quite a change from four weeks ago, when I looked forward to running ten or eleven miles. Now, its difficult to feel motivated to run three miles, let alone go out and do much of anything. When you are training and disciplining yourself for an intense eighteen weeks toward finishing a marathon, when the marathon is over, you wake up with 'nothing' to do! Weeks and weeks of staying and keeping yourself motivated toward that big day have been so ingrained into your psyche, when its over, a foggy like depression seems to overcome your mind.
As I have journeyed through these last few weeks, I have been searching my mind and examining these feelings. It has come to my attention the importance and value of a goal. How the mind works and the necessity of working toward a 'fixed' destination. Elbert Hubbard said, "Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage but simply because they have never organized their energies around a goal." It's not that people don't have the potential, but most do not take the time to set concrete goals. Though they idealize where they want to go, they do not take the time to truly mark their course toward a certain destination.
Since I began running marathons, and as long as the Lord tarries and affords me the blessings of good health, I have set it in my heart to run at least one marathon a year. Through this small event of life, I am able to get a larger than life snapshot of the power of goal setting. Long before I commit myself to train for a marathon, I am already pondering the 'best' time to commit my energies. When I finally commit to train, I write out my entire training plan on a calender. "Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner." (Les Brown) Here I can 'see' my entire eighteen week schedule toward my goal of completing a twenty-six mile run. There is something about marking 'Race Day' on the calendar. From the pen to the mind, a vision is set in your heart that transcends the moment. There is a truth that knowing your destination is half the journey. From that moment on I know where I am going, but more importantly, I know how I am going to get there! Jim Valvano said, "How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal and you have to be willing to work for it."
What is our life without goals and not just any goals, but concrete purposeful goals. Aristotle said, "Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals." I know we hold certain dreams and hopes in our minds of where we would like to be or become, but there is more to obtaining than just wishing it to come to pass. "No matter how carefully you plan your goals they will never be more than pipe dreams unless you pursue them with gusto." (W. Clement Stone) With a proper vision, and your heart set, you must work to achieve your goal with a tenacity of a pit bull. Your vocabulary must change. Your work ethic must change. Your energy must be funneled away from waste and into what will help you to achieve your goal. "Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help with man with the wrong mental attitude." (W. W. Ziege)
Its time we get off our bed of ease and begin to really contemplate where we are heading and then decide if we really want to go there. This requires examination and honesty, which is a difficult task, because it is within our own nature to deceive ourselves. The world has us busy and keeps us busy, but what are we busy about? Is it quality energy propelling us toward our goals, or is it empty energy spent toward some vague point in the distant future? Mary O'Connor said it this way, "It's not so much how busy you are, but why you are busy. The bee is praised. The mosquito is swatted." We must move with purpose and the only way to move with purpose is to create a target worth shooting for! "If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's ok. But you've got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot." (Robert Townsend)
Zig Ziglar said, "Outstanding people have one thing in common: an absolute sense of mission." What is YOUR mission? What are your goals? Today its time to take some time to contemplate and examine yourself. Don't rely on others to dictate or create your life's goals. Don't allow yourself to be deceived into believing your life is not worth the pursuit of something beyond the statistical many who live without a vision. "Here is a test to find out whether your mission in life is complete. If you're alive, it isn't." (Richard Bach) Today...as a matter of fact...right NOW...get out that piece of paper and begin to draw the target of your dreams. You may be surprised at what you come up with!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Pain Sweet Pain
“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” Jim Rohn
Oh how we dread the thought of feeling any type of pain. God forbid we are led to endure any type of discomfort in our lives. Headache? Grab a bottle of Motrin! Back pain? Get the doctor to write a script of Vicodin or Oxycodone! Hurt feelings, remorse, or any form of guilt? Let's drown it all out by consuming a bottle of whiskey! Don't get me wrong, there certainly is a place for 'pain therapy' but it seems America is not only attracted to but also addicted to the idea that pain is meant to escape. Somewhere in our interpretation of 'the pursuit of happiness', we (Americans) have determined that pain was not contained within the definition of happiness. In our Disney-fied Hollywood saturated minds of life, our happily ever after pictures of life have no place for pain. When pain comes, our first move is to escape it! It doesn't matter how the headache evolved, all that matters is the pain is felt, and the goal is NO PAIN.
A quick glance at our love affair with painkilling drugs is quite illuminating. Over an eight year period (1997 - 2005) statistics from the the Drug Enforcement Administration shows the amount of five major painkillers sold at retail stores rose 90 percent. More than 200,000 pounds of codeine, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone and meperidine were purchased at retail stores during the most recent year represented in the data. That total is enough to give more than 300 milligrams of painkillers to every person in the country. Without writing a book, although I could, here are a few statistics concerning just the use of pain pills alone in these United States.
* Painkillers are the most commonly abused prescription drugs.
* The U.S. is the world’s largest consumer of painkillers, using 71 percent of the world’s oxycodone and 99 percent of the world’s hydrocodone, or Vicodin.
* In 1991 there were 40 million prescriptions for painkillers worldwide, but by 2001, there were 180 million painkiller prescriptions, most of them in the U.S.
* 7 of the 11 drugs most commonly abused by high school students are prescription or over-the-counter drugs.
* A 2006 survey found that 7 million people 12 and over had abused prescription or over the counter drugs in the past 30 days. Most abused painkillers.
* 2.2 million people age 12 and up started abusing painkillers in the last year.
* Young adults, age 18 to 25, show the most painkiller use and the greatest increases in abuse.
* About 1 in 4 teens will abuse prescription drugs before they graduate from high school
* Emergency room visits related to painkiller use rose 153 percent from 1995 to 2002.
* Admissions to drug treatment programs for people using painkillers rose 321 percent from 1995 to 2005.
* The number of people abusing painkillers is estimated to have risen from half a million to 2.5 million between 1985 and 2002.
* Deaths related to painkiller use rose 160 percent from 1999 to 2004.
* The abuse of painkillers causes more deaths than heroine and cocaine combined.
And on and on it goes ad nauseam...and this doesn't even include all the other prescription drugs Americans swallow, inject, inhale, spray, infuse, and pat on their bodies for medicinal purposes!
It seems the more our society unravels, the more we look for solace in avoiding pain. Every where you look pain is to be avoided at all costs. From physical pain to spiritual pain, the goal is to minimize its signal and strength. Like an ostrich with its head stuck in the sand, we have created this out of sight, out of mind world of illusion. If I don't confront it, then it doesn't exist. It is far easier to mask the pain in our body with a drug than to actually have to discipline ourselves to some requirement of having to change how we do things. The same tune is sung with our spiritual pain. Rather than deal with our inner man, we saturate our minds with avoidance techniques. Recreational drugs of choice helps to enshroud our repressed grudges and anger, leaving us numb to the realities of life.
If for just a moment I could get you to step away from your shrine of victim hood and perpetual pursuit of pain avoidance, I may then be able to get you to 'see' that pain is good. Think of a life without pain. There are rare cases in this world where people are born without the ability to feel pain. There are cases of children, because they were born with the inability to feel pain, biting their tongues and fingers off. If we can perceive pain correctly, pain then is a gift from God. Pain tells us something is not right. The physical pain of a sprained ankle warns us there is something wrong. If we didn't have that ankle pain, then we would walk on, causing more and more damage to our body. The spiritual pain of the psyche warns us we must change our way of thinking and doing things. Yet, rather than confront, we try to conceal. We begin to perform covert operations against our own soul. Then when the harvest of such underground mole work begins to manifest itself in our lives with alcohol and drug addictions, we then shake our fist at God and blame Him. When, if the truth be known, God gave us the gift of pain to guide us back to health.
To confront pain is not easy. It takes guts. It takes honesty. It takes grit and determination to deal with pain head on. Only you can take this journey to confront the inner hurts and pains of life that have seemingly forever slowed you from achieving and grasping the fullness of life. Don't you think its time to 'get your head out of the sand' and confront your life?
Oh how we dread the thought of feeling any type of pain. God forbid we are led to endure any type of discomfort in our lives. Headache? Grab a bottle of Motrin! Back pain? Get the doctor to write a script of Vicodin or Oxycodone! Hurt feelings, remorse, or any form of guilt? Let's drown it all out by consuming a bottle of whiskey! Don't get me wrong, there certainly is a place for 'pain therapy' but it seems America is not only attracted to but also addicted to the idea that pain is meant to escape. Somewhere in our interpretation of 'the pursuit of happiness', we (Americans) have determined that pain was not contained within the definition of happiness. In our Disney-fied Hollywood saturated minds of life, our happily ever after pictures of life have no place for pain. When pain comes, our first move is to escape it! It doesn't matter how the headache evolved, all that matters is the pain is felt, and the goal is NO PAIN.
A quick glance at our love affair with painkilling drugs is quite illuminating. Over an eight year period (1997 - 2005) statistics from the the Drug Enforcement Administration shows the amount of five major painkillers sold at retail stores rose 90 percent. More than 200,000 pounds of codeine, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone and meperidine were purchased at retail stores during the most recent year represented in the data. That total is enough to give more than 300 milligrams of painkillers to every person in the country. Without writing a book, although I could, here are a few statistics concerning just the use of pain pills alone in these United States.
* Painkillers are the most commonly abused prescription drugs.
* The U.S. is the world’s largest consumer of painkillers, using 71 percent of the world’s oxycodone and 99 percent of the world’s hydrocodone, or Vicodin.
* In 1991 there were 40 million prescriptions for painkillers worldwide, but by 2001, there were 180 million painkiller prescriptions, most of them in the U.S.
* 7 of the 11 drugs most commonly abused by high school students are prescription or over-the-counter drugs.
* A 2006 survey found that 7 million people 12 and over had abused prescription or over the counter drugs in the past 30 days. Most abused painkillers.
* 2.2 million people age 12 and up started abusing painkillers in the last year.
* Young adults, age 18 to 25, show the most painkiller use and the greatest increases in abuse.
* About 1 in 4 teens will abuse prescription drugs before they graduate from high school
* Emergency room visits related to painkiller use rose 153 percent from 1995 to 2002.
* Admissions to drug treatment programs for people using painkillers rose 321 percent from 1995 to 2005.
* The number of people abusing painkillers is estimated to have risen from half a million to 2.5 million between 1985 and 2002.
* Deaths related to painkiller use rose 160 percent from 1999 to 2004.
* The abuse of painkillers causes more deaths than heroine and cocaine combined.
And on and on it goes ad nauseam...and this doesn't even include all the other prescription drugs Americans swallow, inject, inhale, spray, infuse, and pat on their bodies for medicinal purposes!
It seems the more our society unravels, the more we look for solace in avoiding pain. Every where you look pain is to be avoided at all costs. From physical pain to spiritual pain, the goal is to minimize its signal and strength. Like an ostrich with its head stuck in the sand, we have created this out of sight, out of mind world of illusion. If I don't confront it, then it doesn't exist. It is far easier to mask the pain in our body with a drug than to actually have to discipline ourselves to some requirement of having to change how we do things. The same tune is sung with our spiritual pain. Rather than deal with our inner man, we saturate our minds with avoidance techniques. Recreational drugs of choice helps to enshroud our repressed grudges and anger, leaving us numb to the realities of life.
If for just a moment I could get you to step away from your shrine of victim hood and perpetual pursuit of pain avoidance, I may then be able to get you to 'see' that pain is good. Think of a life without pain. There are rare cases in this world where people are born without the ability to feel pain. There are cases of children, because they were born with the inability to feel pain, biting their tongues and fingers off. If we can perceive pain correctly, pain then is a gift from God. Pain tells us something is not right. The physical pain of a sprained ankle warns us there is something wrong. If we didn't have that ankle pain, then we would walk on, causing more and more damage to our body. The spiritual pain of the psyche warns us we must change our way of thinking and doing things. Yet, rather than confront, we try to conceal. We begin to perform covert operations against our own soul. Then when the harvest of such underground mole work begins to manifest itself in our lives with alcohol and drug addictions, we then shake our fist at God and blame Him. When, if the truth be known, God gave us the gift of pain to guide us back to health.
To confront pain is not easy. It takes guts. It takes honesty. It takes grit and determination to deal with pain head on. Only you can take this journey to confront the inner hurts and pains of life that have seemingly forever slowed you from achieving and grasping the fullness of life. Don't you think its time to 'get your head out of the sand' and confront your life?
Friday, November 5, 2010
Of Mole Hills and Mountains
“There are very few certainties that touch us all in this mortal experience, but one of the absolutes is that we will experience hardship and stress at some point.” Dr. James C. Dobson
Stress...that six letter word floating at the top of the bowl in this alphabet soup we call, 'life'. No matter how much we try to skim the letters off the top, there seems to arise from below another set of these same six letters to take its place! And herein may really lie the problem...its not just how we think about a situation of life, but what we think upon that keeps the soup simmering. Byron Katie said, "Rather than understand the original cause—a thought—we try to change the stressful feelings by looking outside ourselves." If the truth be grasped, known, and understood, most all our problems originate with 'our thoughts'. There is a saying that goes as follows: "Watch your thoughts, they become your words; Watch your words, they become your actions; Watch your actions, they become your habits; Watch your habits, they become your character; and your character becomes your destiny." Like some cosmic domino affect, EVERYTHING begins with a thought! Our thoughts frame the world in which we live. They create our world long before we begin to speak our world into existence. Long before you brutally assaulted your friend, spouse, or child with those verbally charged words of hurt and pain, the anger was resting in your bosom. The words are and were inevitably linked to a stewing anger that finally boiled over onto the fragments of your life.
So, as the myriad of self help and positive thinking pundits have continually tried to persuade us to do over the years, if we would change our thoughts or the way we think, then the obvious result is a change of course in our destiny. If this holds true, then it should not be a surprise to find the Bible is full of Holy Writ admonishing us to change the way we think. In Philippians, the Apostle Paul commands us to 'THINK on these things!' "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." ~ (Philippians 4:8) With the onslaught of negativity all of us must endure from within our own hearts, it is not surprising to see Paul admonishing us to think of positive things.
Job, a man who endured some horrific stress in his life said, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble." ~ (Job 14:1) If we could truly tap into the basic understanding of Job's words. Stress is as much apart of life as life itself. None of us will ever avoid stress or be dissolved of stressful situations, but if we UNDERSTAND this, then we shouldn't be so moved when stress hits our lives! "How we perceive a situation and how we react to it is the basis of our stress. If you focus on the negative in any situation, you can expect high stress levels. However, if you try and see the good in the situation, your stress levels will greatly diminish." ~ (Catherine Pulsifer) We may not have control over to all that happens to us, but we do have control over our responses! "Stress is not what happens to us. It's our response to what happens. And response is something we can choose." (Maureen Killoran) I have always found it amazing to read of others who were confronted with life threatening adversity, and yet, are not overtaken by it, but enjoy the power of life and living within the stressful grasp of such wayward winds. Take a man by the name of Viktor Frankl, who was truly a victim of the Nazi Holocaust. Imprisoned, oppressed, and surrounded by death itself, Viktor Frankl lived to tell its tale. "The experiences of camp life show that a man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress. We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way. The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity—even in the most difficult circumstances—to add a deeper meaning to life." Wow...and with this picture fresh in our minds, dare I say or write, how many of us live in a concentration camp of our own makings. Though we are not trapped, we are trapped. Immobilized within the walls of our own oppressor and consumed by the tragedy of its fears.
Over the years I have not only heard it said, but deem it to be a truth...that well up to ninety-seven percent of what we worry about never comes to past. Most of us have been beaten down by our minds, minds that have been filled with a broad brush of illuminating imaginations, only to find the painting that was painted never did warrant so much color. Catherine Pulsifer said, "When you find yourself stressed, ask yourself one question: Will this matter in 5 years from now? If yes, then do something about the situation. If no, then let it go." In the 'big picture' of life we cheat ourselves of truly living by majoring in minors and minoring in majors. And if the truth would be known, the mountain we are so intensely climbing is a mole hill of angst and stressful thoughts of our own making.
Joshua L. Liebman echoed Job's words by saying, "Maturity is achieved when a person accepts life as full of tension." We must learn to stop thinking that every rain drop is the beginning of a torrential down pour. "Even to much sunshine can be devasting, while only with rain can growth occur. Accept both as part of the growing process in the garden of life." (Donald S. Neviaser) Today, its time to bring your life back into balance. A balance that allows you to live fully and achieve the HIGH CALLING a MIGHTY God has called you hereunto! Sure, its stressful to 'take up one's cross' but don't be discouraged...on the other side of the cross, there is a resurrection!
Stress...that six letter word floating at the top of the bowl in this alphabet soup we call, 'life'. No matter how much we try to skim the letters off the top, there seems to arise from below another set of these same six letters to take its place! And herein may really lie the problem...its not just how we think about a situation of life, but what we think upon that keeps the soup simmering. Byron Katie said, "Rather than understand the original cause—a thought—we try to change the stressful feelings by looking outside ourselves." If the truth be grasped, known, and understood, most all our problems originate with 'our thoughts'. There is a saying that goes as follows: "Watch your thoughts, they become your words; Watch your words, they become your actions; Watch your actions, they become your habits; Watch your habits, they become your character; and your character becomes your destiny." Like some cosmic domino affect, EVERYTHING begins with a thought! Our thoughts frame the world in which we live. They create our world long before we begin to speak our world into existence. Long before you brutally assaulted your friend, spouse, or child with those verbally charged words of hurt and pain, the anger was resting in your bosom. The words are and were inevitably linked to a stewing anger that finally boiled over onto the fragments of your life.
So, as the myriad of self help and positive thinking pundits have continually tried to persuade us to do over the years, if we would change our thoughts or the way we think, then the obvious result is a change of course in our destiny. If this holds true, then it should not be a surprise to find the Bible is full of Holy Writ admonishing us to change the way we think. In Philippians, the Apostle Paul commands us to 'THINK on these things!' "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." ~ (Philippians 4:8) With the onslaught of negativity all of us must endure from within our own hearts, it is not surprising to see Paul admonishing us to think of positive things.
Job, a man who endured some horrific stress in his life said, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble." ~ (Job 14:1) If we could truly tap into the basic understanding of Job's words. Stress is as much apart of life as life itself. None of us will ever avoid stress or be dissolved of stressful situations, but if we UNDERSTAND this, then we shouldn't be so moved when stress hits our lives! "How we perceive a situation and how we react to it is the basis of our stress. If you focus on the negative in any situation, you can expect high stress levels. However, if you try and see the good in the situation, your stress levels will greatly diminish." ~ (Catherine Pulsifer) We may not have control over to all that happens to us, but we do have control over our responses! "Stress is not what happens to us. It's our response to what happens. And response is something we can choose." (Maureen Killoran) I have always found it amazing to read of others who were confronted with life threatening adversity, and yet, are not overtaken by it, but enjoy the power of life and living within the stressful grasp of such wayward winds. Take a man by the name of Viktor Frankl, who was truly a victim of the Nazi Holocaust. Imprisoned, oppressed, and surrounded by death itself, Viktor Frankl lived to tell its tale. "The experiences of camp life show that a man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress. We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way. The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity—even in the most difficult circumstances—to add a deeper meaning to life." Wow...and with this picture fresh in our minds, dare I say or write, how many of us live in a concentration camp of our own makings. Though we are not trapped, we are trapped. Immobilized within the walls of our own oppressor and consumed by the tragedy of its fears.
Over the years I have not only heard it said, but deem it to be a truth...that well up to ninety-seven percent of what we worry about never comes to past. Most of us have been beaten down by our minds, minds that have been filled with a broad brush of illuminating imaginations, only to find the painting that was painted never did warrant so much color. Catherine Pulsifer said, "When you find yourself stressed, ask yourself one question: Will this matter in 5 years from now? If yes, then do something about the situation. If no, then let it go." In the 'big picture' of life we cheat ourselves of truly living by majoring in minors and minoring in majors. And if the truth would be known, the mountain we are so intensely climbing is a mole hill of angst and stressful thoughts of our own making.
Joshua L. Liebman echoed Job's words by saying, "Maturity is achieved when a person accepts life as full of tension." We must learn to stop thinking that every rain drop is the beginning of a torrential down pour. "Even to much sunshine can be devasting, while only with rain can growth occur. Accept both as part of the growing process in the garden of life." (Donald S. Neviaser) Today, its time to bring your life back into balance. A balance that allows you to live fully and achieve the HIGH CALLING a MIGHTY God has called you hereunto! Sure, its stressful to 'take up one's cross' but don't be discouraged...on the other side of the cross, there is a resurrection!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Beyond Trivial Pursuit
"Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out - it's the grain of sand in your shoe." - Robert Service
How many times have we heard it said that we lose sight of the forest for the trees. It seems so easy in this image conscious world to lose sight of what is really important. We are constantly inundated with the superficial and the shallow, and if we are not careful, life ends up becoming less about purpose and more of a pursuit of the trivial. Somewhere along the way we must obtain the ‘purpose’ or sense of direction of our lives. We must forge out the answer to the question ‘what are we here for’? Yet, it seems, we are so easily distracted by little nuances and the mirages life’s petty lures. In the ‘to and fro’ of our swaying, we lose track of the true intent of life itself and fall under the manipulating barrage of societies impulses and tendencies. We turn mole hills into mountains and mountains into mole hills. We major in minors and minor in majors. Life is consumed with the he said and the she said's and valuable time slips away into eternity never to be had again.
Think about it. Before we are hardly out of bed and have awakened from a peaceful sleep, we are pounced upon by outside forces. Each force vying for our attention. Each entity telling us what is important and what is not important. The shout from the outside immediately steps into our morning stretch and demands our full attention. From the weather to apparel, food to money, buy here and go there, the voices cry out for our touch. If we are not careful the multitude of distractions can easily beguile us into losing our sense of direction. The scripture says in Proverbs that a man who is given to appetite might as well put a knife to his throat. Why? Because when our appetites rule us they lead us to places we never intended to go. When we are given to appetite we are more easily manipulated into doing things we would never do if we were more assured of our purpose. In the end we become enslaved by the very things we sought to possess!
In our haste to ‘find’ happiness we give over to momentary indulgences only to be left even more empty than before we caved in to the justification of it all. Our life is far more than appetites and true liberty comes with this understanding. We must be honest with ourselves! How many times, after the chase, do we have to end up with empty hands and hurting hearts? How many distractions do we have to fall for before we wake up and see the whimsical ways of our appetites? How many times do we have to get off the beaten path of true purpose and die the death of many regrets? How many times must we be lied to before we are finally compelled to restrain our own appetites of deception? How many times do we have to empty our shoes before we truly climb with a sense of purpose?
Then again, maybe here in lies the real problem. Without meaning in life, life has no meaning! Seneca said, “Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.” So now begs the question. What harbor are you sailing for? What is or are your goals? What IS important to you? When you are healed, in body and mind, what is YOUR purpose? Today, stop the noise from without and seek some answers from within. Silence the critics and voices of manipulation with a firm resolve to empty your shoes and turn aside for a higher look up the mountain, you may be surprise what you see up there!
How many times have we heard it said that we lose sight of the forest for the trees. It seems so easy in this image conscious world to lose sight of what is really important. We are constantly inundated with the superficial and the shallow, and if we are not careful, life ends up becoming less about purpose and more of a pursuit of the trivial. Somewhere along the way we must obtain the ‘purpose’ or sense of direction of our lives. We must forge out the answer to the question ‘what are we here for’? Yet, it seems, we are so easily distracted by little nuances and the mirages life’s petty lures. In the ‘to and fro’ of our swaying, we lose track of the true intent of life itself and fall under the manipulating barrage of societies impulses and tendencies. We turn mole hills into mountains and mountains into mole hills. We major in minors and minor in majors. Life is consumed with the he said and the she said's and valuable time slips away into eternity never to be had again.
Think about it. Before we are hardly out of bed and have awakened from a peaceful sleep, we are pounced upon by outside forces. Each force vying for our attention. Each entity telling us what is important and what is not important. The shout from the outside immediately steps into our morning stretch and demands our full attention. From the weather to apparel, food to money, buy here and go there, the voices cry out for our touch. If we are not careful the multitude of distractions can easily beguile us into losing our sense of direction. The scripture says in Proverbs that a man who is given to appetite might as well put a knife to his throat. Why? Because when our appetites rule us they lead us to places we never intended to go. When we are given to appetite we are more easily manipulated into doing things we would never do if we were more assured of our purpose. In the end we become enslaved by the very things we sought to possess!
In our haste to ‘find’ happiness we give over to momentary indulgences only to be left even more empty than before we caved in to the justification of it all. Our life is far more than appetites and true liberty comes with this understanding. We must be honest with ourselves! How many times, after the chase, do we have to end up with empty hands and hurting hearts? How many distractions do we have to fall for before we wake up and see the whimsical ways of our appetites? How many times do we have to get off the beaten path of true purpose and die the death of many regrets? How many times must we be lied to before we are finally compelled to restrain our own appetites of deception? How many times do we have to empty our shoes before we truly climb with a sense of purpose?
Then again, maybe here in lies the real problem. Without meaning in life, life has no meaning! Seneca said, “Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.” So now begs the question. What harbor are you sailing for? What is or are your goals? What IS important to you? When you are healed, in body and mind, what is YOUR purpose? Today, stop the noise from without and seek some answers from within. Silence the critics and voices of manipulation with a firm resolve to empty your shoes and turn aside for a higher look up the mountain, you may be surprise what you see up there!
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