Eye see it

Life lesson: You go where your eyes go.

It was a hot day, miserable in fact. The road was radiating heat like a red hot engine overheating on a summer’s day. I was that guy outside on a jog soaking up the heat like someone who has lost their mind. I swear I saw buzzards circling! Next thing I noticed my eyes were gazing down, looking at my feet, counting the cracks in the sidewalk. What followed is illustrative, my posture began to slump, my steps became harder and my breath got shorter. In short, my running got harder because my eyes changed what they were fixed on. I became aware of this and changed my focus for just a moment. I lifted my eyes towards a fixed point in the distance and my entire posture, gaze, and breath changed for the better. The only thing in my circumstances that changed was my focus.

You go where your eyes go.

Want to change your life?

Change your focus.

Step 1: Take a moment at each meal of the day to simply think about what you have been focusing on.

Step 2: If your focus is misdirected, willfully change it.

Step 3: If distraction is common then place a visual reminder such as a photo, or a word, heck get a tattoo!

December 28, 2020 0

Focus Forward

13Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 3: 13-14

Want to wreck your car?

Drive while looking backward.

Want to wreck your life?

Live while looking backward.

We were meant to live out of the windshield, not the rearview mirrors.

Focus forward and glance back.

God has called YOU to strain toward what is ahead.

Strain for the prize!

The great cloud of witnesses applauds you.

December 28, 2020 0

Dirt and roots

Growth amidst the dirt and roots, the grime and smell yet yielding to life.

Crushed, down further and further into the decayed rotting soil of life goes the roots in search of precious water and sustenance.

Out of the effort springs forth life above ground where the roots can’t see.

It seems our focus in life is the above ground pursuit but the real pursuit occurs in the muck and yuck of the growth underground where eye cannot see.

Ever pressing onward deeper and deeper into blackness, void of senses yet toiling ever deeper in a necessary rush to find life.

The world around us draws towards the upward life.

Real life happens in darkness, in the workshop of root work.

Application:

How are you growing below the surface where no one can see? Write 3 ways you are growing.

July 7, 2020 0

Applause

Applause, like candy, is sweet to the taste yet leaves you always wanting more.

Have you ever received applause only to want more?

Applause is a poor motivator because it is so fickle.

The performer must top the last performance to increase applause.

What if we lived for the applause of heaven?

Does the applause of heaven exist?

The applause of heaven is a mindset whereby we seek to please those above not those

here on earth.

When we live for the applause of heaven we get earth thrown in.

When we focus on God’s pleasure in our endeavor we gain the applause of earth as well.

Application:

What is one area of your life that could benefit from the applause of heaven?

April 12, 2017 0

Conspiracy Monster

“In the absence of information conspiracies abound.” -Brene’ Brown

There is a little monster inside of us called the conspiracy monster. This little creature lives between your ears and roars things that aren’t true. The effects of the conspiracy monster are far-reaching from the classroom to the boardroom and even the bedroom. The conspiracy monster feeds on bits of information with much room for interpretation. A wild conspiracy monster can ruin your life.

The conspiracy monster feeds on social media. When we view a picture-perfect family it is easy to be overcome with a myriad of thoughts most of which are completely untrue. When we feed on these untrue thoughts they serve as food for conspiracies only fueling the monster that lives in each of us. The worse part is when we behave out of the conspiracy. We might act impulsively and spend money where we don’t need to because we feel the need to be more active like that perfect family, (chomp, chomp) the monster eats your checkbook. Or we begin to dislike our lives because they seem to be so boring (chomp, chomp) there goes your contentment.

How do we identify and defeat the conspiracy monster? First, you are halfway by believing the conspiracy monster exists. Second, you need to filter events that happen in your life through the truth filter. If you hear the monster chomping, press pause and ask one question, what is true about this event right now? The truth of an event frees you from the grip of the conspiracy monster. Better yet, the truth of an event frees you to behave out of that truth. When we behave out of truth we live with significance and contentment.

Application:

Have you been allowing the monster to eat you alive? What can you do to filter the conspiracies thrown your way?

Here are a few suggestions:

View social media with the belief that what you are seeing isn’t THE TRUTH but a version of a person’s truth. Filter hard.
When a person shares a victory in their life, pause, kill the monster, and genuinely celebrate with them.
When information is scarce regarding a circumstance or life event, gather facts like a detective before permitting yourself to behave out of the limited intel.
Fill your life with truth statements, factual truths that pertain to you. The Bible is a tremendous source of solid truth about who you are.
Share these ideas with others.

June 1, 2015 0