The Lie of the Guidance Counselor

Life is never as straightforward as we would like it to be.
It's funny how the older as person gets, the more we realize that we cannot control our future. There are times that we point ourselves in a certain direction, but the place we end up is somewhere quite different, and you look back and feel "well how the  heck did I end up here?"

Remember doing aptitude testing in grade school? You sit down with a counselor and answer 25 questions and BAM - they gave you a list of 10 occupations perfectly suited for you. You could be a pilot, an entertainer or a mailman. You were to choose these courses in high school and all the guess work  was now taken out of play. Life was under control and you were on your way.

Obviously it never ends up that way. If averages hold true, most of us will work in  7-10 different career fields over the course of our lives. We'll have major transitions in what our personal life. We'll live in different cities (or countries) and experience things we never dreamed of nor planned for. I'm 34 and have worked in 4 or 5 different career fields, changed from a fast-food eating machine at 20 to a vegetable smoothie lover at 30. I spent three years pursuing a masters degree that I only spent 1 year utilizing in that specific career field. Really I blame my guidance counselor. His computer program was obviously faulty. It said pilot.

I think the coolest thing about it all is that God knew and made sure we were ready. While we thought we were preparing for one thing, he was really just using that phase of life to help us gain skills to succeed in the next. I suppose the biggest learning is that what we are doing is not as important as learning while we are doing it. Every phase of life seems to offer us a chance to learn about ourselves, our strengths and our growth areas. It gives us an opportunity to acquire a new skill or a new perspective on life. We may think that we have the next step all figured out, but then things change or God speaks, and life moves you in a brand new direction.

And that's OK. The next change is really nothing more than a new opportunity to grow - a chance to experience life in a brand new way

Love to hear your responses - and maybe a place or a job you never dreamed you would be in.

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Self Control

I’ve worked with teenagers for more than 10 years and any story you can imagine I’ve heard, witnessed or experienced. They light themselves on fire with hairspray, shoot fireworks at each other in a tag game, surf on the back of moving vehicles, put icy/hot rub in places that should never be “icy-hotted” and and and. Self control is not exactly the cornerstone of life for teenagers.

 

This past week I read a few articles in SI about what happens when athletes start to get out of control. Murder charges, failed marriages, PED allegations or even just professional extortion as they vie for a bigger contract from another team in their free agent years.

 

Then this morning I open up the book of Titus and it reads as follows:

 

Titus 2: 6:7

“Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. ⁷ In everything set them an example by doing what is good.”

 

The Bible is always so simple, yet so counter-intuitive to how we live. We feel big when we tell stories of all the crazy things we did/experienced over the weekend, but here we are encouraged to make our younger years be marked by wisdom and self control

 

Which takes more strength – going along with the crowd when something is going down, or having the will power to say no because you want to live wisely?

To stand up for what is right, or to give in to temptation?

 

Great reminder today from the scripture about self control. I guess I’m coming to the cusp of no longer being in “my younger years”, but I don’t ever want to come to the place where someone could say that I had lost control.

 

My prayer for today and for life – Lord help me live large and love life, without ever losing control.

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Real men Fall... & get back up again

For Father's Day this year I decided to run a triathlon. For me, 51.5 km of swimming, biking and running beats the heck out of watching golf on the couch any day.

Well most days.

Today it was 15 degrees and raining with a chance of thunderstorms. Not exactly a morning I wanted to be outside. Yesterday all day I tried to create a decent excuse for why I didn't need to go. I couldn't ABANDON my family like that. Surely they would want me around for those 3 hrs. Or maybe the lightning was just too unsafe. Can't take a risk like that. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't come up with anything that sounded legitimate so off I went at 7:00 AM this morning.

When I got there it was only raining lightly, so I set up my bike and running gear and dressed for the swim. The skies opened up & we had a good 1/2 hr soaking just before it was time to get into the water (fitting). However once the  gun went and we all dashed into the lake all was forgotten. The cold, the rain, my fake excuses all gone. I was doing what I wanted to do for Father's Day and it was going to be OK.

A triathlon is 1.5 in the water, 40 KM on the bike, concluded with a 10 km run. The worst part by far is the first few km's of running. Your exhausted, you've been racing for an hour and a half and your legs  jus don't feel like working anymore. Once you get into the rhythm of running it's OK, but there sure is a mental block when you first get off the bike and start to run.

This was far from a perfect race day, but I was making the best of it between short storms and muddy conditions. Then things really got awesome at the 23 KM mark of the bike.  My pedal fell off.
It's hard to bike without pedals.
So now I am wet, tired 17 KM from the race site and I have a bike without a pedal

Happy Father's Day.

It was one of those defining moments for me. I had a choice. I could sit there and wait for a race vehicle to find me, have pity of me and carry my sorry self and broken bike back home.  Or I could grab the bike by the bars and do what I came here to do - swim bike & run. Remember that even on a nice day when your bike is working fine, this is hardest part - moving from biking to running. But as i said, I really felt like this was one of those moments for me. Am I am quitter or a warrior? Do I pack it  in when things look hard or do I persevere?

So I ran with my broken bike for 7 KM when eventually a someone found me. (The police marshals apparently had called the race officials and told them about some crazy man running with his bike). I was still 10 KM from home. I was wet and disappointed that I wouldn't get an official finish on this race. However I handed the man my bike and said thanks but no thanks. I ran my way back home and finished 41.5 KM of the triathlon (They didn't let me go back out onto the 10 KM run course) in an unofficial wristwatch time of 2:59:32.

Real men fall, but real men get back up and keep going.
On Father's Day I want my daughter to see that finishing on your  own terms, even after a fall is sometimes more satisfying than finishing 1st when no adversity comes your way.

This is the man and father I want to keep being.

And yes... I went to to the Taylor Swift concert on Friday and loved it.  Real men can like country pop apparently as well.

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Ya I Know But...

Ya I know but...

These words send chills down the spine of almost every parent I know.

“I thought I asked you to clean up your room?”

“Ya I know, but I just needed to finish this level first.”

Or sometimes they even try to make it seem logical
“Ya I know but I was working on homework and I figured that was more important. I have a test tomorrow you know.”

This morning’s reading from the Life Journal (http://www.lifejournal.cc/bible) was in 1 Sam 15, where Samuel details for Saul that God would rather have us be obedient, than to make a sacrifice that we feel is more appropriate. (1 Sam 15:22).

Something in human nature makes us assume that we know better. We feel that our way or our perspective is more valuable than those of others around us. Kids try to give their parents reasons why they didn’t need to do the thing that they are being asked. We explain to our bosses why we spent time working on a project that they didn’t want us working on. In this reading this morning, Saul even told God why what he did was better than the way God was expecting it to be done.

”Don’t worry God – it’s cool. I figured you’d rather have it this way”.

A few good thoughts for me this morning.
1) Don’t be so shocked when our kids react this way, because it’s not just kids who do it.
2) Are there areas in my life where I am making excuses for doing things my way rather than doing it the way I was instructed to.



Whether it comes to my faith, my work, or my family, it just seems that to obey is difficult.
Obedience is better.

Rick

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Life Changing Tips

By: Murray Kingwell 

1. Memorize something every day. Not only will this leave your brain sharp and your memory functioning, you will also have a huge library of quotes to bust out at any moment. Exercising the brain staves off Alzheimer's, while stress shrinks the short term memory area of the brain (hippocampus).

2. Constantly try to reduce your attachment to possessions. Those who are heavy- set with material desires will have a lot of trouble when their things are taken away from them or lost. Possessions do end up owning you, not the other way around. Become a person of minimal needs and you will be much more content. "Godliness with contentment is great gain" Content people don't get anxious, guilt-ridden, or resentful (3 emotional roots to all problems).

3. Develop an endless curiosity about this world. Become an explorer and view the world as your jungle. Stop and observe all of the little things as completely unique events. Try new things.

4. Remember people’s names so that they feel appreciated. To do this, say their name back to them when they introduce themselves. Then repeat the name in your head a number of times until you are sure you have it. Continue to use their name in conversation as much as possible to remove any chance of forgetting it.

5. Get fit! It’s ridiculous to think that we have one body, one sole means of functioning, and people are too lazy to take care of themselves. Fit bodies lead to better health, confidence and more success with romantic endeavors. I’d say those are 3 very good reasons to get in shape.

6. Learn to focus only on the present. The past is unchangeable so it is futile to reflect on it unless you are making sure you do not repeat past mistakes. The future is but a result of your actions today. So learn from the past to do better in the present so that you can succeed in the future.

7. Even more specifically, live in THIS moment. Even 10 minutes ago is the past. If you live purely in this moment you will always be happy because there is nothing wrong in this split- second. Jesus, "take no thought of tomorrow ... sufficient are the cares (of today)."

8. Smile more often. Whenever you get a grin on your face, your brain is releasing serotonin, the happy hormone. Smiling is the natural way to force yourself to be happy. Many people even smile for five minutes straight in the morning to get themselves in a great mood. When I learned this, I purposely practiced smiling more!

9. Drink water. Hydration is tremendously important for overall health. Soda has absolutely ZERO nutritional content; it’s like pouring a punch of sugar and syrup into your cup. Instead, fill it with life-replenishing water. It may taste plain at first if you’re coming off of a heavy soda-drinking streak, but you’ll soon find yourself addicted to it. 10 glasses per day is optimal, how many have you been getting lately?

10. Don’t take life so seriously! Learn to laugh at the little things and this whole “existence” thing will be a whole lot easier. Be amused by your mistakes and failures and be thankful that you learned your lesson and won’t mess up like that again. And most importantly do things that you enjoy! Life is not strictly business; it can be mixed with pleasure.

11. Think positive thoughts. When you find yourself thinking a negative thought, stop it immediately by any means necessary. If you are alone even yell stop.

 12. Read books. No explanation needed.

13. Get in the sun. Superman was completely re-energized when he flew out to space and soaked in some rays and you can do the same right outside your front door. Cancer levels are lower in the southern states because people there get more vitamin D from the sun.

14. Help others. I’ll just give you a plethora of reasons why this is a MUST

• Helping people has a ripple effect. If you help someone they will feel more obliged to help
someone else, and so on. Pay it forward

•You grow by giving and helping others. It can change you in ways you never expected

• Your relationship with that person will become stronger

•It’s the most fulfilling thing you can do on this planet. It not only feels amazing physically, you
also feel like a good person

• Because there are more people in this world than just you

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