I Hear Dead People!

No, this will not be a rant about M. Night Shyamalan and the life lesson that we could learn from him. Since I started with that at least let me mentions that lesson: you don't run your hardest the first mile of the marathon, you pace yourself so you can finish strong. Otherwise, you are struggling to breathe by mile 7 (The Village) and then you collapse at mile 13 (The Last Airbender).
But I digress, if you are anything like me, which you might not be, but if you are human, which you probably are, then you probably find yourself spending more time than you realize focusing on two things that you have no direct control over: the past and the future. We focus on the past because we harbor regrets of things we have done and things that wish we had done. The problem with that is that we are utterly incapable of changing any of those things, so the time and energy we direct to those thoughts and regrets doesn't improve or change those memories, it often just increases the regret that we feel over past circumstances. When we are not thinking about the past we often find ourselves anxious and worried about the future, which is understandable. We should plan for the future as much as we are able and give real thought to the destinations and outcomes that we hope to arrive at. The problem is that so many of us become overwhelmed by the prospects of what could happen that the anxiety and worry over those thoughts again rob of us of energy and time that could better be directed towards the one thing we have control over: the present.
The one thing we can control is the next decision we make. We can't control what circumstances will come our way from day to day, but we can equip ourselves to be in a position to make the next decision a wise one by directing our energy and time to that decision. How do we do that?
1. Pray (Short and easy, He has made some good decisions, He might be able to help you)
1. Learn from the past (It is the one thing we can gain from experience: wisdom)
2. Take your time (The worst decisions are often made based on emotion)
3. Ask for help (Have good counsel from people who have gained wisdom and use it)
4. Weigh your options (Pro and con list written down helps to give you perspective)
5. Pray (Reassure your mind and heart at the end of the process)
These are just a few things that help us to slow down and systematically think through what it is that we are doing. It is important to have some consistency in our approach to making decisions and these steps give us that as well.
As someone who has not always made the best decisions and harbors many regrets, let me just encourage you not to get bogged down in the past or to be overly anxious about the future, but to live this moment, making each right next decision. If you do that, it will often lead you to amends for any regrets and mistakes of the past and it will set a firm foundation for the future that you want. Enjoy this Monday and I wish you all the best!

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." Matthew 6:34 (The Message)

The Antidote

There is an old saying that holding on to resentment like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. For some reason that saying always reminds me of the poisoning scene in the "Princess Bride" which makes me smile but then I force myself to be serious because to not forgive someone is a sin and sin is bad, allegedly. It also reminds me of how dramatically my unwillingness to forgive others has effected my life. It has at times cost me energy, sleep, friends, and peace of mind. That is why it is so dangerous. The foundation of why we don't forgive lies in our own pride and selfishness. We allow ourselves to come to a point where we believe our feelings and emotions surrounding the situation are the most important thing to be considered. We would rather than wallow in the misery of our bitterness than deal with our pride and move beyond the hurt and pain to a place of healing and restoration.
I had a million ways to rationalize why I didn't need to forgive, mainly that I was the one who was wronged and why should I forgive someone who had done wrong to me. It took me a long time to understand that the anger and bitterness that I held on to like a security blanket were destroying me. While they were destroying me I found that those that I was so upset with were living content lives, not even realizing how angry I still was. This realization brought me to a place of understanding that I could either hold on to my need to be right and vindicated or I could forgive and find peace and contentment. Over the past two years I have sought out the opportunity to sit down with several people who I really held resentment towards for things that I felt they had done to me that were wrong, not to seek an apology from them, but to seek forgiveness for the things that my resentment brought out in me around them. I can tell you that I have never felt such peace and contentment as I do today, I am no longer a prisoner to angst and bitterness, I have found forgiveness and as a result of that have chosen to forgive. It doesn't mean that those relationships will ever be what they once were but it does mean that no one else has control over my life, forgiveness has allowed me to take that back and to set my own course.
I hope as Henley says in Invictus you will be able to say. "I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."

Misery might love company but it never keeps any

Just a little confession to kick off with today. I like to watch certain people fail, there I said it. I know, I know, I am sure that I am the only one who ever feels this way but there are certain people who I just don't particularly care for and it gives me a real sense of satisfaction when they fail. Having said that, let me also say that I realize how distorted that is and how that is not the attitude that a good Christian should have. My conclusion then is that I am a horrible Christian and guess what, I'm okay with that.
The realization that no matter how hard I try, I never get any closer to God or more like Christ through my own efforts is a liberating place to come to. I realize that my best efforts have left me in utter failure and that instead of being hopeless I can find hope in the reality that I am unable to be like God on my own. My best attempt at being good have fallen short and as long as I find shame and guilt in my own failure then I am going to revel in the failure of others because it allows me not to feel so bad about my own failures. It is when I come to terms with my own need for God that I am freed to love others and to wish and work for their best as well. It is here that I come to understand what Jesus meant when he said that I have to give up life in order to keep it. I am powerless and as long as I live in that I want others to be powerless as well. When I assent to my need for God's help however, it frees me to want the best for others.
The writer of Proverb understood this when he said, "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles" in chapter 25 and as I continue this journey toward wisdom, I wish you the best in all that you do.

P.S. I actually mean it now.

What Are You Looking For?

This has really been a week of up and down emotions for me. It started great as I got to go home to Panama City and spend a few days with Susan, Aiden, and Rylee but then on Tuesday when I flew back here to Virginia Beach it seemed to plummet. I stepped right back in to a place where I really don't know anybody yet and am struggling to find a job, in short, it just hasn't worked out in the way that I had planned it in my mind.

I am not normally someone who finds myself depressed, but I could just feel the weight of it sit down on me the last few days. I caught myself just complaining to God about everything, about how it wasn't fair and that he should realize how much I am giving up to follow Him and then, I heard how ridiculous I sounded. It reminded me of several Psalms where David goes on and on about the sorry condition of his life to God but then I remembered, David always followed those complaints up with a remembrance of what God had done and was promising to do. So, I want to be a man after God's own heart, and I figured to combat the negative, I would recollect the positive.

I don't always have to be happy, but I always want to be content. The difference, happiness is based on emotion and the moment, contentment is the recognition of the soul that God is in control and everything is fine as I follow Him (in other words things will not always be like they are right now, good or bad). So I am writing a gratitude list of three things each day this week, things that I can thank God for and make my focus. What we focus on dictates where we go and whether we enjoy the journey. What are you focusing on and how are you enjoying the journey?

P.S. If you look for the negative you will always find it, but if you look for the positive you will always find that as well, the difference is you might enjoy the search.

I'm grateful for:

1. An incredible wife who has shown grace and understanding that I don't think I could
2. People who have encouraged me when I couldn't find it in myself
3. 85th chances