Thank your loved ones for everything they DON'T do.
They DON'T abandon you.
They DON'T judge you.
They DON'T doubt you.
They DON'T gossip about you.
They DON'T forget you.
They DON'T lie to you.
They DON'T think they should be thanked for all this.
Because they love you.
We were having dinner at Chili's last night and I learned one important lesson from our waiter. He must have been no older than 22 years old. He was serving a few tables including ours. Our exchange was the typical waiter to customer interaction. Customer asks and waiter serves. Waiter checks on the customer occasionally to see if everything is ok. Customer then asks for more. More tea, more ice. a utensil, etc. Waiter serves. Customer finishes meal. Waiter cleans up.
Once we finish dinner, we ask for the "check" and the waiter brings it. Most times, the waiter places bill on table or hands it to you. Not our waiter tho...
Our waiter extended his arm out for a handshake. Both my wife and I end up shaking hands with him as he genuinely maintains eye contact and says, "thank you and God bless you."
Then we got the "check". I signed that check. I don't remember the taste of my meal or the amount on the check but I remember the handshake and final interaction.
He did the unexpected, elevated the experience with a simple handshake. We were pleased. He was memorable.
Waiters need to bring that intimate connection and we need to do that wherever we are at. This world needs more connection. Less routine stuff and more out of the ordinary stuff.
I bet you can do this at work and at home. Find the ordinary in life and do the unexpected. Be memorable.
The resistance has kicked in. My body/mind feel drained as I'm trying to fit everything into this ONE LIFE.
Prayer
Family
Health
Creativity
Friendship
Why keep up? Because if I don't, it negatively impacts the world.
We have a responsibility to be the best version of ourselves to positively impact the world.
Someone is always watching.
I think of all the greats who were in this same battle between resistance and perseverance. They did not give up. They persevered in the face of resistance. They are now changing lives. They get even more resistance nowadays with every decision they make but what helps them is that they have been to that darkness that resistance creates and they have been able to get out with the light that perseverance creates.
It's the same thing for me. If I give up and take it easy... just doing what needs to get done to "get by" would mean that I shove God's gifts to me back in his face. I can't do that. I would negatively impact not only my life but your life.
Keep going.
Over the past week I have been using the word Invest when thinking about my time, effort and energy. The word Invest is defined as devoting one's time, effort or energy to a particular undertaking with the expectation of a worthwhile result.I see the distinction between investing VS spending. The investing of my time, effort and energy needs to bring forth a worthwhile result in everything I do. I see it as living with purpose. The word Spend is defined as a way to show the activity in which someone is engaged. It just shows where you are engaging your time, effort and energy but it doesn't tell us anything else.
I need to invest my time, effort, energy and money; and not just spend it.
This clarity changes things.
Things to Ponder
Invest time in activities and people that you love.
Invest in tools that will advance skill/efficiency.
Invest the time in staying organized and keeping a schedule.
Invest time in prayer.
Invest time in the good reads, the good news.
I love the Book of Ecclesiastes. I recommend it to any of you reading this. It's approximately 2,300 years old! Every self-help book out there touches on some of the concepts of life shared in this divine book. If you don't want to read it, at the very least give Chapter 3 a chance. This chapter does it for me! It simplifies the overly complicated life we live at times. We are running everywhere. Trying to control every little detail. Letting those same details stop us from making progress. I know it stopped me and it's all "vanity of vanities."
Here is the kicker, it's that there is an appointed time for everything that happens in our life. I myself have been guilty of saying, "Everything happens for a reason." and not believing what I just said. I sometimes follow that statement with this thought, "If only I had more control next time, this won't happen!" and frankly, that's not how life works.
There is a time for everything. There is a time for sadness and a time for happiness. A time for learning and time for teaching. A time for thinking and time for doing. And I my friends was thinking about all I wanted to create and share with you for a long long long long time. Now, I am no longer thinking...
This blog is "DOING"
I woke up at 4:30am this morning ready to write a blog and draw an art piece as I have been doing these last couple of days. I got up, drank some water, prayed, then switched over to coffee and sat down ready for creativity to flow. It would be smooth sailing from here, right? Nope.
Last night, I got a spark of creativity and it resulted in an illustration detailing the battle between light and darkness that happens when I sit down to create and share something good. Well, I thought that this creativity would continue flowing through me. Well, that was pretty naive of me to say the least. This morning that battle of "creating vs not creating" was even more intense. I sat down staring at a blank screen and my mind was blank. I couldn't think of anything to write for this blog or to draw as an art piece this morning.
The time kept ticking away and I was getting frustrated.
Then I had a realization. I came to the battle empty handed. No ammunition. No weapon. Nada.
God will always help us. However, he expects us to put in the work as well. I haven't done that with creativity. I have not been diligent in setting myself up for the battle that God will help me with. I will do so as of this morning. I will set time aside and schedule time to think creatively of what I struggle with personally and experiences I have had that I can illustrate and write about. God willing, I will be here tomorrow morning ready to battle over a thought and God will help me through it. I have faith this will happen.
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The other day I had a thought that gave me some clarity on motivation quotes and responsibility. I noticed that when I read and immediately share motivation quotes online I'm pushing away the personal responsibility that was placed on me to change something within myself. I started noticing all the quotes on my social media feeds from friends/family as well. I'm not sure if we all have this realization that the only person that can benefit from that "Aha!" moment when we read those quotes is ourselves. The message resonates within us and we have to take action to change something about ourselves. I myself, read a quote and if it is something I can relate to I get into the "love mode" and I think "ah yes! let me share this! I know it will help you too! Go change something about yourself!"
These words that poke at my heart were meant for me to read at that moment in time. It's as if I am receiving a gift from God. I believe that he is all-loving and wants me to open this gift and let it change something within me. He wants me to spend some time with this gift and enjoy it. He wants me to put it into use and act on it. He wants me to take action and change something. Once I do this, I can take this gift and share it. I have been gifted a responsibility. I will do the work and then I will share.
Oh, how many times did I half-ass things to get them "done". I can't accept that from myself, anymore. It's not good for me and not good for you. If you are reading my blog I want you to get the most of it. I was running into obstacles with getting these blogs posted across several platforms so I had to do some research over the weekend to see how I can accomplish posting this everywhere.
You can say that I'm not just doing it. I'm focused on doing it right. I see me blogging as a long term investment. I want these thoughts to sit on a solid platform. This is the reason I switched over to TypePad. It's the ultimate blogging platform. I hope you like it. It's simple, minimal, zero distractions. You will have the ability to share any of the posts if you feel the need to do so. Also, you will be able to comment so I can see what you like or don't like.
Now I will focus on the writing...
Test everything and hold on to what is good. - St. Paul
"GOD WILL NOT HAVE HIS WORK MADE MANIFEST BY COWARDS." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
