Life Changing Decisions

Sometimes I feel almost overwhelmed with the changes taking place in my life. I feel as though my life is changing on an exponential level... like there's a momentum that's been building and has a life of its own now and I'm just along for the ride. I made the decision almost 17 months ago that every day I would do something that would influence my heart level beliefs about who God is, how He felt about me and my identity in Him. Then last May I decided to actively pursue living in peace and to confront whatever beliefs or habits I had that prevented me from abiding in a peaceful state on a daily basis. I can say hands down that those two decisions would be two of the most significant decisions I've ever made for many reasons, but especially because my life is really working now! The way I want it to!

The first decision has involved a lot of meditation and active reflection on what God says about me. When I say meditation, I mean quieting my outer world down and tuning into my inner world and what's really going on inside and also actively visualizing what my life looks like 'in Him' and what it would look like if all His promises were actually working right now in my life. After all, as He is NOW, so are we in this world. Why don't we see more people living like this? Christians especially seem to get up in arms if you talk too much about meditation as they often assume you've gone all 'New Age' on them or something. They seem to forget that first of all, Christianity started as an Eastern religion and second, the Bible repeatedly speaks of meditating on the Word of God day and night and writing His truth on your heart because we ALL live unconsciously out of the beliefs of our hearts. I've heard a lot of teaching on this subject so I realize if it's new to you, you may not fully understand where I'm coming from. We live out of our hearts, not our minds. The beliefs we've adopted throughout our lives are what are currently keeping us in the state we're in. Like Einstein said, 'The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.' I see things in my life that I want to change and although it has been a somewhat painful experience at times, I believe wholeheartedly that changing my beliefs at a heart level (not mental assent) is the key to walking in the fullness of life at which I desire to live.

I also believe the Buddhist proverb that says 'When the student is ready, the teacher appears.' The amount of resources and material that have just 'happened to come across my path' is amazing in itself. Just 10 days or so ago, someone literally dropped a book into my lap and said they thought I might enjoy it and it was the exact material I needed for the next step I needed to take... oh, how I love serendipity!

Well, I could go on and on about the 'coincidences' that keep occurring in my life but I need to get my little boy out of bed so I will write more later. 'Til then, may your eyes be opened to the boundless opportunities that surround you every day and may you have the courage to grab them before they pass you by!

Be ALL That You Can Be

Living 'small' doesn't do you - or anyone else for that matter - any good in the long run. Let me clarify. I have been thinking about living life to its greatest potential and embracing the fullness of life God has intended for me to live from the beginning. He's given me, and everybody else, some unique characteristics and talents that He knew, when used well and faithfully, would benefit more than just ourselves. Obviously motive makes a big difference and we could devote an entire blog to motives but I don't want to get sidetracked so let's just assume our motive is love - for God, ourselves and others. It can't get better than that. If I'm motivated by love, then desiring to bless other people with my life and the good things I experience or possess is a natural outflow of this.

Aristotle said "Where talents and the needs of the world cross, therein lies your vocation." I like that. One of the main lessons I'm learning is that there is tremendous power in just 'being me.' Of course, I become more comfortable in my own skin as I realize how valuable I am in God's eyes and from that underlying awareness of being loved, I not only feel greater peace internally, but I am able to walk in paths of peace in my daily living. Not all the time, but certainly a lot more than I used to.

Writing this blog is sometimes hard. Not because I dislike writing, but because I find it hard to put my experience into a few paragraphs. I've said this before and I'll say it again, "This is a journey for the individual and I can't walk it for you." I can, however, cheer you on and tell you that it's well worth letting go of whatever preconceived notions or mindsets you may be holding onto that are preventing you from living in an abiding sense of peace and an abundant life.

Anyway, back to my original point... I wanted to write this post about avoiding 'small' living. In other words, staying in a place that is less than 'full capacity,' whether due to fear or culture or whatever. I'm not condemning the process of growth from smaller to bigger that we all must travel to get somewhere. I'm saying "Choose to be the BEST you can be rather than settling for the GOOD." This choice is incredibly exciting, but can be scary as well because not many people walk this road (after all, there is safety in numbers and we don't like to 'stand out') so the path can be lonely. I do believe it's worth it, though. It takes courage and guts because you are unique and your talents are unique so following your heart will take you on a unique journey for you and God. New heights, new adventures, new challenges, new discoveries.

I struggle internally when I hear people say "I don't need much to live on. Just as long as there's enough for me and my family to live, then I'm happy." Sometimes I want to shake them and say, "You selfish thing! What about the rest of the people in the world that could benefit from your increased success? If you don't need much to live on, then take what you need and succeed for the sake of others who don't have enough. Succeed for those who don't know how yet!" Narrow minded, small living pisses me off and I'm not going to do it anymore and I'll tell anyone who will listen not to settle for that lie either. I'm not saying live beyond your means or stress out about what you don't have. I'm saying take what you have in your hand and watch it multiply as you are faithful with what you have RIGHT NOW! This may be in the form of financial, intellectual, emotional, or physical talents. This isn't just about money. Let's commit to using what we have and seeing it increase to meet the needs of those we encounter. Jesus took what He had with the loaves and fishes and it was more than enough. What you have now is more than enough. Who are you to say you're nothing? Dare to live in all God has called you to. Dare to live BIG and watch the big God we have living on the inside of us multiply our resources for sowing and increase the fruit of our righteousness and rejoice in the cries of thanksgiving that will rise to Him from the lives we touch as a result.

That's all.

Take Time to Notice

I'm a bit strapped for ideas of what to write but I want to write anyway so am employing my 15-minute 'free flow' writing exercise to get this post out. It's not that I'm at a loss for words, more that I have so much going on that I don't know where to start... so what I'm going to do is just write and see what comes out.

Taking time to notice is a habit that I am learning to develop and the first idea that popped into my head as I started to write so we'll flow down this path and see where the trail leads. I know that we live in a day and age where we are in auto-pilot much of the time... going to work, doing the same basic things day in and day out and I think we sometimes get so caught up in the mundane, or even the chaos of the demands of everyday living that we don't even notice when something 'ruffles' our emotions or pain or discomfort in our bodies are trying to tell us to slow down. Often my life blurs from one day to the next as I repeat the same things over and over, especially with two small children who often need to have things repeated to them time and again while they're learning. And that's fine. I recognize the necessity of the 'season' of life that I'm in at the moment, but as I'm really starting to take notice of my emotions, my energy levels, my health and wellbeing on this peace journey that I'm on, I am becoming more and more aware of how I'm feeling internally at any given moment. Once upon a time I almost took pride in my ability to squash my emotions, especially the negative ones or the ones I associated with 'weakness' but I'm learning not to do that anymore. My emotions are like an indicator of my internal state at any given moment, and just like it would be silly to ignore a unusual lump in a certain part of my body and just hope that it would resolve itself, I can really see that noticing and acknowledging emotions - negative and positive - helps me become more aware of myself, how I react to certain environments, and possibly warning signs that things may not be as they should be and action should be taken. Taking the time to notice for me has helped me become more honest with myself which then has helped me become more 'real' with God and others and to live a more congruent life, which I think is essential to living in peace (I've spoken about this before.) Noticing doesn't require lots of effort and once you make the decision to do it, you'll be amazed at what you discover that you have possibly been tuning out. The biggest challenge after noticing is what you'll do with your discoveries but I do believe that this is a key step to walking in peace. Time's up... til next time. :)