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Sunday, November 16, 2014

I intend to...

Intention. It seems like an innocuous word filled with hope doesn't it? Honestly, it's a word that gets on my nerves because it is usually preceded by some task that was supposed to be completed but was not.  Usually the task or event was not done because something else got in the way.  'I intended to wash the dishes, but I got caught up in a long telephone call with Aunt Nelly'.  I intended to go to church this morning, but I decided to sleep in after a late night of studying'.  'I intended to finish my homework by the deadline, but I got sidetracked'.  Excuses, all excuses.  Even if the excuse is a good one, it is still an excuse.  And though I believe intentions not followed through are excuses, we will all be found guilty of these in-completes at one time or another through out our lives. The best we can do is to make sure our in-completes become less as we mature.

We can do this by making sure we do not have too much on our plates at any given time.  We have to make our no mean no, and our yes mean yes.  It takes work, we might lose friends and acquaintances, but we must remember that we only live once and life is short.  We cannot afford to get mired in overly long to-do lists and being talked into taking on tasks we have no business saying yes to.

But what if we turned intention on it's head? What if we decided to live life with intention instead of intending to do things we never get to?  What if we chose intention instead of bitterness? I believe, as do most people, that life is about choices.  We choose to get out of bed in the morning whether we want to or not.  We choose to go to school or work whether we want to or not.  We choose joy instead of bitterness.  We choose happiness instead of sadness.  Don't get me wrong, I am not saying to pretend we don't feel a certain way.  We are beings with emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, etc.  But what we do with those emotions is what is important.  As we mature physically, emotionally, and spiritually, we must live with intention.

Life takes us through some very sad places.  For many of us life did not turn out the way we expected. Some of have been hit with untimely death, unwanted divorce, a marriage that never happened, or children we never had.  For many of us, our hearts have been broken and twisted into unrecognizable forms.  Hearts broken into so many pieces we do not believe they will ever be put back together again.  But what would happen if we lived with the intention that whether our hearts healed or not, we would be a positive force in our little corner of the world? What if we lived with the intention that our broken hearts would not rule us, but that we would rule that brokenness? What if we realized that the brokenness became less, even if it never completely disappeared?  What if we found that in the brokenness we realized our calling, the reason we were put on this earth?

No, the broken heart and broken dreams are definitely not the path we would have chosen, but the fact is it happened.  What we do about it is what matters.  What if we lived with intention?

Sunday, November 9, 2014

What's your struggle?



What if we used our struggles to better ourselves, instead of fighting against our struggles.  Most people want to hide their struggles, their weakness, their faults, and their failures.  What if we admitted them and then used them to make us better, lessening their effect on us and on those around us?  How can we do that you ask?  It would not be easy, it would take time, but I believe it would be worth it in the end.

The first thing we would have to do is to make a list, take stock of our faults and failures.  It may be a painful undertaking, but I believe as human beings making our way through life, we should take stock once in a while anyway. I believe that is how we grow and mature spiritually and emotionally. We cannot continue on unless we have the list.

Once the list is complete, the next step is to not beat ourselves up.  No one is perfect, negative self-talk is self-defeating.  We do not have time for that.  Life is short, and we have someplace to be. Where you ask? Wherever it is God says we should be.  After all, that is the reason for this exercise. We were all put on this earth for a reason.  The reasons are many: to be the best parents, to be the next president, prime minister, CEO, or scientist.  Whatever God puts on our heart to do, to become, we must be the best; do our best.  When we are taking stock, we must be thorough, otherwise what would be the point?

So we make our list, and we take stock of each item on that list.  We have decided not to fight against or to struggle with, our faults and failures.  We must instead invite God to help us use those faults and struggles, to make us patient with ourselves and with others. The struggle against ourselves will try to overtake us daily.  But we must daily push back. That is called maturity, and it is called using our struggles instead of fighting against them.  

 

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Distraction

Last week I posted my first ever video blog entitled 'It is time'. Click this link to listen to the video.  http://civillamorgan.blogspot.com/2014/10/it-is-time.html

In this post, I would like to follow up to 'It is time'.  When you make the decision to step out, to make that big crazy move, that is when distraction will come.  It may seem innocent enough, and it usually is.  The bearer of the distraction usually does not even know that he or she is bringing distraction, they just want you to do something for them. You, the person stepping out into a new thing, must recognize what is happening, and respond accordingly.  Distractions by their nature, exist to keep you from doing what you are supposed to be doing.  Some time ago, I also posted a blog entitled 'Do not idle'.  In that post I mentioned how when I was a little girl and my mother would send me to the store, she would tell me 'do not idle'.  Do not become distracted, do not allow anyone to stop you from going to the store, go and come straight back.

Distraction can make us lose track of time.  Before we know it, a whole day has gone by and none of the tasks on our 'to do' list have been completed.  Fighting distraction takes strength and discipline.  It is much easier to spend time on tasks we prefer than to spend time on tasks we would rather not do. But the fact is, to succeed, that task must eventually be done.  In this day and age, most people do not like the word discipline.  We want things done immediately.  But what if we realized that every successful person we know whether personally or in the headlines, got to where they are through discipline?  They disciplined themselves by going to acting classes. They learned their lines, and they became world famous actors and actresses commanding top dollar in their industry.  People who want to do and be the best in their industry, must stay up late into the night.  They have to wake up early in the morning, and they have to say no to things they want to say yes to.

Sometimes the devil sends people to distract us, to attempt to take us out of our season of stepping out.  There are people who do not want us to succeed.   These people will tell lies about us, saying things to discredit us, planting seeds of doubt.  The first key to recognizing a distraction is to look at the timing of the distraction.  I do not believe in coincidence.

If something happens or someone approaches at the time of your stepping out; think before acting or re-acting.  Now more than ever, the time of our stepping out, we have to hear God every step of the way.  This time of stepping out may never come again.

My personal suggestions for stepping out successfully:

1) Be able to say 'no' even if the request is for a 'good thing'.
2) Be selfish with your time.  This is the only time I will tell you to be selfish, I do not like that trait       at all, but in this case, it is necessary.
3) Be willing to walk away from what seems like common sense, if it is what God is telling you to         do.  God's instructions seldom make sense.
4) Be kind but firm.  Everyone will have their opinion on what you are doing.  But the only word that      counts is the word coming from God.
5)  Pray every step of the way, and even after you become successful, keep praying.  What it took to        get you there is what it will take to keep you there.
6) Surround yourself with people you trust.  As I mentioned above, not everyone will be happy for         you, no matter how much they smile and pat you on the back.  Ask God to surround you with             people whose suggestions and critiques are consistent and trustworthy.

Do you have suggestions for successfully stepping out?  I would love to hear them!