Leaning Toward Wisdom

Craving Encouragement: A Project Update

Thanks to you guys I'm closing in on the goal. I'm not there yet so if you're so disposed to make a contribution, do it.

A BIG THANK YOU to everybody who has contributed. Even you anonymous ones. You frustrate the snot out of me being anonymous but thank you just the same. Know this...

Participation in the project doesn't rely on your financial contribution. I'm super grateful for the donations, but I'm VERY anxious to gather your stories of a time when you were encouraged in a meaningful way.

Please click on that Support This Podcast tab in the navigation and learn more about how you can share those stories with me.

 

"Life is a marathon, not a sprint."

Yeah, who says?

Just another thing that sounds smart, but maybe it's not. Okay, forget about smart. Is it accurate? Not likely.

I watched yet another documentary on Janis Joplin the other night during another bout of insomnia. She died at 27. Along with a host of other rock and rollers like Jimi Hendrix. 27 seems to be a popular age to check out if you're given to excess. There's even a 27 Club.

I guess 27 years is a marathon compared to 2 years. Life is relative. But lifespan isn't usually what we're referring to when we say, "Life is a marathon, not a sprint." Mostly, I think people mean things take time. So the saying is really an exhortation toward endurance, patience and staying with it.

But it implies something more.

That slow and steady is the path to success. And that fast is the enemy.

Is that right?

Well, it can be. But not necessarily.

Truth is likely far more complicated. And difficult.

Human endeavor largely depends on our beliefs. That's why these are important subjects to discuss. Even more important to think about. And yet even more important to figure out so we can implement positive changes in our actions.

Does it take a long time to make a positive change?

Is growth always a marathon?

Can we not change our minds and our lives quickly?

We're human beings with greater capacity for achievement and adaptation than any creatures on the planet. Other creatures require more time to adapt because they have to experience changes before they adapt. Or before they begin to learn how to adapt.

Not us.

We can think about it in our minds before we ever experience it. That gives us the opportunity and ability to make changes quickly. Humans have the innate ability to figure things out. And quickly.

This may be on more of a micro or short-term level, but it has a macro or longer-term ramifications. We can figure out what to do next rather quickly about most things. People do things, say things and we face new circumstances or situations. If life were really a marathon we'd be stuck trying to navigate our way through all the new people and situations we face. But that's not the case.

Sure, some folks can do it more quickly than others, but every human being blessed with sufficient cognitive ability and mental health has the capacity to figure out rather quickly what to do. There's just one little catch. Okay, it’s not so little.

We don't always implement wisdom in figuring it out. Long-time listeners know how I define wisdom. It's not very complicated the way I think of it because I'm pretty simple.

Wisdom is getting it right in real time.

We can all get it right in hindsight. Some of us need a few times maybe. But the real catch is to figure it out in real-time. To get it right as it's happening.

It's really hard. The time pressure is real.

Many psychiatrists and psychologists have written and given talks...

Project #CravingEncouragement Update

Update as of July 5, 2019

I'm just $80 away from the goal. Thanks to everybody who has made a financial contribution.

I'm still mostly wanting your stories of a time when somebody encouraged you in a meaningful way. You've seen and heard a theme in the recent shows because encouragement is an expression of belief. So I'm collecting stories of those expressions that others made in you. Why? Because it's so rare yet so commonly craved by 100% of us.

It speaks to perhaps an even greater tragedy - loneliness. People craving encouragement - that's all of us - likely also crave connection. Sometimes it eludes us. Sometimes we don't know how to foster it, attract it or even reciprocate it. The human condition is often helped by other humans. There's the irony of loneliness. And craving encouragement.

Do you want to participate? It doesn't require any money.

Go to the Support This Podcast tab in the menu to learn more.

 

Let's pick up where we left off last week thinking about our imagination instead of our past. But first, a word about thanksgiving.

Grace and gratitude.

A few weeks ago a social media guru released a statement.

Don't let your friends change your mind.

People quickly came to shout, "Hooray!" Okay, they didn't shout that, but there was loud approval.

Like many memes and quips I thought about it and instantly thought, "Well, it depends on your present state of mind."

If your friend were suicidal I'd hope you'd try to change their mind.

If your friend was tempted to cheat on her spouse I'd hope you'd try to change her mind.

If your friend was intoxicated and about to get behind the wheel of his car I'd hope you'd try to change his mind.

If you're in a funk do you not want your friends to try to help you out of it?

If you're discouraged don't you want your friends attempting to encourage you?

Things that sound smart, but are really stupid.

We're surrounded by meme-based wisdom.

"Don't overthink it."

"Stop and think about it."

Question: How can you think just right?

That's part of the power of being thankful. It's always appropriate. It's always right. It never fails. You can't say that about too many things. I mean to even use dramatic terms like "always" and "never" is remarkable. But it applies to being thankful.

It's ironic to me that the things we associate with grace - at least the things I associate with grace - fit that bill more than anything else I know. Yet, we're so reluctant to practice them.

Seems that if something was ALWAYS beneficial to us, and something that would NEVER fail us --- that we'd lean in as heavily into that as possible. Instead, we shy away from it or worse. We steadfastly declare we won’t do it.

Grace things.

Like being thankful.

Like forgiveness.

Like compassion.

Find a time or place where their practice won't help you. You can't. Which is why grace is so foundational to leaning toward wisdom. The benefits are just too vast and deep to ignore.

I know the secrets. At least 3 of them.

Stop thinking about what you don't have and think about what you do have.

Stop thinking about your lack and think about your abundance.

Stop thinking you're a victim and instead see yourself as blessed.

But the key is - you have to want to do this. Until you want to live with grace you'll never be able to. The second you decide you want to, you can. Instant power!

This is the beginning of spending more time in the place where you...

She is Molly Tuttle and her newest record is When You're Ready. On it there's a song, "Make My Mind Up." Prior to this album, she was very bluegrass-ey. She's a talented guitarist and singer. And songwriter. This song formed a bit of an earworm when I first heard it. Click play on the YouTube video of it and you're liable to not get it out of your head for a while.

As usual a lyric got my mind going. Rolling it over and over. "If I could ever make my mind up..."

You know I've been fascinated over the last few years about our brains. Particularly, how we change our minds. How we change our thinking. All that neuro-science voodoo that I'm struggling to understand.

It's hard to beat a guy when he's got his mind made up that he's going to win.          - Muhammad Ali

We consider it a quality of high character when a person has made up their mind. It denotes determination. Being settled. And that's good.

Well, it can be. But it can also be dangerous when a mind is made up about something that's wrong, untrue, destructive or damaging.

I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.                     - Rosa Parks

A made up mind can be powerfully positive, helping us advance toward honest, desirable goals that benefit us and others.

A mind made up can also be powerfully destructive, preventing us from listening, understanding and growing beyond some prejudiced assumption. Or preventing us from realizing the harm we're bringing to ourselves and others.

On one hand, it can appear equal to tenacity, stick-to-it-iveness. Or it can appear to be self-serving stubbornness. And it's possible for it to be either of those. Or many other shades of gray on the scale of good for us versus bad for us. We'll call it the foolish versus wisdom scale given the title of this podcast.

It's not just possible, but probable that sometimes our minds are made up toward foolishness. It's not likely we see it that way, but maybe we're not seeing it for what it is.

A scripture leaps to mind.

Ephesians 1:17-19 "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power..." New King James Version (NKJV)

All human beings have experienced having our understanding enlightened. The little kid who learns something for the first time. The teenager who learns to drive. The aspiring musician who learns to play an instrument. The first year attorney who learns to navigate the court systems. The first year chemist who learns how to operate in a commercial lab. Our lives are filled with firsts that serve to enlighten our understanding.

At my work-related podcast - Grow Great - I regularly use the acronym LUG. It stands for Learning, Understanding, Growing. It's what I hope to inspire in every business person who listens to that podcast. I'm aspiring to do it. Not really difficult for a person who needs to learn as much I know I need to. ;)

Business people fixate sometimes on their blind spots, fretful about what they don't know, or what they can't see. Sadly, too few do much about it other than worry. I wish it was restricted to just business people, but it's not. I suspect most of us roam the planet with self-imposed blinders on making sure we see things the way we prefer to see them. Nevermind that we may have it wrong. Or that other facts may enlighten our understanding. Some of us don't want to be enlightened.



The title is a lyric from the newest Jamestown Revival record, San Isabel. The song is, "This Too Shall Pass."

For those of you interested - and some of you are - here's some music I'm listening to at the moment...in addition to this new Jamestown Revival record.

The Hunts - Darlin' Oh Darlin' (2018)

The Hollering Pines - Long Nights, Short Lives and Spilled Chances (2013)

The Bones of J.R. Jones - The Bones of J.R. Jones (2019) - he is Jonathon Robert Linaberry but performs as The Bones of J.R. Jones (he's a solo artist)

Rickie Lee Jones - Kicks (2019)

American Aquarium - Wolves (2015)

Kylie Rae Harris - Kylie Rae Harris EP (2019)

And of course, I'm listening to the usual suspects as well. Mandolin Orange is still aways a big player. Anderson East, Jade Bird, James Morrison and Josh Ritter. There's so much good music.

Music and solitude go hand in hand for me. And writing. Sometimes drawing, which more closely resembles doodling these days.

All this listening to music violates the true meaning of solitude - which is defined by psychology in a way not quite to my liking.

Solitude is the state of being alone without being lonely.

The authors of a book, Lead Yourself First, give a more detailed definition that I rather like.

Solitude is a state of mind, a space where you can focus on your own thoughts without distraction, with a power to bring mind and soul together in clear-eyed conviction.

Simply put, it's freedom from distraction. Technically listening to music violates the definition I suppose. But I count it anyway. Lyrics and melodies provoke thoughts, but I consider that a positive distraction. It feeds my solitude. It's part of rest, restoration and rejuvenation.

A Coat Of Armor

We all have one. Because we all need one. Every now and again.

Truthfully, I think we need one more often than not. Sorta like being fully clothed. We spend most of our time being fully clothed. Okay, I won't get into a modesty debate just here, but you know what I mean. ;)

Not many people see me running around in my boxers and a t-shirt. It's a select few.

So it is with exposing ourselves sans armor. It's just not safe most of the time.

Armor is protection. You're likely thinking of the armor worn by knights in medieval days. Or maybe you're thinking of the body armor worn by today's soldiers or law enforcement officers. Here in Texas, you could even be thinking of armadillos.

We need armor to protect against attacks. From people intending to harm us.

Armor can also signify resilience, our ability to protect ourselves against adversity. Circumstances. Events. People. Situations.

It's not bad. It's necessary. And part of how we all must live our lives.

Introversion Versus Extroversion

Of all the personality traits these seem the most talked about. They're the biggest elephants in the room often used to describe ourselves or others.

I can only speak to my own introversion, which is part of my armor. Just like an extrovert deploys that quality as part of her armor.

My introversion appears quite frequently like extroversion. Somebody smarter than me will have to explain it. My way of looking at it is based on my internal energy. When my armor is weakened, I retreat. It's one way I can refuel and attempt to fortify myself. Attempt being the operative word. ;)

I suspect extroverts do the opposite. When their armor is weakened, they likely seek the company of others in their effort to recharge and renew strength.

Such is the individual nature of our armor - whatever characteristics and qualities make up our armor are largely individual ...



Cue R.E.M. singing, Losing My Religion.

I've said too much.

I haven't said enough.

The quandary for a communicator.

When my children were young I remember telling them how they were cursed with a father who would likely go to the grave having said too much. I can't fully explain the urge to connect and communicate with my children. Or anybody else I love. It's a powerful urge.

One I mostly answer with rare exceptions.

The exceptions are when I sense little or no desire on the part of the other person. I quickly - usually - accept it and allow my introversion to kick into full gear. It's easy really. To climb into my head and be alone there for extended periods of time.

Faith.

Nothing is more important. Nothing. And for good reason.

Eternity changes everything.

My faith isn't blind or without compelling evidence. It's based on the Bible and I know people can hurl barbs against "religion" and faith. It's fine. I'm not too bothered by it. Mostly, I know how fortunate and blessed I am to have been taught the Truth of God's Word. I hit the proverbial lottery because I didn't have to go searching for God or the Truth. It was handed to me on a platinum platter. My wife and I did the same for our children.

Kevin Stevens is a 2-time Stanley Cup winning retired NHL'er. He played with the likes of Mario Lemieux and was an outstanding left winger for the Pittsburg Penguins. He earned over $21 million during his playing career (and that in an era where players didn't earn many millions per season like today). He squandered it all. Wrecked his health. And his marriage. And his relationship with his kids. And his parents. And the rest of his family. And teammates who loved him.

He hurt everybody who loved him. Mostly, he hurt himself with heavy doses of shame, self-loathing and guilt.

Addiction will do that. Always. 100% of the time.

Every story is uniquely identical. 

Take a human being. Insert drugs - legal or otherwise - and watch the person turn their life completely around. Not in a good way.

180 degrees.

It happens every single time.

I've heard stories from dozens of people from all walks of life. All kinds of educational (or lack thereof) backgrounds. People engaged in every kind of work you can imagine. People with strong convictions based on faith and people who never had faith.

Mostly ordinary moral people living decent lives.

Then giving it all up.

Becoming immoral, reckless, selfish, despicable people steeped in shame and embarrassment. But refusing to face it because masking it is easier. Riding on a train track taking their lives into an abyss they never planned. Living in ways they never imagined possible. Finding their lives in a new normal that is deplorable compared to who they once were.

Loving nobody but themselves. Caring about nothing but how victimized they feel by anybody and everybody who has ever loved them.

Lying. Cheating. Stealing. Crawling into ever descending gutters of human choice they can find or create. All the while feeling worse and worse about themselves but unable or unwilling to change their course.

Take any breakable item you'd like. A nice plate. A favorite coffee cup. A bowl. Something you enjoy. Something you find valuable - not necessarily expensive, but something you esteem regularly because you use it and it brings you joy.

Throw it on the floor. Treat it as though it now no longer matters to you. Treat it as though it has betrayed you and made you angry. Break it into as many pieces as possible and see it scattered across the floor. Gone! Destroyed.

Unable to hold your morning coffee.

Last month I read an article entitled, "Ron Howard once explained why Opie's attitude changed after the first season of The Andy Griffith Show."

One little segment of the article grabbed my attention.

What would happen if Opie knew that Andy was smarter than him? How about if Opie actually respected his dad? I just thought it might be different.'

I'm betting you never knew that Ron Howard's dad, Rance, influenced the show to completely change how Opie behaved, especially with Andy. It's some valuable insight on parental wisdom.

Every parent is challenged by kids who think they know more than they do, and who think they understand more than they do.

Research tells us the human brain isn't fully developed until around the age of 25. According to the University of Rochester Medical Center website, the rational part of a teen's brain works very differently than adults. Adults think with the prefrontal cortex, the rational part of the brain. That's the part of the brain that provides good judgment. Without that, you'll never lean toward wisdom. It's the part of your brain that calculates the long-term consequences. Teens live by processing things with the emotional part of their brain. In their brains, the connection between rational and emotional is still developing. That's why teens live drama-filled lives. It's also why they're often unable to explain what they were thinking. "What were you thinking?" asks every parent! They don't know because they weren't thinking so much as they were feeling.

Parenting is hard. Really hard.

Grandparenting is way easier.

Partly because we now have a perspective we lacked when we were young. We can see things we'd have done differently. Plus, the burden of all the child-rearing decision making isn't on us. When that pressure isn't there on a daily basis...it changes everything. And that distance from these kids we love provides a mutual viewpoint - the way they see us and the way we see them - that serves us both. We're able to model behavior so they have a role model to remember. They're able to keep us lively and maintain sight of what it's all about. That life is mostly about how much value we can provide one another.

As kids grow up, they hopefully become increasingly aware of how self-control looks. Teens are impulsive. Adults should not be. Instead, we hope to display thoughtful intentions to our kids. We want them to see that we're making decisions with a long-term view. That's why we don't buy stupid crap. It's why we save. It's why we behave responsibly. We hope by showing our kids what wise behavior looks like, they'll embrace their own lives of wisdom.

But that question that serves as the title of today's show is fascinating. What would happen if kids knew their parents were smarter than them?

Sadly, I know some parents who aren't smarter than their kids. Well, to be more accurate, they don't behave smarter than their kids. Parents who are colossally selfish, highly emotional, short-term thinkers given to consistent impulsive behavior. What do their children think? Better yet, what do they feel?

I can only theorize, but it can't be good for the parent. In what surely should be one of the most important relationships on the planet, kids should grow up respecting their parents not because it's demanded (or just because God commands it) but because the parents behave in a way to warrant it. Too many don't. They betray their children and forfeit respect.

The more I thought about the question the more I kept turning it around a bit. What would happen if parents were smarter than their kids and acted like it? Then, in keeping with the theme of this podcast I changed "smarter" to "wiser."

What would happen if parents were wiser than their children and acted like it?

Here's a link to the Instagram post that caught my eye when it was posted just Wednesday. The photo is an older gentleman laying on his side, leaning on one arm - in what appears to be a park. He's somewhere in Paris, even though the Instagram account is HumansFromNY. Sometimes the posts are from other places. It's a fascinating account. The gentleman pictured looks like Walter Matthau.

The post copy says this:

“One day she told me she was getting a lawyer. I tried to play catch-up, but it was too late. Apparently I wasn’t enough of a leader in the relationship. We’d fallen into too much of a routine. Or at least that’s what I was told. I’ve been alone for thirteen years now. The hardest part for me was losing the sense of family. My youngest daughter barely speaks to me anymore. I’ve seen her maybe fifteen times since the divorce. I have a five-month-old granddaughter that I haven’t even met. I don’t understand it. I wasn’t that bad. I didn’t openly argue with their mother. I never had an affair. I was present. I was affectionate. Maybe I was a little strict, but she was a tough teenager. We were afraid for her. She was only fifteen and going to nightclubs. There was a lot of screaming back then: ‘you’re an asshole,’ ‘you’re not my father,’ things like that. And maybe her mind is still locked in that time. Now we speak maybe once a year. Whenever I ask her about it, she feels attacked. It’s awkward. There’s no familiarity anymore. And it’s not getting any better. Time is working against us. Because I feel like I’m losing the feeling of being a dad. Of loving. Of caring. Obviously that’s not true, or I wouldn’t be talking about it. But everything fades eventually. At least when someone dies, you can mourn. It’s so much harder when someone just disappears.” (Paris, France)

A recent headline captured my attention.

Selena Gomez Says Her Girl Squad Kept Her From Hitting Rock Bottom

Not because I'm a Selena Gomez fan or follower, but because I have had people in my life who struggled with making poor decisions. I'm in no position to dispute or comment on Selena's life or struggles. I've read enough to know that like many young performers she's had her share of life struggles. Beyond that, nothing is clear to me.

She's human. She struggles sometimes. She's from here in the DFW area where life was hard. Poverty and the assorted ailments that accompany it were part of her life.

She hit big by getting on the Hannah Montana show and by 16 she had a recording contract. I respect what I know of her rags to riches story. But once again I stress - she's human. She struggles sometimes.

I hope she's doing well. And perhaps her girl squad indeed did keep her from hitting rock bottom. Let's assume hitting rock bottom wouldn't have been a good thing for her - the catalyst to propel her forward. We hope people who hit rock bottom use it for their benefit, but some (perhaps most) don't. Selena may be among them. I don't know.

Hitting rock bottom has been on my mind for the past 6 months or so. Sparked by somebody I care deeply about. Somebody behaving dangerously. A life filled with self-destruction. A life that went from serving and helping others to a life immersed in selfishness and hurt. A wasted life. We've all seen it happen. Many of us have seen it happen to somebody we know - or used to know - well. We lament that we're unable to influence them to find their way back to a more positive way of life. A life that's profitable for them and others.

I'm not mathematically or scientifically inclined, but if I were - and if I were young - I'd head straight into neuroscience and psychology. I was looking around at the books that surround me. Mostly, my books fall into a handful of categories:

a. Religious (Bible commentaries, Bible dictionaries, biographies, debates and more)

b.

See him wasted on the sidewalk in his jacket and his jeans,

Wearing yesterday's misfortunes like a smile.

Once he had a future full of money, love, and dreams,

Which he spent like they was going out of style,

And he keeps right on a'changing for the better or the worse,

Searching for a shrine he's never found,

Never knowing if believing is a blessing or a curse,

Or if the going up was worth the coming down.

He's a poet, he's a picker,

He's a prophet, he's a pusher,

He's a pilgrim and a preacher, and a problem when he's stoned.

He's a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction,

Taking every wrong direction on his lonely way back home.

He has tasted good and evil in your bedrooms and your bars,

And he's traded in tomorrow for today.

Running from his devils, Lord, and reaching for the stars,

And losing all he's loved along the way.

But if this world keeps right on turning for the better or the worse,

And all he ever gets is older and around,

From the rocking of the cradle to the rolling of the hearse,

The going up was worth the comin' down.

He's a poet, he's a picker,

He's a prophet, he's a pusher,

He's a pilgrim and a preacher, and a problem when he's stoned.

He's a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction,

Taking every wrong direction on his lonely way back home.

The lyrics are by Kris Kristofferson. The song is "The Pilgrim, Chapter 33." It appeared on his second album released in 1971, "The Silver Tongued Devil and I." The man can write. This song has so many great lines it's tough to single in on any one of them. You know me, few things captivate me like a great lyric and this song could supply at least half a dozen episodes.



Many people have experienced it. Both the going up and the coming down.

Sometimes I get on a biography roll. Reading them. Watching them on TV. A week or so ago while doing some writing and other computer work I decided to stay tuned to the NFL Network and watch a series of episodes of A Football Life. It featured coaches. Mike Ditka. Mike Holmgren. Marty Schottenheimer. Don Shula. Jimmy Johnson. Bill Cowher. And more. It was a nice biography marathon.

Great football coaches. Different each and every one. Some won more than others. But Mike Ditka, perhaps the fiercest of them all - certainly the biggest bull in the china closet - used Kristofferson's line at the end of his episode, "The going up was worth the comin' down."

I was in my early teens when I first heard Kristofferson. We mostly knew him for the song made famous by Janis Joplin, "Me and Bobby McGee." He was flying helicopters in southern Louisiana for an off-shore oil company when he wrote it. For some reason, I remember that. I likely read it in Rolling Stone. And likely remember it because I was living in Louisiana.

Even as a kid I was a sucker for a good line. Kristofferson could write great lines. Not surprising since he was a Rhode scholar at Oxford and proficient in the English language. He had 2 of the 3 skills I most admire: language and music. Art, specifically cartooning, is the 3rd. For all I know Kris is a great closet cartoonist. Wouldn't that be something? ;)

Going up. Coming down.

Of course, going up is worth coming down - assuming you survive the coming down. Velocity will determine that. If you come down fast enough, you'll hit hard enough...it'll kill ya! Worth it? Well, it depends.

It depends on how high you went and how old you are when you come down. Ideally, you go very high, stay there for years, and toward the end of your natural life - say somewhere around 100 - you crash and burn. Totally worth it!

“This is my letter to the world

That never wrote to me”

― Emily Dickinson

This is my letter to the World,

That never wrote to me,--

The simple news that Nature told,

With tender majesty.

Her message is committed

To hands I cannot see;

For love of her, sweet countrymen,

Judge tenderly of me!

Ms. Dickinson's poem was first published in 1890. I'm not a poetry expert. Honestly, I don't know that anybody really knows what the poem means, but that opening line has long captured my imagination.

Nicole Burns offered this explanation on Prezi:

"What Emily means by this is that she wrote a letter to the world but the world doesn't know who she is since she never leaves her home. She also writes about what nature has taught her in hopes to teach other people lessons. In the closing of the poem she asks the readers to not judge her harshly on what she has written."

I suppose such writing can mean whatever meaning we ascribe to it. My first thoughts when I saw the opening line I instantly had some notions. They've remained with me through the years.

What are you telling the world, even though the world has never asked?

What story are you continuing to share with the world, even though the world isn't writing back?

What are you saying to the world, even though the world may not be listening - and may, instead, be judging?

Permission

The Internet empowered us to become our own publishers. Emily had to rely on somebody with a publication to print her creations. The time from creation to publication to consumption in her day could easily be years. I can write these shownotes, record a podcast and hit "Publish" and within nanoseconds it's online. Within seconds, or minutes (at most), the podcast will be in every major podcast directory on the planet. You can do it, too. No permission or talent required.;)

But just because we don't need permission doesn't mean the world is going to care. Or pay attention. Or that haters won't hate. Emily and every other person who creates anything, or says anything, or does anything is going to endure harsh judgment.

Judgment Is Easy

None of us have a tough time with it. And for good reason. We have incomplete knowledge and understanding. We don't know what we don't know. So we fill in the gaps of our knowledge with assumptions and opinions. Finding out - gathering more information, asking more questions, going directly to the person (or the source) - and working hard to understand, that's tough work. And takes too long. Far easier to just complete the story on our own, then close the book.

The world never wrote a letter to me. And so I suppose that makes it sort of fair for the world to do as it pleases. Including harsh judgment.

Fair doesn't mean it right. Or that it's justified. It just means I understand it.

What's Your Letter To The World?

What would you like it to be? What do you choose it to be?

First, we've got to think about our view of ourselves. Psychologists divide our views into two distinctly separate and different perspectives: 1) you were born as you are and the outcomes of your life are largely beyond your control or 2) you get to choose your outcomes (you have control over your life).

Moments of decision make up your life. 

Your decisions matter. Your first decision really matters. You must pick one of the two perspectives I just mentioned. Basically, the choice boils down to whether you want to be a victim or in control of your own destiny. So which is it?

This sounds like an easy decision, but it's not. It also sounds like it would be reasonable and rational to only pick the second option. Yet, we don't always pick that one because...

Project Craving Encouragement Update

Some personal stuff got in the way, but I'm pushing through. Doesn't that often seem the case?

I'm growing increasingly intent on ramping up the project because daily - every SINGLE day - I see the need. The need for encouragement. Mostly, I see the lack, which prompts the need. And I wonder why the gap is so cavernous. And growing. I've got some theories. But whatever the reason it's something we can all do. A contribution we can all make. To let somebody in our life know we're aware of their struggle and that we believe in them.

Do it for somebody today. Fill the silent craving people have for encouragement. Lord willing, somebody will fill it for you, too.

 

Matthew 6:25-34 "Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life? And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (American Standard Version)

Context matters. What the Lord said here in His Sermon On The Mount is accurate and true. I believe it, in spite of the title of today's episode. I just don't use the word "anxious" as He did. He used it to mean worry, or fret. Don't worry about tomorrow because tomorrow is going to have enough problems all its own. Take care of business today. Trust in God today.

That doesn't mean you sit back and wait for God to just take care of you like a magic genie. That's not God's role in your life. God is God and wants to help every one of us - mostly He wants us to be saved in Heaven.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life."

God isn't some Grand Puppeteer either. He doesn't coerce or force us to do anything. We decide for ourselves. The Lord was preaching that we ought to trust God more and more, do our work to obey Him and stop worrying about what may happen to us here, in this life. Mostly, because if we're faithful to God He'll save us in Heaven forever.

I'm using anxious in a very different context. I mean it in the sense that we look forward to something. Kids go to bed on the night before their birthday anxious to enjoy a party and celebration where they can open presents. They're anxious for it to happen. There is no dread or worry, only anticipation looking forward to a good time. THAT'S how I mean anxious in today's show.

I Wanna Look Forward To Tomorrow

Old man spat and cursed as he spoke

"It's all going to hell and the whole world is broken"

The little kid is busy making plans

Save the whole world along with that old man

So as far as I can see