Here is my expectation for your day.

Today could be the day that changes everything for you!

“No it’s not, Kevin… you don’t know the first thing about me!”

What does that have to do with anything!

Why not today?

It could be the day that changes your entire life!

Sure, you could win the lottery…

Sure, you could get a life-changing check in the mail…

Sure, you could get the phone call you’ve been waiting on…

The raise… The Job… The news…

I hope all of that is true for you!

What today is really all about is not any of that… its this question….

What level of Expectation do you live your life with!?

My guess is, like me, when you hear… “today is the day!” Your heart leaps!

It leaps at the wonder… it leaps at the opportunity… it cracks through the cynicism that we’ve built up!

Let me say it again then —

“Today could be the day!”

What would happen if you postured every day like the magical day it could be!

It could be the day where I meet the one!

It could be the day where I don’t feel depressed anymore!

From my heart to yours…

Today could be the day!

I want to give you one practice to work into your daily rhythm… I think slowly, over time, it could begin to change everything for you!

Recite your responsibilities for the day out loud, and start each sentence with these six words…

“I can’t believe I get to..”

Caution though… only do this if you're ready for gratitude to burst out of your soul.

Let’s practice.

“I can’t believe I get to parent three kids today. They are so wild right now, but I get the responsibility to raise them to change their worlds.”

“I can’t believe I get to go to work today. Who knows who I might run into? Who knows who’s life will change because of the small part I get to play?”

“I can’t believe I get to go to that funeral today… I have the opportunity to be present with hurting people.”

It’s totally forced in the beginning… but keep going.

Day by day, morning by morning… you will begin to see your situation in a new way.

Thought the lens of gratitude.

Here is what I want you to believe about yourself today…

A Life of Gratitude will change everything for you.

G.K. Chesterton put it this way…

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

You might not have everything you want, but you have enough.

You might not have achieved what you hoped… but today could be the day!

Your kids, your marriage, your relationship might be strenuous, but you have them!

Allow the wonder of Gratitude to fill your soul today!

Here is a quote today…

“Reason is the gatekeeper, but it cannot resist the rushing torrents of emotion”

-Bangambiki Habyarimana

Have you ever heard things like, “Control your Emotions, don’t let your emotions control you!”

Or “No one has the power to control your emotions, but you!”

I hope that is true for you, maybe you should start your own podcast… but I find it to be entirely misleading.

Have you — like me — ever been in an emotional space where you feel out of control?

Like it is an uncontrollable raging river sending you to places you’ve never wanted to go?

I don’t believe people intentionally enter into depressive thoughts.

I don’t believe the majority of people love to be sad.

I don’t believe that if you are sad, that means that you suck at controlling your emotions!

Here is what is true, strong thoughts do not overcome strong emotions.

Strong thoughts overcome other thoughts… and strong emotions overcome other emotions…

I want you to believe one thing today, It’s this…

Your strong emotions are doing something profound inside of you!

What if all of the negative feelings you have, or depressive feelings didn’t mean you suck and there is no hope for your life… it actually means the opposite! It means that you are gaining so much that the world lacks.

The ability to empathize with hurting people.

The ability to be emotionally present with your loved ones.

The ability to help someone feel something stronger than what is raging inside of them.

To feel heard, loved, supported, to help someone feel like they. are. not. alone.

What is your relationship with Hard Things in life? I’m intentionally oversimplifying it… I don’t know what is coming to your mind. Some, financial hardship… Some, career obstacles… Some estranged marriages… some, unbearable grief… some, an unclear future for your life.

What is your relationship to “Hard Things?”

Do you confront them, overcome them, with the full weight of who you are?

Do you shrink back in intimidation?

My bet is… you have done both. It might depend on your mood, the bigness of the challenge.

I have had seasons of my life where I was in such a dark place that returning simple text messages felt like a “Hard Thing.”

I’ve also have had seasons in life where I feel I want to run for president of the United States!

The simple message today is this…

Whatever “hard thing” you encounter today… you can do it. Allow me to give you the license to shrug off your insecurities… to shrug off the fears of what might happen if you act… to shrug off what is holding you back from working through the challenge.

Things are hard because they are important.

Things are hard because they are worth it.

Your family is worth it.

Your relationships are worth it.

Your life is worth it.

Don’t miss out on the joy of arriving to the other side of your hard thing.

“Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have you ever felt or been misunderstood?

Has anyone ever misunderstood your intentions? Your Motives? Your Actions? Your attempts to build a relationship?

Sometimes its like water off of a duck, it just rolls off…

Sometimes it can be excruciating…

Have you ever felt that type of “misunderstood?”

My encouragement to you today is this…

YOU ARE IN GOOD COMPANY.

Let me repeat today’s quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson…

“Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.”

What would today look like if — instead of worrying for hours about someone’s thoughts about you, your email, your text message… you allowed them to misunderstand you.

Of course work to an understanding with people closest to you, but give yourself the gift of allowing someone to misunderstand you.

Because… being misunderstood does not mean you are misunderstand-able… Only that someone doesn’t fully understand the greatness inside of you.

How has your life been progressing lately? Physically? Emotionally? Relationally? Spiritually? Mentally? Financially?

Have you seen any progress at all?

It’s actually hilarious to think we can be killing it in all of these categories every second of every day… it is impossible.

Today let’s identify one area of your life in which you have made progress. Have you paid off any consumer debt? Have you made a new friend? Have you started meditations every morning?

Even the fact that you are consuming this content is a step in the right direction.

In a world where we are painfully aware of our shortcomings, our flaws, our faults, and our failures…

Take some time to celebrate your progress.

https://anchor.fm/kevin-ilich/support

Have you ever played hide-and-go-seek with a young child? Like a toddler?

My son and I play a version of this every morning when he wakes up. He wants to surprise attack me, daily. Sometimes I will walk in to the gym to see a shapeshifting blanket laying on the couch. The silhouette of a 4 year old with the jitters, before he throws off Blakey and pounces!

Cute, I know… but some of us just as ridiculous as toddlers when we hide our deepest thoughts and emotions and struggles from the people that love us the most. Have you ever known something was “going on” with a loved one just by looking at them. Maybe you’ve even asked them… is everything ok? Oh, I’m fine!

We have all been “fine” before. I am not saying everyone needs to know everything about you… but what are you hiding from the people closest to you?

Here is my encouragement.

Your shared vulnerabilities are what makes your relationships rich.

You don’t have to hide from the people that love you.

Let them love the things about you that need love.

https://anchor.fm/kevin-ilich/support

“Failure is not final unless you stop getting up.” -Christine Caine

When was the last time you failed? A time where you took a risk… and it didn’t work out.

You fell flat on your face. You drove it into straight the ground. It was your lack of planning that stifled the project. It was your fault the argument escalated.

The difference between people that make an impact in their sphere and the people who live void of purpose is their relationship to failure.

I have gone into spiraling depression because of the failures in my life. I have also felt crippling shame because of my failures. Have you?

Like it’s hard to show your face in the same meeting again?

You feel like your voice shouldn’t be as valued as it was before?

You feel like your failure is a dark cloud over your personhood?

Here is your encouragement today.

If you’ve felt any of those things, you are exactly on the right track.

Failure is unpleasant for everybody, but remember our quote today from the great Chris Caine.

“Failure is not final unless you stop getting up.”

What if every time you failed, instead of getting discouraged, you got excited? Like you know that you are one step closer to success! Like you’re one step closer to the mom you want to be, like your one step closer to the dreams in front of you.

Take a risk, fail, fail again, and keep. On. getting. up.

“The godly man may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.” Proverbs 24:16

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“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12

Hope - do you have any?

Because

In the darkest seasons of my life, I have lost my courage to hope for… anything. For dreams to come true, for situations to resolve, for relationships to grow. No hope at all. Not even a glimmer. Maybe you’re in that place… I have been there.

Today, speak something hopeful over yourself. How do you do that? Notice when you begin the self-deprecation, and turn it into hope. Let me help you…

Instead of saying…

“I am not skilled enough to accomplish this.”

Say…

“I might not know how to accomplish this now, but one day I will”

Insert Hope into your self dialogue.

Instead of saying…

“I am a horrendous parent, my kids would be better off without me…”

Say…

“I hand-selected to be the parent of these specific children. I will do my best and learn from my mistakes to become the best version of me.”

I know… it will feel forced at first. But push past that, try it.

My hope is that you will begin to feel in small increments over time, your strength return to your soul. For hope to fill you again.

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31

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Have you ever heard a kid say something shockingly profound?

I took my kids to Starbucks recently with my wife. The line was taking a while and my kids becoming more and more restless. What started as bickering turned physical when my 4 year old son delivered a swift elbow to the sternum of my 3 year old Daughter.

Luckily she wasn’t hurt… just bothered. I was more than bothered… I was pissed. After ordering our frappucino’s, I began the disciplinary process of staring into the rearview mirror and gently but firmly warning my son what would happen if he did it again, and how we don’t do that to people we love. BAM as I am talking he delivers another swift bow to the sternum.

I lost all control, I erupted into what felt like at the time uncontrollable fatherly anger. I seethed at my son through the rearview mirror, pointing my finger at his reflection… after a brief but harsh talking to, my daughter, in an effort to break the tension said… Woooah, Daddy is mad at the mirror…

My wife and I immediately broke character. Hilarious.

That statement rang through my head all day… Daddy is mad at the mirror. It resonated so profoundly.

So let me ask you the question I have been asking myself…

-Why are you so angry?

-Are you angry at others?

-Or are you angry at yourself?

Sometimes I will project my frustrations onto the people around me. Have you ever done that?

You are stressed that your life is stressful, so you dismantle the structures at work and the hierarchy… just because it is flowing out of you.

You are scared about a potential diagnosis, so you project abnormal risk aversion towards your kids.

Take some time today to think about what you might be unintentionally projecting, but in reality you are just mad at the mirror.