Will Bowen Audio

People use the word “hate” far too often.

 

“I hate broccoli, I hate that movie, I hate my job, "I hate Mondays,” and on and on ad nauseam.

 

The word “hate” is defined as “to dislike to the point of taking action against.”

 

Wow!  “To take action against” — that’s heavy.

 

The word “hate” implies violence or other punitive action.

 

This wouldn’t be so bad if we said, “I hate the way our environment is being destroyed” and then TOOK ACTION AGAINST the problem.

 

But for most people, the only action they take is the act of hating.

 

When others hate us it’s SO easy to turn around and hate them in return.

 

Think about it, you hear that someone does not like you so what do you do?  

 

Right!  You start looking for things about them that YOU don’t like.

 

This is sad because hate diminishes your soul.

 

In this message, learn how not to react in hate.

When people are attacked, they respond.

Even people who are naturally passive and non-confrontational will, when pushed hard enough, strike back.

It’s a natural defense mechanism.

We even do this when attacked with lies.

Someone tells a lie about us and we become almost obsessed wanting to respond with lies about them.

It’s like the old gangster movies, “You hurt one of ours and we hurt one of yours."

This is NOT a natural defense mechanism—it’s just seeking to respond hurt for hurt, unkindness for unkindness.

It’s our ego’s attempt to balance the scale but it's not the way a mature person conducts themselves.

It’s not easy to endure being lied about but returning lie-for-lie only makes things worse.

Rise above lies to be the adult you desire to become.

Neil Patrick Harris's character Barney on "How I met your mother" loves to split words in half for emphasis.

For example he'll say, "Let's get dressed and go out tonight. It's going to be LEGEND... wait for it....DARY!"

When Barney does this his friends roll their eyes in irritation.

Why? Because NOBODY likes to wait.

People want everything YESTERDAY!

Waiting is a drag, a hassle, a waste of time, a pain in the neck, etc.

patience allows us to live in peace now even as we wait for what we want.

No matter how fast something shows up, if we're irritated during the wait it's too slow.

The key isn't to keep speeding up getting what we want. It's slowing down our demand that things be here now and, instead, enjoy the process.

We discuss this as we consider, "If you can wait and not be tired of waiting," from "If" by Rudyard Kipling.

Trust me, it's going to be LEGEND....wait for it.....no, seriously, wait......DARY!!

"If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

 But make allowance for their doubting too.”

 

It’s been said time and again that one of the most difficult things to do is to trust our own inner voice.

 

It’s far too easy to follow along with the herd of people thinking that, somehow, they magically know something we don’t.

 

What we forget is that they, too, are following others and so we’re caught up in an endless loop of follow the follower.

 

And if we attempt to break free, we are held down by those around us who either criticize us or scorn us for breaking from the pack.

 

And yet…

 

EVERY great advance in human history has come from someone who broke the norm and followed their quiet, inner knowing.

 

And the TRULY successful of those people are the ones who can not only see a bright vision ahead but can engage others to help bring it about.

 

Learn to bring the two together, now.

My mom gave me a card for my 17th birthday.

It was one of those nice, elegant-but-fun cards created by Hallmark.

I got a bunch of cards that day and because the one my mom gave me was dense with text I set it aside to read later.

Lying in bed that night I read mom's card and something exploded in my soul!

The card’s cover was adorned with “If” by Rudyard Kipling and this was the first time I had ever read this amazing poem.

I read the poem over and over.

Next, I got out of bed and found my big, square cassette recorder and read “If’ into the attached microphone.

The next day I listened to my own voice reading this poem on my way to school.

I burned it into brain and throughout my life whenever things get hard I find Kipling’s words coming back to inspire and guide me.

Our new JumpStart series is my take Kipling’s classic poem “If."

Come along with me as we explore this beautiful, synopsis of success written 123 years ago.

Today let’s consider…

“If you can keep you heard while all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you.”