Wisdom-Trek © - Archive 2

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 486 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore the 1st half of chapter 24.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. The closing on our Charlotte home was delayed by a week, but we received final word that it was closed on this past Monday. We are very grateful for this, as it allows us to now focus on additional renovations to The Big House.

On our outside work, we were making good progress on the leaf harvest, but this past weekend, the engine on the large leaf vacuum broke down. I think it is the rod on the main crankshaft that moves the piston. We took it to our local service center for repairs, so that will delay us a bit on finishing gathering the leaves.

We do live in a world where not everything goes according to plan, but with divine guidance and wisdom, we can continue. Wisdom is so important in our lives each day. In fact, it is the very foundation of our lives. As Solomon states in Proverbs 24:3…

Let’s start our trek with verses 1-2.

1 Don’t envy evil people

or desire their company.

2 For their hearts plot violence,

and their words always stir up trouble.

Although reckless and wild lifestyles may seem appealing at times, it is a grand illusion. You should not envy or seek out those who live that way. Nor should you desire to be with them. Their words plan trouble which leads their hearts to violent actions

3 A house is built by wisdom

and becomes strong through good sense.

4 Through knowledge its rooms are filled

with all sorts of precious riches and valuables.

A strong home and family is one that is built with wisdom and good common sense. It is knowledge, especially of God’s precepts that will allow a strong home to be filled with riches that money cannot buy

5 The wise are mightier than the strong,

and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger.

6 So don’t go to war without wise guidance;

victory depends on having many advisers.

Wisdom will always outdo pure physical strength. It is through wisdom and knowledge that true strength grow. Wisdom and victory in any area of life comes through the advice of wise counselors.

7 Wisdom is too lofty for fools.

Among leaders at the city gate, they have nothing to say.

Those who are foolish remain so because they do not realize their need for wisdom. They falsely believe they are wise. The proof though is when they are among those who are truly wise because their foolishness will silence them.

8 A person who plans evil

will get a reputation as a troublemaker.

9 The schemes of a fool are sinful;

everyone detests a mocker.

The axiom, “Your reputation precedes you,” can be used in both a positive or negative connotation. If a person is known for the evil they have in their lives, they will be considered a troublemaker. This type of person is a fool and is always scheming their next bout of trouble. They will have a bad reputation and others will detest them.

10 If you fail under pressure,

your strength is too small.

The test of a strong person is how well they handle problems and hardships. All of us are faced with problems each day, and no one is exempt. If you falter during these times, your strength is small and is an indication of a lack of faith.

11 Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die;

save them as they stagger to their death.

12 Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.”

For God understands all hearts, and he sees you.

He who guards your soul knows you knew.

He will repay all people as their actions deserve.

When you see someone who is in trouble and in need of assistance, you should welcome the opportunity to help. This passage could be taken literally, or it could mean when you see someone who is on a dangerous path in life and making poor decisions. It is tempting to ignore these situations and pretend they don’t exist, but God knows their situations. And He knows your heart. The old saying, “What goes around, comes around,” is appropriate here. If you are unwilling to help those in need, even if it is of their own doing, then why should you ever expect others to help you in your time of need?

13 My child, eat honey, for it is good,

and the honeycomb is sweet to the taste.

14 In the same way, wisdom is sweet to your soul.

If you find it, you will have a bright future,

and your hopes will not be cut short.

I do love honey; it is God’s truly natural sweetener. To chew on honeycomb full of honey is as sweet as it gets. God compares the sweetness of wisdom to that of honey. Wisdom will allow you to make prudent and good choices. With those good choices, your life will also be filled with goodness. Seek wisdom for your soul as you would honey for your body.

15 Don’t wait in ambush at the home of the godly,

and don’t raid the house where the godly live.

16 The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.

But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.

You are never to rise against those who live lives that are following God’s precepts. You are not to harm them or their household. God will give you strength to carry on when you follow Him. Those who choose not to follow God will not have the strength that is needed to persevere during the difficult times of life.

Today we explored nine more wise sayings, which leaves us with much to consider. Next Wisdom Wednesday, we will continue on this trail of the Sayings of the Wise. These proverbs continue to provide us with more wisdom, insight, and understanding.

Regardless of where you are in your faith walk, if you follow the precepts in Proverbs, your life will be rich and satisfying. Take them and plant them in your heart so that you will reap a harvest of wisdom.

Tomorrow we will hike another short trail of Wisdom Unplugged and discover an inspirational wisdom quote. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along with us tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

That will finish our trek for today. As you enjoy these daily doses of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person when you meet with them and invite them to come along with us each day. If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. Don’t forget to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek so each trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 485 of our trek, and it is Tuesday and time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom each Tuesday and Thursday. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from Epictetus, who says, “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”All of life is made up of victories and defeats, of gains and losses, and we all experience them. It takes a wise person to realize and understand that we are caretakers of anything that we possess in life. We are stewards of what God has given to us. This includes material blessings and also relationships.

We should not grieve if we are no longer called to take care of certain possessions or people but rejoice for the opportunity that we had. We should not grieve that certain seasons of life are now coming to an end but rejoice that we were in that season of life for a time.

All of life is made up of cycles and seasons. They come and go just like the ocean ebbs and flows. Let us focus and rejoice, instead, on everything that we currently have the opportunity to care for.

Let us pray for strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Let us rejoice in that which we do possess today. Let us take to heart the word the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11-13, “Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged. If you enjoy these quotes, I have created and published a searchable database of over 10,000 quotes that I have collected for many years. If you would like access to my database of inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com.

So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy. Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 484 of our trek, and today is Motivation Monday. Every Monday we hike the trails of life that will encourage and motivate us to live rich and satisfying lives this week. Today let us explore the trail called The Habit Domino.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This past extended Thanksgiving weekend was filled with activities and time with family. We had two Thanksgiving dinners, one at my brother’s home on Thursday and one at our home on Saturday. We were also able to harvest several more loads of leaves, so we are making progress on that front. There are still quite a few leaves still on the trees, so that will entail a couple more weekends of work to finish all the leaves.

As we head into December and the Christmas season this week, there are many activities yet to come. Much of the activities in our lives are made up of habits that we have acquired over the years. Habits can be either good or bad, but are usually linked to each other, which is why it is difficult to change them. As we break camp and head out on our trek for today, let us invest time exploring the concept of…

The Habit Domino states that when you make a change to one behavior, it will activate a chain reaction and cause a shift in related behaviors as well.

For example, a 2012 study by researchers at Northwestern University found that when people decreased their amount of sedentary leisure time each day, they also reduced their daily fat intake. The participants were never specifically told to eat less fat, but their nutrition habits improved as a natural side effect because they invested less time on the couch watching television and mindlessly eating. One habit led to another. One domino knocked down the next.

You may notice similar patterns in your own life. As a personal example, if I stick with my habit of getting up early and exercising, then I naturally find myself more focused at work and sleeping more soundly at night even though I never made a plan to specifically improve either behavior.

The Habit Domino holds for negative habits as well. You may find that the habit of checking your phone leads to the habit of clicking social media notifications, which leads to the habit of browsing social media mindlessly and to another 20 minutes of procrastination.

In the words of Stanford professor BJ Fogg, “You can never change just one behavior. Our behaviors are interconnected, so when you change one behavior, other behaviors also shift.”

As best I can tell, the Habit Domino occurs for two reasons.

First, many of the habits and routines that make up our daily lives are related to one another. There is an astounding interconnectedness between the systems of life, and human behavior is no exception. The inherent relatedness of things is a core reason why choices in one area of life can lead to surprising results in other areas, regardless of the plans you make.

Second, the Habit Domino capitalizes on two of the core principles of human behavior – commitment and consistency. One habit influences another. The core idea is that if people commit to an idea or goal, even in a very small way, they are more likely to honor that commitment because they now see that idea or goal as being aligned with their self-image.

As an example, say you were not in the habit of making your bed in the morning, but then made the commitment to start doing so. Making your bed each day is making a small commitment to the idea of, “I am the type of person who maintains a clean and organized home.” After a few days, you will begin to commit to this new self-image in other areas of your home, such as picking up your clothes or keeping the room swept clean.

This is an interesting byproduct of the Habit Domino. It not only creates a cascade of new behaviors but also a shift in personal beliefs as well. As each tiny domino falls, you start believing new things about yourself and building identity-based habits.

The Habit Domino is not merely a phenomenon that happens to you but something you can create. It is within your power to spark a chain reaction of good habits by building new behaviors that naturally lead to the next successful action.

There are four keys to making this work in real life. Here are the four rules of the Habit Domino:

1. Start with the thing you are most motivated to do. Start with a small behavior and do it consistently. This will not only feel satisfying but also open your eyes to the type of person you can become. It does not matter which domino falls first, as long as one falls.
2. Maintain momentum and immediately move to the next task you are motivated to finish. Let the momentum of finishing one task carry you directly into the next behavior. With each repetition, you will become more committed to your new self-image.
3. When in doubt, break things down into smaller chunks. As you try new habits, focus on keeping them small and manageable. The Habit Domino is about progress, not results. Simply maintain the momentum. Let the process repeat as one domino automatically knocks down the next.
4. The Habit Domino is a compound effect. Start with small habits that you can easily complete and then move forward to ever larger habits that can be completed by the sheer momentum of the previous habit. Once a small habit falls, it sets into motion a cascade of accomplishments.

When one habit fails to lead to the next behavior, it is often because the behavior does not adhere to these four rules. There are many different paths to getting dominoes to fall. Focus on the behavior you are excited about, and let it cascade throughout your life. This cascading effect of knocking over increasingly larger dominos, or habits, reminds me of Jesus’s story in Matthew 25:21, “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’”

in your life? Let me know if I can help you in establishing this cascading effect in your life.

Tomorrow’s short trek is part of our Wisdom Unplugged series that we are now hiking on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These 3-minute wisdom supplements will assist you in becoming healthy, wealthy, and wise throughout the entire week. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

That will finish our trek for today. As you enjoy these daily doses of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person when you meet with them and invite them to come along with us each day. If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. Don’t forget to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek so each trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 483 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.

Currently, we are in a multi-week trek as we explore the teachings from some of my virtual mentors, such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, and Earl Nightingale. The core of our current trek is based primarily on Jim Rohn’s book called The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle. I have learned a considerable amount from reading and re-reading this book on my own trek of life, and I trust that it will benefit you also. Keeping with the continuity of Wisdom-Trek, I will be adapting it to The Five Trails on Life’s Trek.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Since we celebrated Thanksgiving in the United States yesterday, we had the opportunity to stop and reflect on all of God’s bountiful blessings throughout the year. We had Thanksgiving with my brother Jack, his family, and my dad. This Saturday we will have another Thanksgiving meal with two of our children and other family members, so it is a full few days.

We should pursue an abundant life for each day. That abundance is largely a factor of choices we have made in the past, and the choices that we make each day, which determines our future.

Today on our trek, we will continue on the Attitude Trail. Last Friday we explored how drastically the past and present does impact our future. Today we will focus on designing a better future and the investment that is required for an abundant future.

If you have missed the past few Philosophy Friday treks, it would be good to go back and review them to get caught up on our progress so far. We have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s break camp and continue on the second trail of this extended trek as we cover…

There is a very special emotional magic that takes place when you design the future and set new goals with a specific purpose in mind. As you see the future clearly in your mind’s eye, you experience a level of excitement in anticipation of the day when all that you dream will become a reality. The more clearly you see the vision of the future, the more you are able to borrow from its inspiration. This borrowed inspiration finds its way into your conversations, your energy level, your relationships, and your attitude. The more excited you become by your future dreams, the easier it is to develop the necessary discipline and make refinements to your philosophy. In other words, your dreams inspire you to think, act, feel, and become exactly the kind of person you must be to realize your dreams.

If you are intelligent enough to invest your experiences of the past and wise enough to “borrow” the excitement and inspiration of the future by clearly seeing that future in the “mind’s eye,” then past experiences and future excitement become today’s servant. The finished product you foresee guides you in your present efforts, making the attainment of the better future an inevitable conclusion. You become pulled by the future and guided by the past because you have chosen to take intelligent action in the present.

The unique ability you have for investing your past experiences and borrowing inspiration from the future is an incredible force. The good news is — anyone can do it! You have the capacity for designing the future in advance so that when the new day arrives, it is more than it might have been simply because you used part of your past and your future to create it.

The power of the future is an awesome force. What can have the power to drive you to do all that you can do?

The power of the future is an awesome force.

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The promise of the future is not free. There is a price to be paid for any future reward. The price the future exacts from you involves discipline, labor, consistency, and a burning desire to make the future better than either the past or the present. Those are the price tags of progress, but the price becomes easier to bear when the promise becomes clear. When the end becomes attractive, you become keenly interested in the investment required. You must see and want the promise with an insatiable desire, or the investment it requires will overcome your wishes. And you will fall back to where you once were.

If you are sincere about wanting a rich and satisfying life, you must ask yourself what you see in your future that is fueling your fires of confidence and excitement. How much of that future do you actually see and believe, deep within your own soul, that you will achieve? Is it clear enough in your mind and heart to drive you out of bed each morning and keep you up late each night? Are you so locked in on the target you have selected that you can brush away any obstacle and disappointment? In your desire to change yourself and your current circumstances are you fully prepared to go over, under, around and through whatever challenge life throws at you?

You cannot move casually into a better future. You cannot casually pursue the goal you have set for yourself. A goal that is casually pursued is not a goal; at best it is a wish, and wishes are little more than self-delusion. Wishes are an anesthetic to be used by the unambitious, a narcotic that dulls their awareness of their own desperate condition.

It is possible to plan your future so carefully and so clearly that when the plan is complete, you can become so inspired by it, it will become your obsession.

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The challenge is to let this obsession fuel the fire that heats your talent and your skills to the boiling point so that you are propelled into a whole new future.

As you become serious about designing the future in advance, you derive an immediate emotional benefit. The future is exciting! The more clearly you see the future and the more keenly you sense its promise, the more positive your attitude becomes that you can and will achieve your dreams.

It is this new attitude that will provide you with renewed ambition for progress and the faith that you really can move mountains. Attitude is closely tied to the faith that you have in yourself and your future. In one of Jesus’s teachings about faith in Matthew 17:20 he says, “‘You don’t have enough faith,’ Jesus told them. ‘I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.'”

How is your faith in yourself and in God?

We are deliberately taking our trek on The Five Trails on Life’s Trek slowly as we hike now on the Trail of Attitude. Designing a better future for yourself requires that you invest in yourself. It requires not being held back by your past but using what you learned to invest your present and your future.

Next week on Philosophy Friday, we will continue on the Trail of Attitude and focus on the need to partner with others and how important a good self-image is to success. I know you will find these insights interesting and profitable in living a rich and satisfying life.

Our next trek will be Motivation Monday as we explore more trails of how to get and stay motivated to bring value to your world. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along on Monday for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

That will finish our trek for today. As you enjoy these daily doses of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person when you meet with them and invite them to come along with us each day. If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. Don’t forget to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek so each trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you on Monday!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 482 of our trek, and it is Thursday and time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom each Tuesday and Thursday. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, so our quote will reflect that. This quote is one that has a three-prong focus that I wrote which is, “Unconditional love, absolute forgiveness, and total gratitude are the three elements that make up complete Thanksgiving. So as you reflect on this special day, focus on these three elements towards others and God, and you will realize that indeed you have much to be thankful for.”Unconditional love means that you will love others regardless of their actions or love towards you. Absolute forgiveness means that you will forgive others regardless of what they have done, and even if they do not ask for it. Total gratitude is being thankful for all situations in your life regardless of whether they appear to be good or bad, success or failure.

Since you can only see your situation from a finite point of view, you are incapable of understanding the full impact of your actions and situations from an eternal perspective. Therefore, practice the teachings of Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:15-18, “See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people. Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged quote. If you would like access to my database of over 10,000 inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com. As you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 481 of our trek, and today is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore the 2nd half of Chapter 23.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Tomorrow in the United States we will be celebrating our Thanksgiving holiday. I would encourage you to pause and take the time to reflect with gratitude for all the blessings that you have experienced over this past year. Even if you happen to be in a difficult season of life, there is much to be thankful for.

With a heart of gratitude, let us break camp for today and head out on our trek to explore the nuggets of wisdom which are found in the second half of Proverbs 23. We are currently in the third section of Proverbs, which covers 30 sayings of the wise. We have explored thirteen so far, and today we will continue with five more. One of those sayings is…

Let’s start our trek with verse 17.

17 Don’t envy sinners,

but always continue to fear the Lord.

18 You will be rewarded for this;

your hope will not be disappointed.

It is so easy to look at others that seem to be prospering and desire what they have. Most often though, you only see one small aspect of their lives, and you don’t see all that they struggle with. Regardless of others, you need to make wise and prudent choices in life and continue to follow God’s precepts. When you do this, you will eventually see a harvest from your good and faithful planting. This harvest will give you hope, which will minimize your disappointments in life.

19 My child, listen and be wise:

Keep your heart on the right course.

20 Do not carouse with drunkards

or feast with gluttons,

21 for they are on their way to poverty,

and too much sleep clothes them in rags.

As Solomon instructs his children, you can learn much from his exhortation. You are to be wise by keeping your minds and hearts on that that which is helpful. That is to hike the good trails of life. If you allow yourself to be influenced by people with questionable morals and ethics, you will soon end up like them. Some of their unseemly traits are laziness, poverty, gluttony, and drunkenness.

22 Listen to your father, who gave you life,

and don’t despise your mother when she is old.

23 Get the truth and never sell it;

also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment.

24 The father of godly children has cause for joy.

What a pleasure to have children who are wise.[e]

25 So give your father and mother joy!

May she who gave you birth be happy.

There are few joys as great in life for parents to groom our children into mature, responsible adults. To do so, your life must represent what you desire your children to become. That means that your life will show truthfulness, integrity, wisdom, discipline and good judgment at all cost. It is then that you will be able to take pleasure that your children follow your wise example, and it will bring you much joy.

26 O my son, give me your heart.

May your eyes take delight in following my ways.

27 A prostitute is a dangerous trap;

a promiscuous woman is as dangerous as falling into a narrow well.

28 She hides and waits like a robber,

eager to make more men unfaithful.

In this passage, Solomon once again visits a familiar subject for his son. His exhortation, which we can all apply to our lives, is to follow the ways of individuals that are Godly and wise. A person whose integrity has stood the test of time. Otherwise, you will fall prey to the temptations of life that will lead you down the trail of destruction. One of the most common is to fall prey to sexual sins. It is a trap that is nearly impossible to escape from. Like a narrow well with slick internal walls. Once you fall into this trap, your life will be destroyed.

29 Who has anguish? Who has sorrow?

Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining?

Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

30 It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns,

trying out new drinks.

31 Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is,

how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down.

32 For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake;

it stings like a viper.

33 You will see hallucinations,

and you will say crazy things.

34 You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea,

clinging to a swaying mast.

35 And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it.

I didn’t even know it when they beat me up.

When will I wake up

so I can look for another drink?”

Drinking alcoholic beverages has been the destruction of many masses of people. This passage describes it so well. While this is nothing in Scripture that forbids having an occasional alcoholic drink, it has been the downfall of many. Certainly, some people may have a genetic weakness to addictions, one thing to consider regardless is, if you don’t drink, you won’t get drunk and suffer the consequences that are described here. Ask yourself, “Is the pleasure of drinking worth the risk of anguish, sorrow, fighting, complaining, bruises from falling, bloodshot eyes, hallucinations, and an unbridled tongue?”

With the huge variety of non-alcoholic drinks that are available today, it would be wise to ask yourself if the rewards outweigh the potential risk. Certainly, as you make wise choices in your life, consider your choices when it comes to eating, drinking, or partaking in any other substance that could become addictive.

Today we explored five more wise sayings, which leaves us with much to consider. Next Wisdom Wednesday, we will continue on this trail of the Sayings of the Wise. These proverbs continue to provide us with more wisdom, insight, and understanding. Regardless of where you are in your faith walk, if you follow the precepts in Proverbs, your life will be rich and satisfying. Take them and plant them in your heart so that you will reap a harvest of wisdom.

Tomorrow we will hike another short trail of Wisdom Unplugged where we will discover an inspirational wisdom quote. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along with us tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

That will finish our trek for today. As you enjoy these daily doses of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person when you meet with them and invite them to come along with us each day. If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. Don’t forget to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek so each trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 480 of our trek, and it is Tuesday and time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom each Tuesday and Thursday. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from William Saroyan says, “Good people are good because they’ve come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success, you know.”There is a purifying effect when you have to go through trials, tribulations, and failures. If you persevere through those times, you are able to gain a measure of goodness coupled with wisdom, insight, and understanding. Each season of trials and failures should work to make you even more resolute to continue on doing what is right, just, and fair.

Trials, tribulations, and failures are much better teachers than success if you are willing to learn the lessons that are being taught. You should never allow failure to permanently defeat you but allow it to teach you the lessons that are available. Remember to keep moving forward, learn the lessons, gain wisdom, and enjoy your journey. As Jesus’s half brother James told us in his letter in Chapter 1 verses 2-4, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged. If you enjoy these quotes, I have created and published a searchable database of over 10,000 quotes that I have collected for many years. If you would like access to my database of inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy. Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow for Wisdom Wednesday!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 479 of our trek, and today is Motivation Monday. Every Monday we hike the trails of life that will encourage and motivate us to live rich and satisfying lives this week. Today let us explore the trail called “Attitude Check.”

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. With Thanksgiving quickly approaching in the US, we have much to be thankful for. Our attitude about life strongly influences our level of gratitude. We should always practice an “Attitude of Gratitude” each day. There is nothing more valuable or significant in determining our success in life than our attitude. As we break camp and head out on our trek for today, let us invest time exploring the concept of…

Earlier in my life I obtained my private pilot’s license and went on to also become instrument rated. Obtaining my pilot’s license required a lot of time and expense, but I learned many lessons about life through the process. For instance, when learning to fly, a frequent term that is heard from the flight instructor is “Attitude check!” That might not mean much to you at first, or you might wonder why it would be used when flying. Why would the flight instructor care if my attitude is good?

When flying an airplane, small or large, the word “attitude” can be a life-or-death word for a pilot. It is a very important term when flying because a plane’s “attitude” is its position relative to the ground, to the horizon. After many hours of flying and also reading stories about pilots that have taken off and landed on aircraft carriers, the importance of a plane’s attitude can be summarized this way, “Right attitude, you keep flying. Wrong attitude, you stop flying.” And stopping in this way is not advisable.

When flying by the plane’s instruments, that is when conditions won’t let you fly visually, you adjust your attitude based on an instrument called your artificial horizon. It actually shows you where the real horizon is. But when you can’t see any points of reference, your senses start playing tricks on you. One veteran pilot said that even he has to sometimes fight his instincts and feelings that are telling him lies about whether he’s going up or down. The only thing that’s telling him the truth is his artificial horizon.

Life’s like that too. The attitude that was popularized a few years ago,“If it feels good, do it,” has had a disastrous effect on many an individual and on much of our society, which has become incredibly permissive. As such, we are on an ever-increasing slippery slope downward.

Feelings can be one of the most dangerous directives to follow when it comes to choosing between a right and a wrong course of action. The instrument God has given to us to keep our attitude right is His Word, the Bible. We go against His directives to our peril. As Christians, we are to do right—regardless of what our feelings tell us.

Right attitude, we keep “flying.” Wrong attitude, we “crash.” Learn to follow the instruments of life regardless of your feelings. The true instrument for our lives is the Bible. As Psalms 119:105 tells us, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” As my virtual mentor, Zig Ziglar said, “It’s your attitude and not your aptitude that determines your altitude.”

As we finish our trek for today, let me ask you, “Have you taken an attitude check recently?” When flying, you must constantly monitor the attitude of the plane. Should it be anything less with our own lives?

Tomorrow’s short trek is part of our Wisdom Unplugged series that we are now hiking on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These 3-minute wisdom supplements will assist you in becoming healthy, wealthy, and wise throughout the entire week. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

That will finish our trek for today. As you enjoy these daily doses of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person when you meet with them and invite them to come along with us each day. If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. Don’t forget to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek so each trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 478 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.

Currently, we are in a multi-week trek as we explore the teachings from some of my virtual mentors such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, and Earl Nightingale. The core of our current trek is based primarily on Jim Rohn’s book called The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle. I have learned a considerable amount from reading and re-reading this book on my own trek of life, and I trust that it will benefit you also. Keeping with the continuity of Wisdom-Trek, I will be adapting it to The Five Trails on Life’s Trek.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. During this month of Thanksgiving, take time each day to reflect on what you are thankful for. We are thankful that the transition of consolidating our Charlotte home to Marietta has gone relatively smooth. On the day this trek is released, Paula and I will be heading back to Charlotte to invest the weekend with our family there. On Monday we will be attending the closing for our home in Charlotte. Our home was under contract two days after it was listed. We are thankful that it sold so quickly, and that a portion of this season of life will be finalized. It was a great season, but every season passes on. Our trekking between the two locations will certainly be less frequent although we do plan to visit our family there quite often.

Today on our trek we will continue on the Attitude Trail. Last Friday we explored how our past affects our attitude, and today we will focus on how our present situation and future will impact our attitude and our life.

If you have missed the past few Philosophy Friday treks, it would be good to go back and review them to get caught up on our progress so far. We have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s break camp and continue on the first trail of this extended trek as we cover…

The primary and first trail we explored was the Philosophy Trail. Your personal philosophy is the filter through which all of your decisions and choices are made. This is a very crucial element that you must establish in your life. Now let’s explore how your present situation affects your attitude trek.

The current moment is where your better future begins. The past gave you a wealth of memories and experiences, and the present gives you a chance to use them wisely.

The present brings you an opportunity to create an exciting future. The promise of the future demands that you pay the price in the present. The opportunity of the current moment must be embraced, or the rewards of the future will be withheld.

Your goals and ambitions of the past are bringing to you present rewards. If your current rewards are small, then your past efforts were small. And if today’s effort is small, the future reward will be small as well. 

Today brings each of us 1,440 minutes; 86,400 ticks of the clock. Both the poor and the wealthy have the same 24 hours of opportunity. Time favors no one. Today merely says, “Here I am. What are you going to do with me?” How well you use each day is largely a function of attitude. With the right attitude, you can seize this day and make it a point of new beginning. Today does not care about yesterday’s failures or tomorrow’s regrets. It merely offers the same precious gift — another 24 hours — and hopes that you will use it wisely.

With the right attitude, you can seize this day and make it a point of new beginning.

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The greatest opportunity today brings with it the opportunity to begin the process of change. Today — the present —  is the moment when you can inaugurate your new voice coming into power. It can be a new “change of mind” — a new attitude adopted about who you are, what you are, what you want, and what you are going to do. Today can also be exactly like yesterday, and the day before, and the day before…It is all a question of attitude.

Your attitude about the future is also of great importance. In the classic book, Lessons of History, Will and Ariel Durant wrote,

“To endure what is, we must remember what was, and dream of things as they will one day be.”

Your attitude about the future depends on your ability to see the future. You have the inherent ability to dream, design and experience the future through the power of an imaginative inner-eye. Whatever your mind has the capacity to imagine, it also has the ability to create.

Your attitude about the future depends on your ability to see the future.

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Just as the body instinctively knows how to perform the miracle of health and gradually healing itself, the mind instinctively knows how to perform the miracle of wealth through a gradual process of successful habits.

Everything in the world around you was finished in the mind of its creator before it was started. The house or apartment you live in, the car you drive, your clothing, your furnishings — all of these things began with an idea in someone’s mind. Each idea was then studied, refined and perfected, either mentally or in writing, before the first nail was driven or the first piece of cloth was cut. Long before the idea was converted into a physical reality, the mind had clearly envisioned the finished product.

You have the capacity to design your own future through much the same process. You begin with an idea about how the future will be. Over a period of time, you refine and perfect your vision. Before long, your every thought, decision and activity are all working in harmony to bring into existence what you have mentally determined about your future.

This is why having the right attitude about both past and present circumstances is so important. When you have a healthy attitude about the past and constructive feelings about yourself and your present opportunities, you subconsciously guide yourself toward the achievement of your dreams. However when you are filled with regrets about the past and concerns about the present, then you subconsciously lead yourself towards a future that is very much like the past you have just left behind.

The thoughts and feelings you allow yourself to have today are crucial, for they are contributing to your future. What that future holds will simply be a mirror image of your current philosophy and attitude about life. There are certain truths and principles about our life that if followed will have a significant impact on how our future turns out. This is why our thoughts are so important. As Ephesians 4:21-23 tells us, “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.” 

We are deliberately taking our trek slowly on The Five Trails on Life’s Trek as we hike now on the Trail of Attitude. Putting aside your old thoughts and habits is not easy. This trek of life is not an easy hike to make. It requires not being held back by your past, but using what you learned to change your present and your future.

Next week on Philosophy Friday, we will continue on the Trail of Attitude and focus on designing a better future, and the investment which that requires. I know you will find these insights interesting and profitable in living a rich and satisfying life.

Our next trek will be Motivation Monday where we explore more trails of how to get and stay motivated to bring value to your world. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along on Monday for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

That will finish our trek for today. As you enjoy these daily doses of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person when you meet with them and invite them to come along with us each day. If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. Don’t forget to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek so each trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you Monday!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 477 of our trek, and it is Thursday and time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom each Tuesday and Thursday. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from Arthur S. Adams, who says, “Good character is the quality which makes one dependable whether being watched or not. Which makes one truthful when it is to one’s advantage to be a little less than truthful. Which makes one courageous when faced with great obstacles. Which endows one with the firmness of wise self-discipline.”

What do you think of when you hear that a person has good character? As this quote stipulates, it is a person who is dependable, truthful, courageous, and self-disciplined. This is the type of person who has a moral backbone, one whose life is built on a foundation of integrity.

To have this solid foundation of integrity is the bedrock of a person with good character. A foundation that will withstand any temptation or obstacle regardless of how hard the winds of adversity may blow against them. We are reminded in the Bible that it is imperative to choose wisely who we invest time with. 1 Corinthians 15:33 states, “Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for ‘bad company corrupts good character.'”

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged quote. If you would like access to my database of over 10,000 inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com. As you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy. Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly your friend as I serve you in through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow for Philosophy Friday!