Wisdom-Trek © - Archive 2

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 466 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 1st half of chapter 22.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This past weekend was very productive. We were able to make a pass of the entire lawn to clean up the leaves that have fallen so far. Most of the leaves have not fallen yet, but I still had 8 loads that I gathered up, and each load contains about 450 gallons of leaves. Paula gathered many loads of branches from a large limb that fell out of a tree on my brother’s property in last week’s storm. Inside the house, we unpacked several more boxes and setup the parlor with furniture. Taking care of the family homestead does require a lot of work, in addition to our consulting business, but it is rewarding and part of a much larger legacy that we are creating and living each day. We certainly enjoy thinking about, planning, and accomplishing our dreams.

What we think about and focus our time on is what we become. While most of us have heard the axiom “You are what you eat,” I believe a more true one is “You are what you think.” What you think about becomes your actions, and your actions become who you really are. It is part of your reputation. As we break camp for our trek today, let us explore the nuggets of wisdom found in the first half of Proverbs 22 where we will learn to…

Let’s start our trek with verse 1.

1 Choose a good reputation over great riches;

There is no amount of money that can purchase a good reputation. Solomon’s wise advice instructs us to choose a good reputation and high esteem over any amount of riches. It is truly better than unlimited silver and gold. What would you prefer? It is evident today, as it has been throughout history, that many would choose riches.

2 The rich and poor have this in common:

Just as we come into the world naked and helpless, we leave the same way. It is important to realize that during the years in between, regardless of whether we are rich or poor, we have all been created in God’s image. We should love each other unconditionally, regardless of our economic status.

3 A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions.

To be wise and prudent means that you make wise choices in life. It is the ability to anticipate the consequences of your choices and decide the best path to take. Otherwise, you are a simple person, or it may be said an unwise person. A simple person makes decisions and choices in life without understanding the consequence of those choices. This usually results in short-term thinking that causes long-term problems.

4 True humility and fear of the Lord

When you are wise, you will also be humble and respect the Lord who created you. When you are, then the choices that you make in life will be good and will result in good outcomes such as wealth, respect, and longevity of life.

5 Corrupt people walk a thorny, treacherous road;

When a person’s mind is wicked, his or her entire life will reflect this. The individual’s trails of life are filled with problems, and the walk is dangerous. It is quite different for those with integrity who will avoid the same dangerous trails.

6 Direct your children onto the right path,

As with all of the Proverbs, this verse is not meant to be guarantees of results but general guidelines. This certainly applies to our children. If we teach them God’s ways and His principles, when they are adults making their own decisions, they will be guided by those precepts.

7 Just as the rich rule the poor,

This proverb is so true and relatable to most people throughout the world. When you are indebted to another person, especially monetarily, you must comply with the individual’s demands or suffer the consequences.  If you become debt free, you have many more choices in life, and you are less apt to be controlled by others.

8 Those who plant injustice will harvest disaster,

The laws of planting and harvesting affect all areas of life, and we must know and learn this law well. If you plant injustice, it will produce a harvest of disaster. You always harvest what you plant in abundance. It is a law that will never change.

9 Blessed are those who are generous,

God encourages us to be generous and willing to give to those who are less fortunate or in distress. His blessings do reside to those who help others. One of those blessings is the lessons learned by those who are giving.

10 Throw out the mocker, and fighting goes, too.

When you get rid of a person who is constantly stirring up problems in any organization, then the fighting, quarrels, and insults will leave with that person. If at all possible, you should distance yourself from anyone who causes problems.

11 Whoever loves a pure heart and gracious speech

If you treat others with kindness and compassion, you will attract many friends even those who are in places of authority. There is never a good reason to treat others harshly, even if you are treated harshly at times.

12 The Lord preserves those with knowledge,

Wisdom, insight, understanding and knowledge are gained by following God’s precepts. When we seek it earnestly, then God preserves us as we make wise choices. On the other hand, He will not preserve the plans of those who reject His precepts.

13 The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion out there!

People who are lazy will come up with any excuse, regardless of how silly, to get out of their responsibility. This verse is an example of how far a lazy person may stretch his or her story.

14 The mouth of an immoral woman is a dangerous trap;

Certainly, women with immoral intents know how to play simple men to achieve what they desire. A man who rejects God’s principles of love and marriage will fall into her trap. Men need to stand for what is good and right regardless.

15 A youngster’s heart is filled with foolishness,

Children, by their very nature, need to be taught what is wise and good. Otherwise, they will be filled with childish foolishness. Discipline is needed to train children to become wise. If they are not trained when they are young, they will become old fools.

16 A person who gets ahead by oppressing the poor

How prevalent we see this is in today’s world, but I suspect it has always been this way. The laws of planting and harvesting once again show us that if you oppress the less fortunate or curry favor with those who are rich by giving them gifts or bribes, eventually it will turn back on you.

The nuggets of wisdom that we gathered in verses 1-16 of Proverbs 22 provide more tasty morsels of wisdom, insight, and understanding. Regardless of your faith walk, if you apply 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 goodness.

Tomorrow we will hike another short trail of Wisdom Unplugged and 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:

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 465 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 Ronnie Oldham who tells us, “Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise; risking more than others think is safe; dreaming more than others think is practical and expecting more than others think is possible.”

Do you go above and beyond what is expected?  Many people do not. If you desire to impact the lives of others positively, then it is required that you stretch yourself beyond what you or others may feel is necessary. Do not settle for being ordinary or average. Instead, strive to be extraordinary and excellent in all that you do. Care deeply for others, even though it will expose you to being hurt. Take the risk that may cause you some discomfort. Dream bigger dreams than you feel that you can ever accomplish.  Expect more of yourself than others expect from you. In doing so, you will not only impact others greatly, you will achieve a level that you did not even think was possible.

Think in the way that the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:12-14, “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

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:

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 464 of our trek, and today is Motivation Monday. Every Monday we hike the trails of life that will encourage and motivate you to live a rich and satisfying life this week. Today let us explore the trailed called, “It’s Your Choice.”

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. The unpacking and cleaning continues indoors while wood cutting and leaf pickup goes on outside. The weekends do give us an opportunity to focus on non-client work. It is always great to be able to work outdoors and enjoy the cool fall weather. The choice to invest the time doing what we enjoy and what will help us to grow personally is important.

What you do in life is based on the small choices you make every day. How your life turns out is a direct result of these choices. There are consequences to every choice that you make, that will affect all of your tomorrows, both positively and negatively. As we break camp and head out on our trek for today keep these words in your mind…

We’re all confronted with countless choices each day. Some have minimal consequences, such as whether to have our ice cream in a cup or cone while other decisions can be life changing.  While some of these choices may impact our lives today, other choices may not affect us for years to come.

We are a product of the choices we make. Each decision helps to define who we are and how we’re different from everyone else.

Unfortunately, some people prefer to make their decisions in a haphazard fashion. They “shoot from the hip” or flip a coin rather than reviewing their options in a deliberate manner. Others make decisions in a vacuum without taking the time to collect the facts or consider the consequences. Still, others simply follow the crowd to avoid taking personal responsibility, or they base their decisions solely on the advice of another person, rather than on an idea’s true merits. Lastly, some individuals are more interested in checking an item off their to-do list than in making a sound choice. In this case, expediency trumps effectiveness.

Of course, not every decision requires in-depth analysis. Some should be practically “automatic,” like stepping on the brake pedal when the traffic ahead begins to slow down. Another choice is to apply the lessons learned from your past experiences to help make the decision process more automatic and less traumatic. Poor choices and good choices do have their consequences, and being fully engaged in the decision process is a good practice in itself.

Personal values should serve as your guiding star in making good choices. Values are like a pilot’s flight plan…without them, you’re flying blind. Unfortunately, some people don’t take the time to define them, so by default, their values may not be ethical. Take a moment and ponder the following questions. Each question is designed as a continuum, so your response doesn’t have to be limited to one extreme, or another.

Remember, there’s no right or wrong answer to each question. The answer that you provide should be the right one for YOU.

The preceding list isn’t intended to be exhaustive. Its purpose is to get you thinking and to help you define who you are and what you stand for. One of the realities is that every choice you make in life has both a benefit and a cost. For example, saving versus spending. People who fail to save for a rainy day may enjoy the satisfaction that comes with their new acquisitions, but they wind up disappointed when unforeseen expenses blindside them. On the other hand, folks who save too much may be depriving themselves and their loved ones of things that they truly nee

Making good choices begins with taking charge of the decision-making process. Here are seven milestones to help you with your decision-making process.

Life’s not about checking one more item off your to-do list or trying to impress others with how busy you are. Life is about finding joy and peace with where you’ve been, where you are now, and where you’re going. It’s about being proud of who you are, what you represent, and the impact that you’re having on others. This begins and ends with the choices that you make. So, give some serious thought to every choice you face. As Albert Camus once said, “Life is a sum of all your choices.” Are you happy with the path that you’re choosing for yourself? The choice is yours. Making good choices is your choice. Proverbs 22:1 gives us a good foundation to start from, “Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.”

As we end our trek for today, invest time reflecting on the choices that you have made on your trek in life up to this point. What new trails should you hike going forward, and what choices will you need to make to assure that you are on those trails?

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:

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 463 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. It has been a steady week of client work, and we are making progress on unpacking all of the boxes from Charlotte.

This weekend we will be working with my brother Jack on cleaning up a couple of large limbs that came down in last week’s storm. Fortunately, neither one did any damage to our homes although Jack will need to replace a couple of sections of a small fence he has off his back porch.

The majority of the leaves continue to hang on as we enjoy the ever changing colors. Leaf harvest will occupy a good bit of our time over the next several weekends also. As with most of life, it is the simple discipline practices every day that will allow us to succeed at any task, no matter how large and overwhelming it may appear at times. This is why it is so important that we Develop a Powerful Personal Philosophy.

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…

As a reminder, our overall extended trek will cover these five trails:

Last week on our hike we focused on the failures in our lives which are caused by an accumulation of poor thinking and poor choices. Failure is nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated every day. We also briefly glanced at the formula for success. As we continue our trek today, we will focus on success which is nothing more than…

One of the exciting things about the formula for success is that the results are almost immediate. As you voluntarily change daily errors into daily disciplines, you experience positive results in a very short period of time. When you change your diet, your health improves noticeably in just a few weeks. When you start exercising, you feel a new vitality almost immediately. When you begin reading, you experience a growing awareness and a new level of self-confidence. Whatever new discipline you begin to practice daily will produce exciting results that will drive you to become even better at developing new disciplines.

The real magic of new disciplines is that they cause you to amend your thinking. If you were to start to read books, keep a journal, attend classes, listen more, and observe more today, then today would be the first day of a new life leading to a better future. If you were to start to try harder today, and in every way make a conscious and consistent effort to change subtle and deadly errors into constructive and rewarding disciplines, you would never again settle for a life of existence, not once you have tasted the fruits of a life of substance!

There are those who would lead you to believe that you do not need discipline to change your lives, that all a person needs is a little motivation. But, it has been established that “motivation” is not how people change their lives. To change a life, you must first change your thinking habits. If a person is a fool and becomes motivated, he merely becomes a motivated fool.

To change yourself from how you are to how you want to be, you must begin with those few basics that affect the way you think. You can greatly change the course of your life by investing more time and making a greater conscious effort to refine your personal philosophy. The exciting thing is that you will not have to change all that much for the results to very quickly change for you.

All disciplines affect each other. Every new discipline affects not only the discipline that you have already begun to practice but also the disciplines you will soon adopt.

Everything affects everything else. Some things affect you more than others, but everything you do has an effect on everything else you do. Not to think so is naive. This is where those little subtle errors can come from, by not knowing and understanding the effect that your errors are having on your life over an extended period of time.

There is a tendency for each of us to give ourselves license to continue an undisciplined act. We tell ourselves, “This is the only area in which I allow myself to be weak.”  This type of thinking is the beginning of delusion, for each undisciplined act tends to open the floodgates leading to other breakdowns in the chain of self-discipline. The license you give to yourself to wander even momentarily outside the boundaries of self-control establishes a subtle tendency, and the passing of time will eventually cause other self-imposed disciplines to erode.

Since every discipline affects every other discipline, you must be careful with all of them. You cannot allow yourself the luxury of indulging any error day in and day out. Remember, every liberty you give yourself to continue with an error has an effect on all of your other good habits, which in time has an effect on your future performance.

As with all aspects of life, there is the positive side. Every new discipline affects all of your other disciplines. Every new discipline that you impose on yourself will affect the rest of your personal performance in a positive way.

The key is to keep looking for every small discipline you can find that will cause you to refine your thinking, amend your errors and improve your results. You must continue looking for even the most insignificant of those errors in judgment that could be converted into a new discipline. Once the discipline cycle is started, your errors will begin to feel the effect, leaving tangible rewards in their wake as they make a hasty retreat.

Taken one step at a time, all of the things that success and happiness require are actually quite easy to do. Changing from errors to disciplines is easy, as is going from failure to success. The reason why it is so easy is that you can do it, and anything you have the ability to do is always easy. Now, you may have to work hard at the daily discipline part of the equation, but reaching out with your talents to embrace success and its rewards is very easy to do.

You might be asking, “If it is so easy, why don’t more of us do it?” Because while it is easy to do the things that success and happiness require, it is also easy not to do them. This concept reminds me of a verse in Song of Solomon 2:15, “Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming!” This could very well be a parable for you to rid yourself of those little errors in judgment that happen each day before they ruin you and replace them with simple disciplines practiced each day.

We are deliberately taking our trek slowly as we ponder How to Develop a Powerful Personal Philosophy on our continued hike up the Trail of Philosophy today. This is not an easy hike to make. It requires changing your habits from failures to success. It requires a few simple disciplines practiced each day.

Next week on Philosophy Friday, we will continue our exploration of The Formula for Success and focus on the danger of neglect and listening to the right voices in your life. Make sure to join us for the continuation of our trek on the Trail of Philosophy next Friday. I know you will find these insights interesting and profitable in living a rich and satisfying life.

Our next trek will be Motivation Monday when 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 your daily dose 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 and inviting them to come along with us each day. I would challenge you today to take just one precept that we learn today in Proverbs and commit yourself to applying it to your life.

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 together, let us always:

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 462 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 Kurt W. DeNard, who says, “Everybody can find happiness. It is just a matter of choice to be compassionate, wise, generous, and loving.”

As we ponder this quote, I would like to ask you, What brings true happiness into your life?  Contrary to what we think many times, it is not purchasing things that brings happiness because we may be content for a little while, but it will not be long before we desire something more or something different. As with most aspects of life, happiness is a choice that we make every day.  The choices that bring lasting happiness in our own lives is when we choose to positively impact the lives of others. It is really up to you.

Do you desire to be happy? Then choose each day to be kind, be compassionate, be wise, be generous, be thoughtful, and be loving with an unconditional love toward others. It is then you will find the path to true happiness. Ephesians 4:32 instructs us, “Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged. 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 importantly your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

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!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 461 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 21.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We are starting to settle into a routine here after consolidating households. Between the falling leaves, clearing fallen branches from a heavy storm from last week, unpacking of our household items, and completing our normal client work, we have plenty to keep us busy each day.

The leaves continue to change and then fall, as the temperatures cool down to a normal autumn range. The deer, woodpeckers, squirrels, and hawks that we see out our windows are all preparing for the coming of winter. In the same manner, we need to prepare for each changing season of our lives. In every season of life, we need to seek wisdom, insight, and understanding both from God’s Word and from other wise individuals. Let us not forget our own preparations as we break camp for our trek today, and let us explore the nuggets of wisdom found in the second half of Proverbs 21 where we will learn to…

Let’s start our trek with verse 17.

17 Those who love pleasure become poor;

While there is nothing wrong with occasionally relaxing and enjoying the pleasures of life, if it becomes our focus, to the detriment of our work, then it will lead to poverty. In the same manner when we are consumed with vices and things instead of impacting the lives of others, then we will never become wealthy.

18 The wicked are punished in place of the godly,

There are certain precepts and practices that we must adhere to that are in accordance with God’s Word. If we choose not to, then we will suffer the consequences of our choices. If we choose to live godly and honestly, then we will be rewarded for our choices.

19 It’s better to live alone in the desert

While the context of this verse references a quarrelsome, complaining wife, it can be equally true of a husband. While I do not have personal experience with this issue, I have seen couples that are so negative and choose to argue all the time. I can only imagine that it would be easier to live alone than in a contentious marriage.

20 The wise have wealth and luxury,

The reason the wise have wealth and luxury is that they are frugal and prudent in their spending habits. When we honestly analyze our lives and our spending habits, it is evident that there are very few true needs in our lives. Most of what we have are wants. The difference is that fools will spend all that they earn and not invest or save. Many will even go into debt for that which is not a necessity. In doing so, they make themselves perpetually poor.

21 Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love

What we think about we pursue. When what we pursue is in line with God’s precepts, such as living right and with unconditional love for others, we will live a rich and satisfying life.

22 The wise conquer the city of the strong

A wise person understands that human strongholds will never fully protect or bring peace. The wise will live with victory in their lives and confound or thwart those who think that they are strong within themselves. The strong rely on their riches, which they think is their fortress.

23 Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut,

Many times within the book of Proverbs Solomon warns us about talking too much and when it is not appropriate. This is obviously a trait that many struggle with. Here we are encouraged to watch what we say and preferably not speak unless it is needed. If we do this, then we will stay out of trouble that we might otherwise experience.

24 Mockers are proud and haughty;

Those who mock God and others made in His image show their pride and arrogance. They are so wrapped up in themselves that it consumes them.

25 Despite their desires, the lazy will come to ruin,

The laws of planting and harvesting once again are evident in this verse. Those who are poor desire to be wealthy, but they are so unmotivated and lazy that they ruin themselves. If a person chooses not to work, then he will never see his outlook change.

26 Some people are always greedy for more,

You can tell what a person is truly like by his or her generosity to others. Some are stingy and selfish, and their lives are generally poor, both in wealth and attitude or outlook. On the other hand, when you see a person who loves to help others both materially and physically, his or her life reflects true riches in both areas also.

27 The sacrifice of an evil person is detestable,

Tied somewhat to the previous verse, if a person’s heart is not loving for others, even when he shares his wealth, it is of no value because it is offered with wrong motives.

28 A false witness will be cut off,

In a proper hearing in a court of law or within a debate, a person who is speaking lies should not be allowed to continue. Contrary to this is a person who speaks the truth is allowed to continue with his or her testimony.

29 The wicked bluff their way through,

It is soon evident when a person does not really know what he or she is talking about. The individual is hasty in his or her decisions, often making mistakes and failing. An honorable person thinks and then plans before taking action so that the chances of success are greatly increased.

30 No human wisdom or understanding or plan

31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle,

These last two verses are connected in their message. God is in control, and no amount of human scheming, planning, or effort will stand if not permitted by God. Although we should plan and prepare, it should be done with wisdom, insight, and understanding. Even with our best efforts, God ultimately will control the outcome of our plans.

The nuggets of wisdom that we gathered in verses 17-31 of Proverbs 21 provide more tasty morsels of wisdom, insight, and understanding. Regardless of your faith walk, if the precepts in Proverbs are followed, your life will be rich and satisfying. Take them and plant them in your heart so that you will reap a harvest of goodness.

Tomorrow we will hike another short trail of Wisdom Unplugged and 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 your daily dose 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 and inviting them to come along with us each day. I would challenge you today to take just one precept that we learn today in Proverbs and commit yourself to applying it to your life.

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 together, let us always:

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 460 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 a well-known one from Benjamin Franklin who tells us, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

Quotes such as this one are engrained in our minds, but are they factual? Although there was not as much medical evidence to support this quote when Ben Franklin originally said it, there is a magnitude of evidence in today’s medical journals and practices that prove this is factual.

Although there will always be exceptions to this saying, we now know that a person who gets adequate sleep by getting to bed at a reasonable time is generally healthier and wealthier. Because of this, they are also wiser. Proper sleep, along with exercise and proper nutrition, will truly give you an advantage when the opportunities of life are presented to you. Your body, mind, and soul all need adequate sleep to rebuild, reenergize, and recharge. If you rob yourself of proper sleep, you will not be able to make wise decisions, which will lead to poverty and poor health.

When a person’s priorities are out of wack, it is evident physically. When a person does not get adequate sleep, their eyes are the windows that tell the story. As Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:21-23, “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.  ‘Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light.  But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!'”

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:

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 459 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 “10 Things Money Can’t Buy.”

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Each evening as we are unpacking boxes, cleaning cupboards, and clearing closets, we continue to decide what we will keep and what we will give away. This moving project will certainly keep us occupied for several weeks to come. We are taking our time and doing our best to enjoy the process.

I am recording this before the weekend, but my plan for the weekend is to consolidate the items in our garage so that we can have another stall for our car. It is an open five stall garage fashioned after a carriage house, but we have lawn equipment, a small tractor, and other outdoor items stored in it. We will also be going to church with my Dad and celebrating his 86th birthday on Sunday. God has been gracious to us as Dad is still in relatively good health and certainly good spirits. Being able to invest time with Dad is always a blessing. Time together with those that we love is one of the many things that no amount of money can buy. So the title of our trek for today is…

Birthdays and holidays are excellent occasions to reflect on our priorities and to focus on what is truly valuable in our lives. On our trek today, we will explore unique opportunities and make an introspective analysis of our real values, principles, and beliefs. One of the best ways to gain wisdom is to take advice from those individuals who show wisdom in their lives. For each of the 10 things that money can’t buy, I will use a quote from a wise person to allow us to reflect appropriately.

Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived. – Dalai Lama

If you want to distinguish between those who love you unreservedly, and those who love your money, try losing all your money. – Jordi Alemany

Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has, the more one wants. – Benjamin Franklin

To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity. – Douglas Adams

Money is your means of survival. The verdict you pronounce upon the source of your livelihood is the verdict you pronounce upon your life. If the source is corrupt, you have damned your own existence. Did you get your money by fraud? By pandering to men’s vices or men’s stupidity? By catering to fools, in the hope of getting more than your ability deserves? By lowering your standards? By doing work you despise for purchasers you scorn? If so, then your money will not give you a moment’s or a penny’s worth of joy. Then all the things you buy will become, not a tribute to you, but a reproach; not an achievement, but a reminder of shame. Then you’ll scream that money is evil. Evil, because it would not pinch-hit for your self-respect? Evil, because it would not let you enjoy your depravity? Is this the root of your hatred of money? – Ayn Rand

Money cannot buy peace of mind. It cannot heal ruptured relationships, or build meaning into a life that has none. – Richard M. DeVos

It’s good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it’s good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven’t lost the things that money can’t buy. – George Lorimer

Humans aren’t as good as we should be in our capacity to empathize with feelings and thoughts of others, be they humans or other animals on Earth. So maybe part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, that were ‘reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.’ – Neil deGrasse Tyson

The bottom line is, I didn’t return to Apple to make a fortune. I’ve been very lucky in my life and already have one. When I was 25, my net worth was $100 million or so. I decided then that I wasn’t going to let it ruin my life. There’s no way you could ever spend it all, and I don’t view wealth as something that validates my intelligence. – Steve Jobs

Money can buy a house, but not a home. It can buy a bed, but not sleep. It can buy a clock, but not time. It can buy a book, but not knowledge. It can buy blood, but not health, so you see; money is not everything in life. – Unknown

1 Timothy 6:17 sums it up best, “Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.”

As we end our trek for today, invest some time reflecting on all the wonderful and special things in life that you can’t buy with money. Focus on those items and then the amount of money that you need will always be available.

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 your daily dose 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 and inviting them to come along with us each day. I would challenge you today to take just one precept that we learn today in Proverbs and commit yourself to applying it to your life.

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 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 458 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. Each Friday 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 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. Our client workload has been brisk this week, so the unpacking of what we brought from our Charlotte home will probably take several weeks.

The leaves are starting to turn colors in southeastern Ohio. The view from our 2nd story office windows certainly provides a beautiful backdrop for working each day. As the actual seasons change, so do the seasons of our lives. This is why it is so important that we Develop a Powerful Personal Philosophy. 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.

As a reminder, our overall extended trek will cover these five trails:

1. Philosophy
2. Attitude
3. Activity
4. Results
5. Lifestyle

Last week on our hike we focused on the importance of the decision-making process, which is so crucial for creating a powerful personal philosophy. When we want to improve our lives in any area, it is beneficial to learn from what causes both failures and successes in our lives. We will first look at:

Failure is not a single, catastrophic event. You do not fail overnight. Failure is the inevitable result of an accumulation of poor thinking and poor choices. To put it more simply:

Why would someone make an error in judgment and then be so foolish as to repeat it every day? The answer is because he or she does not think that it matters.

On their own, your daily acts do not seem that important. A minor oversight, a poor decision, or a wasted hour generally doesn’t result in an instant and measurable impact. More often than not, you will escape from any immediate consequences of your deeds.

As an example, if you have not bothered to read a single book in the past ninety days, this lack of discipline does not seem to have any immediate impact on your life. Since nothing drastic happened to you after the first ninety days, you repeat this error in judgment for another ninety days, and on and on, it goes. Why? Because it doesn’t seem to matter. This is a great danger. Far worse than not reading the books is not even realizing that it matters!

Far worse than not reading the books is not even realizing that it matters!

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If you eat too many of the wrong foods, you are contributing to a future health problem, but the seeming joy of the moment overshadows the consequence of the future. It does not seem to matter. If you smoke too much or drink too much, then you go on making these poor choices year after year after year because…it doesn’t seem to matter. The pain and regret of these errors in judgment have only been delayed for a future time. Consequences are seldom instant; instead, they accumulate until the inevitable day of reckoning finally arrives, and the price must be paid for your poor choices — choices that didn’t seem to matter.

Failure’s most dangerous attribute is its subtlety. In the short term, those little errors don’t seem to make any difference. You do not seem to be failing. In fact, sometimes these accumulated errors in judgment occur throughout a period of great joy and prosperity in your life. Since nothing terrible happens to you, since there are no instant consequences to capture your attention, you simply drift from one day to the next, repeating the errors, thinking the wrong thoughts, listening to the wrong voices, and making the wrong choices. The sky did not fall in on you yesterday. Therefore the act was probably harmless. Since it seemed to have no measurable consequence, it is probably safe to repeat.

You must gain a better understanding of the laws of planting and harvesting. If at the end of the day when you realized that you made your first error in judgment the sky had fallen in on you, you undoubtedly would have taken immediate steps to ensure that the act would never be repeated again. Like the child who places his hand on a hot burner despite his parents’ warnings, you would have had an instantaneous experience accompanying your error in judgment.

Unfortunately, failure does not shout out its warnings as your parents once did. This is why it is imperative to refine your philosophy in order to be able to make better choices. With a powerful, personal philosophy guiding your every step, you become more aware of your errors in judgment and more aware that each error really does matter. As Galatians 5:9 tells us, “This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!”

We will just glance up the trail for the Formula for Success and then continue our hike next week. Like the formula for failure, the formula for success is easy to follow:

Now here is an interesting question worth pondering over this next week: How can you change the errors in the formula for failure into the disciplines required in the formula for success? The answer is by making the future an important part of our current philosophy.

Both success and failure involve future consequences, namely the inevitable rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past activities. If this is true, why don’t more people take the time to ponder the future? The answer is simple. They are so caught up in the current moment that it doesn’t seem to matter. The problems and the rewards of today are so absorbing to most people that they never pause long enough to think about tomorrow.

day to look a little further down the road? You would then be able to foresee the impending consequences of your current conduct.

Armed with that valuable information, you would be able to take the necessary action to change your errors into new success oriented disciplines. In other words, by disciplining yourself to see the future in advance, you would be able to change your thinking, amend your errors, and develop new habits to replace the old. Invest some time this next week considering what minor errors in judgment repeated every day you can turn into simple disciplines practiced every day. As Proverbs 2:11 tells us, “Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.”

We are deliberately taking our trek slowly as we ponder How to Develop a Powerful Personal Philosophy on our continued hike up the Trail of Philosophy today. This is not an easy hike to make. It requires changing your habits from failures to success. It requires refining your decision-making ability so that you will build a strong foundation in your life.

Next week on Philosophy Friday we will continue our exploration of The Formula for Success. Make sure to join us for the continuation of our trek on the Trail of Philosophy next Friday. I know you will find these insights interesting and profitable in living a rich and satisfying life.

Our next trek will be Motivation Monday when 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 your daily dose 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 and inviting them to come along with us each day. I would challenge you today to take just one precept that we learn today in Proverbs and commit yourself to applying it to your life.

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 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 457 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 Vonette Z. Bright, who says, “Decisions which are made in the light of God’s word are stable and show wisdom.”

As a person of faith, I am a Christ follower, and I consider the Bible as God’s letter of guidance to all mankind. With this world view, I also am convinced that all decisions that I make need to be in sync with the precepts found in God’s Word. As part of my decision-making process, I filter those decisions through God’s Word to make sure that they are not contrary to the truths that are found in His Word. This provides me with a firm foundation from which I can make decisions. When you are constructing a building, the most important part of the building is the foundation. When the foundation is solid, then the building will be stable and able to withstand adverse conditions. This is the same way with making decisions. If our decisions are based on the solid foundation of God’s Word, then they will be stable and wise. As Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

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 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 Philosophy Friday!