Wisdom-Trek © - Archive 2

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 426 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 first half of Chapter 18.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. I drove back to Marietta by myself on Monday. Paula and her mom were planning on coming with me, but due to an unforeseen change of plans, they will join me Wednesday when this episode originally airs and will also bring with them a couple friends from Paula’s quilting guild. The group plans on investing the remainder of this week focused on quilting projects. On Saturday night, weather permitting we will all enjoy the fireworks display at Marietta’s Sternwheel Festival.

It is great to be able to share our home and invest time with friends. The relationships that we foster are the ones that will continue to flourish. Strong relationships are formed through trust and loyalty. The book of Proverbs has many verses that help us to understand these concepts so that we can apply them to our lives and our friendships. One verse in today’s passage speaks to a subject that can destroy a friendship, and that is spreading rumors about others. So the title of our trek today is taken from verse 8, and it starts out with…

Let’s start in with verse 1.

1 Unfriendly people care only about themselves;

they lash out at common sense.

We all know individuals that are so self-centered that they are hurtful to others. They lash out, even when it is not appropriate. Although there is no excuse for this type of behavior, it usually stems from the fact that these individuals really do not love themselves, so they compensate through selfish behavior that shows a lack of love for others.

2 Fools have no interest in understanding;

they only want to air their own opinions.

Tied closely to the first verse, verse 2 describes a foolish and selfish person who does not care to be understanding of others. This individual is so bent on spewing his or her opinions about every topic that he or she ignores the damage he or she causes to others.

3 Doing wrong leads to disgrace,

and scandalous behavior brings contempt.

Even in a culture or society where ethical values are not held in high regard, if a person continually does what is wrong or scandalous, it will eventually bring disgrace to that person and contempt from everyone who knows him or her.

4 Wise words are like deep waters;

wisdom flows from the wise like a bubbling brook.

If you have ever seen or read about an artesian spring that bubbles up fresh cold water from deep within the earth, then you will have some understanding of the word picture that this verse paints. Words from a wise person are pure, sweet, and refreshing to everyone who hears them. Wise words flow from a wise person like the water from a spring flows into a refreshing brook.

5 It is not right to acquit the guilty

or deny justice to the innocent.

In last week’s Wisdom Wednesday, I described a personal situation of a friend who was denied justice for 18 months although he was innocent. Just as wrong is when someone who is truly guilty is acquitted of their crimes. Both of these situations are detestable to God.

6 Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels;

they are asking for a beating.

It is fairly easy to tell when a person is foolish. These people will have constant drama in their lives and quarrel with others, even about meaningless issues. These people will suffer the consequences of their foolishness.

7 The mouths of fools are their ruin;

they trap themselves with their lips.

You have probably heard the saying that if you give a fool enough rope, he will hang himself. It is the same with their speech. They talk so much that they ruin their relationships with others. Their talk traps them in harmful situations.

8 Rumors are dainty morsels

that sink deep into one’s heart.

Just like a tasty piece of rich milk chocolate is a morsel that melts in your mouth and then slides into your stomach, we all are just as prone to consume rumors about others. If we make this a habit, though, it will impact our hearts as it spoils our love for others. Rumors can become like overindulging on chocolate. It may taste good while it is in your mouth, but you will soon feel ill because of it.

9 A lazy person is as bad as

someone who destroys things.

In most cultures, we think of a lazy person as someone who is not motivated. Solomon indicates that it is much worse. Being lazy is the same as destroying things. Through neglect lives are destroyed.

10 The name of the Lord is a strong fortress;

the godly run to him and are safe.

God is our rock and our salvation. His protection and strength are poured out on us so the enemy cannot overtake us. All we have to do is to ensure we are residing within that fortress.

11 The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense;

they imagine it to be a high wall of safety.

In contrast to verse 10, if we rely on our wealth to be our strong fortress then we will be sadly mistaken. It will seem like a wall of safety, but it can crumble without warning.

12 Haughtiness goes before destruction;

humility precedes honor.

This verse is similar to other verses in Proverbs. If we are full of pride, we will become careless in all of our dealings in life. It will soon catch up to us and destroy us. Opposite of this is remaining humble in all situations. Then God will lift us up in the proper time and setting.

The nuggets of wisdom that we gathered in verses 1-12 of Proverbs 18 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 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 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 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. I would also appreciate it if you would rate and review us on iTunes or Google Play so that others will find out about Wisdom-Trek and join us.

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 425 of our trek, and it is Tuesday and time for our 2-3 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 & Thursday.

So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from Arthur Golden who says, “Adversity is like a strong wind. I don’t mean just that it holds us back from places we might otherwise go. It also tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that afterward we see ourselves as we really are, and not merely as we might like to be.”

Adversity in life…None of us like it when we are going through it, but most of us realize when we look back on it that there is much that we can learn from those times of difficulties. The strongest trees are those that grow where the wind blows the hardest. It forces them to plunge their roots deep into the soil and cling to the bedrock that will allow them to stand strong.

In most cases, the taller the tree, the deeper the roots. So instead of resisting adversity when it comes along, and it will, learn from it, cherish the refining process, and send your roots deep into the foundation of your faith. As we are encouraged in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love.”

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged. 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 24 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 we will explore 15 Practical Guidelines to Live By.

We are broadcasting from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The day this episode originally airs will be Labor Day in the United States, which is a day set aside to remember the working class laborer who has been an integral part of the building our country. We will also be heading back to Marietta today for a week. Paula is having a few of her Charlotte area friends up to The Big House for a quilting outing and to watch the fireworks at Marietta’s annual Sternwheel Festival. Since Marietta is built on the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, sternwheelers and river traffic have been a big part of the town’s heritage. The fireworks display on Saturday night rivals the best displays anywhere. We usually try to make it to the festival when possible.

It is great to be able to get together with friends and family and share life together. This is usually fairly easy to do for most of us. What is not as easy is to treat other people well who may not like or who do not treat us well. As I was thinking about this, it brings to mind what the words that Jesus spoke that we refer to as “The Golden Rule,” and it motivated me to list some tips that may help all of us. As we break camp and head out on today’s trek let’s look at…

As part of Jesus’s teaching one principle that is hard for all of us to grasp is to love those who do not love us, and yet as much as humanly possible we should endeavor to do so. In Luke 6:27-31 Jesus said, “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you.”

The last verse, “Do to others as you would like them to do to you,” is considered “The Golden Rule,” and all of us like to think we follow it. But do we follow the verses that precede it? I love the simplicity of the Golden Rule, and a closely related verse that sums up the entire Bible, which is Galatians 5:14, “For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”

It’s true. The rule of treating others as you would want to be treated in their place will ultimately lead to your own happiness. Let’s say that you apply the Golden Rule in all of your interactions with other people, and you help your neighbors, you treat your family with kindness, you go the extra mile for your co-workers, you help a stranger in need, you even help those who have not been kind to you.

Now, those actions will undoubtedly be good for the people you help and are kind to…but you’ll also notice an interesting result. People will treat you better. Beyond that, though, you will find a growing satisfaction in yourself, a belief in yourself, and knowledge that you love yourself properly and are making an impact on your world as you are creating a living legacy.

The truth is, on a day-to-day basis, living by the Golden Rule will make you a better person, will make those around you happier, and will make the community you live in a better place.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at 15 practical guidelines to live by each day.

Notice how it makes you feel. Notice how your actions affect others, especially when you start to treat them with kindness, compassion, respect, trust, and love. But also notice the change in yourself. Do you feel better about yourself? Happier? More secure?  Or more willing to trust others now that you trust yourself? These changes come slowly and in small increments, but if you pay attention, you’ll see them..

Today on our trek we explored 15 Practical Guidelines to Live By based on the Golden Rule. Take time to apply them to your life and see how it changes you and the impact that you have on your world.

Tomorrow’s short trek is part of our Wisdom Unplugged series that we are now hiking on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These 2-3 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 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. I would also appreciate it if you would rate and review us on iTunes or Google Play so that others will find out about Wisdom-Trek and join us.

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 on Monday!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 423 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.

Last Friday we began a multi-week trek as we began to explore the teachings from some of my virtual mentors such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, and Earl Nightingale. As mentioned last week, the core of this trek will be 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 Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. After working onsite with one of our Marietta clients on Wednesday, we headed south again for just a few days. Paula’s mom has a doctor appointment and one of our nephews is getting married on Saturday in Atlanta, Georgia. On Monday, which is Labor Day in the United States, we will head back to The Big House for about a week before returning to Charlotte again.

As we trek back and forth between Ohio and North Carolina, we don’t want to ignore the practical application of these travels to life’s trek should not be lost. Most of life is made up of the daily grind of just being faithful to the small details. As we travel mile after mile, we can only make progress by repeating each mile 365 times, and so it is with life. You will make progress by living one day at a time and then connecting those days together while heading toward your intended destination. On our trek for today, we will take what we learned last Friday and begin on the first of five trails on life’s trek, which is the Philosophy Trail. So, let’s break camp and head out on the first trail of this extended trek as we cover…

Last week we invested time in camp preparing for hiking The Five Trails on Life’s Trek. Those five trails are:

Although all of these trails are important, philosophy is the foundation or primary trail from which the other four trails branch from. Your philosophy can also be described as your worldview or paradigm from where your thought process originates. A major factor in determining how your life turns out is the way you choose to think. What you think about is a choice that you make every day. Everything that goes on inside your mind in the form of thoughts, ideas, and information forms your personal philosophy. Your philosophy then influences your habits and behavior, and this is really where it all begins.

Since we are on the Trail of Philosophy, let us examine how your personal philosophy is formed.  Your personal philosophy comes from what you know and from the process of how you came to know all that you currently know. Throughout your life you receive input from a multitude of sources. What you know comes from school, friends, associates, media influences, home, and other places where you invest time. It also comes from books you are reading or listening to, and it comes from listening and observing throughout all aspects of your life. The sources of knowledge and information that have contributed to the formation of your current philosophy are virtually unlimited.

As an adult, all of the new information that comes your way is examined through the filter of your personal philosophy. Those concepts that seem to agree with the conclusions you have already reached are added to your storehouse of knowledge and serve to reinforce your current thinking. Those ideas that seem to contradict your beliefs are usually quickly rejected.

You are constantly in the process of checking your preexisting beliefs for accuracy or confirmation in the light of new information. As you blend the new with the old, the result is either the strengthening of your past beliefs or the broadening of your current philosophy in light of new and valuable information about life and people.

The same beliefs that form your personal philosophy also determine your value system. As a Christ follower, my philosophy has been strongly influenced by the truths and teachings in the Bible, which I believe to be God’s Word.

Your beliefs led you to make certain decisions about what is valuable to you as a person. Each day you choose to do whatever you think is valuable. If you decide to start your day at five o’clock each morning in order to take advantage of opportunities that will enable you to provide your family with more of the good things in life, then what are you really doing? You are doing what your philosophy has taught you is valuable. Conversely, if you choose to sleep until noon you are also doing what you consider to be valuable. But the result from the two different philosophies – from the decisions you make about what is valuable – will be drastically different.

We all have our own ideas about the things that affect our lives based on the information we have gathered over the years. Each of us has a personal view about government, education, the economy, our employer, and a host of other issues. What you think about these issues adds to your emerging philosophy (or worldview) and causes you to reach certain conclusions about life and how it operates. These conclusions then lead you to make specific value judgments, which determine how you will act on any given day and in any given circumstance.

You have made and will continue to make decisions based upon what you think is valuable. Whether the decisions you are making will lead you toward inevitable success or unavoidable failure depends on the information you have gathered over the years to form your personal philosophy. As an example, I believe in all areas of life your harvest is based on what you plant which I take from Galatians 6:7, “Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.” Another example for me is taken from Galatians 4:14, “For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” Based on this verse, if I do not love myself properly, then I am incapable of loving others properly.

Consider this analogy – Your personal philosophy is like the setting of the sail on a boat.  In the process of living, the winds of circumstance blow on you in an unending flow that touches your life. We have all experienced the blowing winds of disappointment, despair, and heartbreak. Why then, would each of us, in our own individual ship of life, all beginning at the same point, with the same intended destination in mind, arrive at such different places at the end of the journey? Have we not all sailed on the same sea of life? Have we not all been blown by the same winds of circumstance and buffeted by the same turbulent storms of discontent?

What guides us to different destinations in life is determined by the way we have chosen to set our sail. The way that each of us thinks makes the major difference in where each of us arrives. The major difference is not circumstance. The major difference is the set of the sail.  The same circumstances happen to us all. We all have those moments when, in spite of our best plans and efforts, life just seems to fall apart.

Challenging circumstances are not events reserved for the poor, the uneducated, or the destitute.  The rich and the poor have children who get into trouble. The rich and the poor have marital problems. The rich and the poor have the same challenges that can lead to financial ruin and personal despair. In the final analysis, it is not what happens to us that determines the  quality of our lives, it is what we choose to do when we have struggled to set the sail and then discover, after all of our efforts, that the wind has changed direction.

When the winds change, you must change. You must struggle to your feet once more and reset the sail in the manner that will steer you toward the destination of your own deliberate choosing. The set of your sail, how you think and how you respond has a far greater capacity to destroy your lives than any challenges you face. How quickly and responsibly you react to adversity is far more important than the adversity itself. Once you discipline yourself to understand this, you will finally and willingly conclude that the great challenge of life is to control the process of your own thinking.

Learning to reset the sail with the changing winds rather than permitting yourself to be blown in a direction you did not purposely choose requires the development of a whole new discipline. It involves going to work on establishing a powerful, personal philosophy that will help to influence in a positive way all that you do and all that you think and decide. If you can succeed in this worthy endeavor, the result will be a change in the course of your income, bank account, lifestyle and relationships, and feelings about the things of value as well as the times of challenge. If you can alter the way you perceive, judge and decide upon the main issues of life, then you can dramatically change your life.

Today we have just started up the Trail of Philosophy, and we explored how important your thinking is in the creation of your personal philosophy. If you find that your personal philosophy is not as strong as you desire then you will want to join the continuation of our trek on the Trail of Philosophy next Friday as we discover How to Develop a Powerful Personal Philosophy as we hike The Five Trails on Life’s Trek.

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 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 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. I would also appreciate it if you would rate and review us on iTunes or Google Play so that others will find out about Wisdom-Trek and join us.

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 on Monday!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 422 of our trek, and it is Thursday and time for our 2-3 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 on Tuesday & Thursday. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from Ara Parseghian, the famous coach of Notre Dame. His quote is “Adversity affords unique opportunities to elicit superior performance from hidden talent that would otherwise remain dormant.”

Adversity tends to become a refining fire in many people’s lives. When you are pushed and tested, your true resolve will become evident.  Talents that you did not realize were part of the very fabric of your soul will come to the surface and will be your strength. This new found strength will take you to new heights so that you can boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Every biography that you will read about a person who has achieved any type of success or recognition shows a life filled with adversity, trials, and failures. We should not only welcome these times of adversity, but find joy in them. Jesus’s half-brother James put it well when he wrote in his letter in Chapter 1:2-4, “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 is a wrap for Wisdom Unplugged for today. 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 Philosophy Friday!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 421 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 17.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. As we wrap up another month today, it is amazing just how quickly time does pass by. While it is very important that we maximize our impact on our world each day, it is also very important to enjoy all that we do and to take the time to relax, recharge, and reenergize. It is then that we can be most effective.

It is imperative that we plan, prepare, and execute effectively each day but realize that ultimately our dependence is on God to give us the wisdom, insight, and understanding that we need to keep moving forward and succeed in our endeavors. As Jesus’s half-brother James wrote in his letter in Chapter 4:13-15, “Look here, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.’ How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.  What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’”  

Never stop your pursuit to learn, to laugh, to love – maximize your impact today so that your legacy will continue to live on through the lives of others into eternity. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

With this in mind, it is time to head out on our trail for today, as we discover more nuggets of wisdom in the book of Proverbs.  We will dig through the verses 15-28 of Chapter 17, and the title of our trek for today is extracted from verse 22 and starts out with…

Let’s start in with verse 15.

15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—

There are few things in life more difficult than to see justice perverted in the courts of law, and yet it is all too prevalent in the courts around the world. I personally experienced this situation when a friend was wrongly accused on two different issues near the same time and was placed in the county jail with no warning. He did not have money to post bail, so he remained there for 18 months while his case went through the process during which the prosecutor continually tried to force a plea bargain on him for something of which he was innocent. He persevered and finally had his “day(s) in court” and was completely exonerated by a jury of his peers. I visited him weekly during this time, so it became very real to me also. While justice was finally served, and my friend was freed, it was a trying 18 month period. I certainly understand better why this type of practice is detestable to God.

16 It is senseless to pay to educate a fool,

When a person has no obligation or responsibility, there is less of a reason to try. If a person does not have a real desire to learn, even if you remove the obstacle of cost, this person will not learn. It is far better to have the desire to learn and the responsibility to pay for that education, for it is then that true learning takes place.

17 A friend is always loyal,

You will be able to tell who your true friends are when you are in times of struggle and hardship. They will not only be there to strengthen and encourage you but also to hold you accountable when you get off base. A true physical or spiritual brother/sister will be there when you need him or her most.

18 It’s poor judgment to guarantee another person’s debt

Debt is always a millstone around your neck and a weight to hold you down. Debt, in nearly all situations, is not wise. It causes you to become a slave to the lender. My advice is to be very careful to avoid any debt. There are very few true necessities in life, so do not borrow for non-essentials. It is very unwise to guarantee another person’s debt, especially if it is not an essential for them. Guaranteeing a debt for someone else is the same legal obligation as borrowing the money yourself, and you do not have any legal rights to what is purchased. If someone else can’t afford it, then they may need to wait until they can. Lenders will always attempt to get a co-signer for a loan even if it is not required.

19 Anyone who loves to quarrel loves sin;

If you are a person who loves to argue with others, it is an indication of a proud heart. You feel that your way is always right. This in itself is a sinful habit. If you are standing on the truth, it will speak for itself, there is no reason to argue your point. In a related thought, if you have to build high walls around who you are in an attempt to protect yourself, you are inviting others to breach those walls. This is human nature. Instead, stand for the truth, and high walls are not needed.

20 The crooked heart will not prosper;

The truth will always win out in the end. Although it does not appear to be the case at times, given time it will.  Those with crooked hearts will suffer, and those who lie to get ahead will trip on the very lies they propagate.

21 It is painful to be the parent of a fool;

It does strike to your very heart when your children, whether physically or spiritually, make unwise and foolish decisions when you have taught them otherwise. It is difficult to remain joyful when they turn away from God’s Word. We have come to the position in our lives that we will not allow the unwise and foolish choices of others to rob us of our joy because the joy of the Lord is our strength.

22 A cheerful heart is good medicine,

While I am not a doctor nor have I ever played one on TV, I was an EMT during college. Beyond that though, I have seen the proof in my own life, and in the lives of countless others that it is very true that if you choose a heart full of cheer each day regardless of your circumstance which is better than any medicine that can be prescribed, and there are no negative side effects.  On the other hand, if you do not choose a cheerful heart, your spirit will become broken, and you will lose your strength to live the rich and satisfying life that we are meant to live.

23 The wicked take secret bribes

This is all too familiar with companies and governments around the world today. Bribes are given and taken with little thought of recourse. We do see the perversion of justice on a daily basis. We can take heart that God’s justice will prevail in the end.

24 Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom,

Gaining wisdom requires daily focus.  To be a sensible person, you must have a passion and burning desire to gain wisdom. You will not allow the distractions of life to pull you away. Contrary to this is the fool who is always looking for something bigger and better. They will search everywhere but never find what they are seeking.

25 Foolish children bring grief to their father

Similar to other verses in Proverbs that we have studied, it does bring grief and bitterness to parents who have poured their hearts and souls into their children and then see them make unwise choices that will bring them harm. Your hope is in the fact that if you planted the seeds of God’s Word into their hearts that eventually those seeds will begin to grow once again.

26 It is wrong to punish the godly for being good

This verse may seem obvious, but in many situation and cultures, the good and honest ones are being punished. This is not right. Let us always work toward the promotion and encouragement of those individuals that are being good and honest, especially if they are in the position of leadership.

27 A truly wise person uses few words;

28 Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent;

Verses 27-28 are tied together and are a couple of my favorite verses. We do not have to go on pontificating about our opinions, wisdom, and insight. If we are truly wise, our lack of speaking will shout volumes. A wise and understanding person will also be an even-tempered person, not given to emotional highs and lows. To expand beyond this, in a rather comical banter, even if you are a foolish person, you can minimize others knowing it by keeping silent. You may even appear to be an intelligent person. This is so hard for the foolish and ignorant because they are usually spewing so much useless talk that it is obvious what they are like.

The nuggets of wisdom that we gathered in verses 15-28 of Proverbs 17 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 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 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.  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 this 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 420 of our trek, and it is Tuesday and time for our 2-3 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 & Thursday. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from an unknown author and says, “Adverse criticism from a wise man does more good than the enthusiastic praise of a fool.”

We all like to receive praise and compliments from others. It is a basic human desire to be accepted by others. While there is nothing wrong with the desire to be praised by others, you do need to get to the point of accepting yourself enough that your need for acceptance by others is minimized. Anytime you are praised by someone, consider their true concern for you and for your improvement. It is far better to receive constructive criticism from a wise person who has your best interest at heart than a fool who is only placating you or desires something from you. This quote may have been taken from Ecclesiastes 7:5 which says, “Better to be criticized by a wise person than to be praised by a fool.”  On the flip side of this, when you offer praise or compliments to others, what is your motive? You should always be kind, but have others best interest in mind. Be wise, praise when it is deserved, and disciple when it is needed. Be willing to accept the same from others.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most 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 419 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 we will explore the 10 Practical Lessons for Life on our trek and how to apply them.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. The weekend was full of activities and very fulfilling. On Friday evening we attended an open house at the small private school where our two oldest grandsons, Paul and Gideon will be attending this year. It is great to see and learn about the school and know that they will receive good instruction from a Christian worldview.

On Saturday, I was able to get the lawns mowed around The Big House and the two other homes my brother Jack owns on the property. I was also able to finish up painting a bit of exterior trim outside of the dining room. Saturday evening we attended our local volunteer fireman’s ice cream social in Devola. We like to support those who invest their time to provide us with fire and emergency services. It’s always a good time to catch up with some friends in the neighborhood. On Sunday we drove north to Cambridge to attend church with Dad and have lunch with him at The Cracker Barrel, which is always a blessed time.

The day this episode airs will be my 60th birthday. This is a milestone, not that I feel, look, or act my age, but because it is a time of reflection on where my journey has brought me to this point in life. I reflect on the impact that I have had on the lives of others. Looking forward, I am very excited to see how much greater of an impact I can have during my next 60+ years based on the experience, knowledge, and wisdom that God has granted me so far.

God willing and with the rapid improvement in healthcare technologies, it is very possible that I could live another 60+ years. With this thought in mind, although my occupation and duties may change through the years, the potential to continue impacting my world is virtually unlimited. Most of all, I want to enjoy the journey, wherever that takes us, as we keep moving forward. These thoughts motivate and encourage me and bring to mind some lessons to motivate you. As we break camp and head out on today’s trek, let’s look at…

As I reflect back on the past 60 years, I don’t dwell on the past or think about what might have been. I do use the experiences and lessons learned to help make wiser and more knowledgeable choices as I move forward. I cannot change anything in the past, but I can change how the future turns out by the choices that I make each day. The ability to think through a situation and make wise choices is imperative to living a rich and satisfying life. It would have served me well if I had learned some of life’s lessons earlier, but since that was not the case, it is vital that we take what we have learned and proactively seek wisdom, insight, and understanding each day.

One concept where we can assist our children, grandchildren, family, and others that we impact is to teach them the importance of learning how to think, not necessarily what to think. Critical thinking skills are so much more important than the memorization of content or concepts. As a Christ follower, I feel that it is very important to have morals and values as our foundation based on God’s Word because this will shape our critical thinking skills. With that said, here are 10 practical lessons for life.

When you use critical thinking skills, it allows you to think forward to the end outcome of any situation. If you are able to visualize the outcome of the choices that you are making when making choices in life, then it allows you to determine if the result of that choice is what you desire.

How would your decisions change if you knew today would be your last? None of us know for sure when God has determined our last breath. Would you live for yourself, or would you strive to make the biggest positive impact on the lives of those that you love? Yes, you do need to make long-term plans, but realize that you need to do what is important for today. Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

Every decision and choice is important. Make decisions and choices each day that leave no room for regrets. Even if you live well over 100, live in such a way each day that you leave no regrets behind.

This is the key element to obtaining and using critical thinking skills. Yes, you can learn a lot from others who have experience, knowledge, and wisdom, but your life is unique, and God made you for His special purpose. Do not become a lemming, instead learn how to think for yourself. It is okay to ask why and to question the premise of others. You alone are responsible for the decisions that you make.

Too many people are at a loss when it comes to making decisions, especially important ones. You may say, there is just too much stuff to consider. You may be thinking about all the “what-ifs,” worrying about the possible implications of your decision, scared to death because of the fear of failure. These factors influence your decision making. When making crucial decisions, honestly ask yourself, “What is the worst-case scenario that could result from this decision?” Next ask yourself, “What the best case scenario is?” Then determine whether you are willing to accept the risk of the worst-case scenario and if that risk is worth the potential benefit of the best case scenario. I like to look at it this way. If it does not result in the loss of life or limb, then you can recover from all other scenarioss.

You can second guess yourself on all decisions and choices that you make large or small. Make your best choice based on your current knowledge considering the potential outcomes, and then go for it. In most decisions we make, the final outcome is not all that earth shattering. Learn to enjoy the journey while on route to whatever destination that you choose. Remember also, there may be many different routes to the same destination. If one is blocked, choose another.

Perfectionism will lead to procrastination or paralysis. If you have perfectionist tendencies, you have to realize that done is better than perfect. While I am not advocating doing less than you are capable of, you have to realize that no one is perfect, so instead strive for excellence. It is much better to complete a task, even if it is not perfect than delay even starting for fear that it will not be perfect.

Many of our disappointments in life are because we have not properly managed our expectations of people or situations. You have to realize that it is difficult to control and manage ourselves. It is impossible to control others and many situations on a long-term basis. We should set expectations of ourselves high enough to stretch us but realistically enough so that we can achieve them. When dealing with others, it is fine to set expectations, but realize that you cannot control them and manage your response.

Regardless whether you live to be 20 or 120 life is relatively short, especially in light of eternity. Live each day as fully as possible so that you can have maximum impact on the lives of others. That is why it is so important to LIVE your legacy today! Don’t ignore death, but don’t be afraid of it either. Be afraid of a life you never lived because you were too afraid to take action. Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside you while you’re still alive. Be bold. Be courageous. Be scared to death of taking the next step, and then take the next step anyway. You need to make the most of today because in light of eternity, your life is but a mist. In a letter that Jesus’s half-brother James wrote he said in 4:14, “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.” 

You will be no good to anyone if you don’t first take care of yourself. By this I mean physically, mentally, and spiritually. Take time each day to renew your mind with God’s Word and other good and wholesome information. Invest time each day in prayer and meditation. Invest time each day eating right and exercising. No one can take your place in this world. We all have 168 hours each week, no more, no less. You are never too busy to take care of yourself. If you think you think you are, then you are too busy with tasks that are not as important. It then boils down to priorities, so change the way you think. Romans 12:2 tells us, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Today on our trek we explored 10 Practical Lessons for Life, based on my first 60 years on this earth. Take time to apply them to your life, as I will as I look forward to the next 60 years. Feel free to share your comments or questions by emailing me at [email protected], and I will get back to you.

Tomorrow’s short trek is part of our Wisdom Unplugged series that we are now hiking on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These are 2-3 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. 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. I would also appreciate it if you would rate and review us on iTunes or Google Play so that others will find out about Wisdom-Trek and join us.

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 on Monday!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 418 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.

Today we will begin an extended 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 this trek will be 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 proven to be a very busy work week with our clients. This included remote software technical support for a client that we primarily assist with financial work and a significant uptick in transactions for our construction projects in Arizona. This has not left much time for our podcasting related work although I did create a simple online program to store, search, and print the nearly 11,000 wisdom quotes that I have been curating for many years.

Yesterday, Paula and I celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary. I have truly been blessed with a wonderful bride who has brought my joy and peace into life’s trek, which is full of unexpected obstacles and detours. When you have a trusted partner to trek with as well as a solid trail map or GPS, we can avoid getting lost along our trails of life. Today we will prepare for an extended trek with some basic ideas and thoughts before we begin to explore the five trails of life’s trek. So let’s take some time at camp today before we head out on…

If you have joined me for any length of time on our Wisdom-Trek, you know that in order to journey through life in a manner that is rich and satisfying, that you need to not only accept change but embrace it as good. Except for the triune God, everything else in life changes. Hebrews 13:8 tells us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”  So for everything else, we must understand “the only constant in life is change.”

You may wonder how the process of change begins. Change comes from one of two sources. First, you may be driven to change out of desperation. Sometimes your circumstances can become so out-of-control that you almost abandon your search for answers because your life seems to be filled only with irresolvable questions. But it is this overwhelming sense of desperation that finally drives you to look for the solutions. Desperation is the final and inevitable result of months or years of accumulated neglect that brings you to that point in time where you find yourself driven by urgent necessity to find immediate answers to life’s accumulated challenges.

The second source that drives us to make changes in our lives is inspiration. Hopefully, that is where you find yourself right now – about to become sufficiently inspired to make major and dramatic changes in your life as a result of what we will share together on our trek each Friday.

Inspiration can come to you at any time and from many sources. A song can inspire you, a book can inspire you, as can an effective and moving speech. The story of someone who has succeeded in spite of difficulty can stir your emotions. Inspiration, from whatever the source, arouses feelings within you that rekindle hope, ambition, and determination. It is a momentary whisper of encouragement and reassurance that causes you to become aware of your potential. You sense a spark of desire, and your mind flashes from one possibility to another, each thought-laden with the promise of future success and happiness. In this fleeting moment when inspiration stirs your soul, you are either driven into action, or you do nothing – being content to enjoy the warm feeling that is within you until, at last, the warmth moves on, taking with it the promise and the possibilities.

Wherever life finds you at the moment, whether responding to desperation or seeking inspiration, I urge you to make sure that you hike our Wisdom-Trek each Philosophy Friday. In fact, I would encourage you to join us Monday through Friday to keep that fire of inspiration fueled to actually make the changes needed in your life. In the end, your life will be judged not by the things that you began, but by the things that your effort and resolve brought to a successful conclusion.

The inspiration that you will receive from these treks has the capacity to alter your circumstance. For these ideas and principles to make an impact in your life, you must take time in the weeks ahead to seriously contemplate the direction of your life, and to ponder the message and carefully apply the principles on our treks each day and week.

As we study our trail map in preparing for the trek, there are a few important and preliminary insights that can start you on your journey toward success and happiness.

There are always just a few important principles that account for most of the progress you make on life’s trek. It is these “basics” that have the greatest effect on your health, your happiness, and your bank accounts. This is not to suggest that there are only a few life-changing ideas that will affect you, for surely there are many. What I am suggesting, however, is that you begin your search by focusing on the five fundamental trails that we will take on this extended trek. It is these few among the many that will account for the biggest share of the results you will achieve.

You will never be able to master every aspect of life. To try to become the master of every detail of your life will only lead to frustration. Instead, why not go after the few among the many; the few that will make the most difference; the core trails that will have the greatest impact in determining the quality of your existence and reaching your destination?

As you hike the trails for answers to the rich and satisfying life, always be in search of those few major trails that make the most difference. If you master these basic trails, I can promise that you will not be disappointed with the results.

It is the basics – the fundamentals of life – that we all need to master. These are the same key trails for success and happiness that have existed for the last six thousand years of recorded history. There are no new fundamentals for human achievement. Basics are basics, and anything else is merely an activity designed to refine or expand upon those same principles. King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.”

In any attempt to improve your current circumstances, never allow yourself to drift from those Bible-based, time-proven principles, which have flowed from generation to generation in a steady stream to serve as the fundamentals for finding, developing, and living the rich and satisfying life.

As we hike these trails on this extended trek, I would encourage you to develop your own list of the core principles that make the most difference in your life to maximize your impact.

It is important to understand that the five trails that we will explore on our trek may not be the only five to the exclusion of all others. I am neither so wise nor so arrogant as to suggest that I have all of the answers and that my answers are the only answers. The principles or trails that we will cover on our trek are five important trails of life and are as fundamental to your success now as they were for preceding generations. These are the trails that have been hiked before.

Through all my years of study and experience, through all my encounters with both success and failure, and through all the conversations and associations I have had the privilege to share, it is these five trails that I have seen as primary in their capacity to produce life-changing results.

As with any strenuous hike, endurance is often the best indicator if conquering a difficult trail will be successful. That is why I mapped out these five enduring principles or trails as the “fundamental basics” that have proven to be the trails of success in all areas of life. I will do my best to guide as we follow in the footsteps of the lives of those who have done well with life’s challenges and opportunities by taking these same trails. If you are wondering what these five trails are that we will hike, they are Philosophy, Attitude, Activity, Results, and Lifestyle.

As with any strenuous hike, endurance is often the best indicator if conquering a difficult trail will be successful.

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I do not have the final and unchallenged answers for finding the rich and satisfying life. I will leave that to God. As best as I can, I follow His Word as my trail map for life. There may be others who claim to know better trails to take, but there are certain laws and precepts of life that have stood the test of time. That is why my best advice has always been to stick to these five basics principles or trails of life. If you follow along with me on our trek by investing both time and careful attention, you will see why I consider these The Five Trails on Life’s Trek.

Today we have studied our trail map in preparation for hiking The Five Trails of Life’s Trek. It is important that we prepare properly. Next Philosophy Friday we will begin to explore the Trail of Your Philosophy. 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 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. 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. I would also appreciate it if you would rate and review us on iTunes or Google Play so that others will find out about Wisdom-Trek and join us.

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 on Monday!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 417 of our trek, and it is Thursday and time for our 2-3 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 & Thursday. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from Maxwell Maltz, the author of Phycho Cybernetics, which I listened to several years ago. His book is focused on how important it is to incorporate a healthy self-image into your life. His quote is “Accept yourself as you are. Otherwise, you will never see opportunity. You will not feel free to move toward it; you will feel you are not deserving.”

If you expect to have a significant positive impact on your world, you need to be able to accept yourself as worthy of success and impact. We all see the world through our own paradigm or viewpoint, and if we allow seeds of self-doubt and unworthiness to be planted into our minds. Then weeds will flourish and choke out any potential good fruit that might grow.

One saying that is a pet peeve of mine is when I hear someone say, “I can’t win for losing.“ This is such a destructive thought to plant into your mind. Even with a healthy self-image and self-acceptance, we must continually pluck the negative weeds of doubt and unworthiness so that the good fruit can grow. It is then we will be able to see the opportunities that are presented to us so that we can grasp them. Let us incorporate a new saying in our minds, “I can’t lose for winning.“ God made us in His image to be like Him. We are worthy because God is worthy.

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!