Wisdom-Trek © - Archive 2

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 337 of our trek, and yesterday we explored 8 analogies of hiking on a tough trail which are similar to our trek of life. Today and tomorrow we will focus our trek on the legacy trail before we move our focus to knowing and establishing your life purpose through the beta version of Your Life Plan Blueprint Course.

Thank you so much for coming along with me on our daily trek through life creating, living, and leaving a legacy, which is accomplished as we grow in our wisdom, insight and understanding. While some of our daily treks span multiple days, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on.

If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, iHeart Radio, and Google Play so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We had a very blessed weekend as were able to invest some quality time with four of our grandchildren who stayed the night on Friday through late on Saturday. We had three segments of monster versus children battles, where I was the monster, of course. In addition to that, we were able to finish sanding the woodwork and floors in the parlor and will be able to apply polyurethane when we return in mid-May.

We had hoped to have the grandkids help paint the swing and fort set, but the weather was too iffy with cool temperatures and intermittent rain. We also made a late day decision to purchase two double and two single porch gliders and 12 pots of knock-out roses for The Big House in preparation for the Chamberlain Family Reunion over July 4th weekend. Nat and Elizabeth were gracious to help us deliver them to our home as Nat has a large pickup.

Preparation at The Big House for the reunion is part of the legacy that we live each day as the family homestead is very meaningful to all family members. We are blessed to be caretakers of the place. Legacy should be important in each of our lives. That is why for a couple of days we will focus on creating, living, and leaving your legacy.

One undisputable fact of life is that, at some point, we are all going to die. None of us is guaranteed another breath, let alone tomorrow or many years. Many people don’t like to think about it, let alone plan for it. Think for a moment if you would, what would you like your obituary to say?  How you lived your legacy each day and the impact that you made on others through your time, talent, and treasures is what truly remains when you die and will impact all of eternity.

Creating and living your legacy during your life should be solely to benefit future generations. The full impact is something you will never see come to fruition. Just like a farmer who plants an apple tree, knowing he may never live to taste its fruits, living our legacy is a gift whose impact you will leave behind without expecting anything in return.

Just like that farmer’s sprouting tree, living legacies don’t happen overnight—and they don’t happen by accident. They’re deliberately crafted over years of wise choices, hard work, and dedication. This certainly does not require that all your resources be forfeited while you are still alive, but it does require a mind-shift. You have to understand that you are not really the owner of your God-given time, talents, and treasures but caretakers or stewards of them for as long as you are alive.  There are some basic principles that are important in fulfilling your role as steward.

First, you need to really grasp why it’s important to live and leave a legacy in the first place. To paraphrase one of my virtual mentors Jim Rohn, “The legacy we first live and then leave is part of the ongoing foundation of life. Those who came before impacted our lives and leave us the world we live in. Those who will come after will have only our impact on them and what we leave them. We are stewards of this world, and we have a calling in our lives to positively impact the lives of others and leave the word better than how we found it, even if it seems like our impact is small.”

Living a legacy comes in different shapes and forms, requiring varying levels of effort and commitment. You may have the resources to leave substantial financial legacies to companies or organizations that will impact the world. As you create and live your legacy, hone in on where you can have the greatest impact and choose to focus in those areas.

Legacy is much more than leaving resources to an organization. Leadership expert John Maxwell summed it up this way, “Too often, leaders put their energy into organizations, buildings, systems, or other lifeless objects, but only people live on after we are gone. Everything else is temporary.”

Dr. Ken Dychtwald determined that, “There is an enormous desire for people, especially when they are older, to share what they’ve learned, to pass on lessons of a lifetime, to teach, and to feel that their life experience is being invested, even planted, into the field of tomorrow.”  Interesting is that there is also a natural, innate appetite on the part of younger generations to receive that this legacy.

Granted, conveying the accumulated lessons of a lifetime is easier said than done. In deciding exactly what you want to put out into the world, look inward first.

Start by identifying your strengths. The most obvious place to look is your career or life experiences. You are trained to think of your skills and talents as what you do at work, but if you think of them as core strengths instead, you can begin to see how they are more widely applicable. You can live your legacy of impact through your strengths. Living your legacy should be a labor of love, not a chore. It should be that natural part of you that shines out because it is who you are.

This statement is important because it not only sets the direction for your life but it also determines the impact of your living legacy and the impact of you will leave throughout eternity. It is part of your daily trek.

Our living legacy should be an example to others to follow as we imitate God as is mentioned in Ephesians 5:1-2, “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.  Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.”

Today and tomorrow our trek covers a focus on creating, living, and leaving our legacy. This is certainly important for us to grasp and apply as we move into an extended segment on life-planning, which will include the beta version of Your Life Plan Blueprint workbook which will be available for download. 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 so they can come along with us each day.

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 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!

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 336 of our trek, and yesterday we explored how to live an ordinary life in an extraordinary way. Today we will hike on a difficult trail where we will use 8 analogies of hiking and how they apply to our trek of life.

Thank you so much for coming along with me on our daily trek through life where our boots hit the trail with every step. Although some days may be difficult to navigate, we can use those days to help us grow in our wisdom, insight, and understanding. While some of our daily treks span multiple days, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on. If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, iHeart Radio, and Google Play, so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Life is full of unexpected twists and turns as our trail is sometimes obscured with obstacles that we did not anticipate. I seem to face this on a weekly basis. So, today our trek will cover…

As one of ten kids growing up on the farm, my siblings and I would invest many hours exploring the wooded hills, playing in the creek, and fishing at the pond which were located on the “lower 40 acres.” It was part of our life and fostered my love for being outside in the woods and hiking through God’s beautiful creation. With more years and maturity on my horizon, I have learned many lessons from hiking, both while I am on the trail and their analogy to lessons that I have learned in life. Today we will look at 8 of those lessons.

I have been known as someone who is a fast walker when I am heading anywhere in life, especially when I have a destination in mind. While hiking, I have come to realize that it is not wise to rush along the trail, especially difficult ones.

Injuries and nasty bruises will result if the pace is too fast.  A wise lesson to learn is to take things slowly.

This is especially true when going downhill. It’s imperative to move at a comfortable pace, making sure your footing is stable, and your body doesn’t push itself too hard. When you rush and misstep, those hiking with you might see your body roll down the side of the mountain. It’s not worth the injury, so be careful and take every step with care.

You may forget that the majority of a hike isn’t glamorous at all. Even so, I find just about any trail interesting to observe with its own beauty, but usually you can only see a very limited distance in front of you. The pictures of people standing in front of open landscapes with grand mountains in the background are beautiful, but it’s a lot of hard work to get there. When you’re rushing through a trail in order to get to the checkpoints, you miss out on a majority of the hike. There are many interesting things to look for, and the conversation of those with you to enjoy.

If you have ever been on a very long or strenuous hike, you know there may be times that you feel you can’t go on or finish to the next stopping point. When you choose to work out on a treadmill, you have the option to press the red stop button, walk off the fatigue, and go fetch some water.

When you’re halfway up a mountain, you have no choice but to keep moving, unless you’re equipped to camp out at a checkpoint. From what I have studied about hikers on the Appalachian Trail, they need to make a certain amount of mileage a day, or else they’ll run into bad weather when they travel from south to north, jeopardizing their entire journey. Strenuous hiking forces your body to reach limits you didn’t even know possible because you have few options.

Trail markers keep hikers alert and always aware of where their next steps are. Each trail marker is painted specifically so a hiker can see the next marker. This has them always looking up and planning ahead, seeing which turns to make next.

As a hiker and with life, if you just assumed that you are following an obvious path, it’s easy to wander off trail. This can be a very precarious situation if you do not have the proper navigation tools, such as a good map or GPS. When you are running out of supplies, daylight, or both, it is not a position that you want to be in. Plan ahead, and follow your plan.

Some people will argue that hiking, being such an active hobby, is the complete opposite of relaxing. Personally, I find there is nothing I like more than retreating into nature during times of turmoil and stress.

With hiking, the consistent rhythm of your steps and silence helps to quiet your thoughts. There is something special about being out in creation that helps to clear the stress and clutter of life.

If you have ever been on true wilderness hiking or camping, there are no showers in nature and no bathrooms either, so you quickly recognize the familiar and lingering stench that forms after a couple of days in the wild. As a true hiker, you own your own stench.

No one should feel embarrassed about not looking the best or smelling the best when trudging on a difficult hike. It’s best to embrace feeling dirty, and it’s completely healthy to sweat – that means your body knows to cool itself down when it’s being overworked. It’s impossible to look fabulous while you’re on an intense hike, and so it is with life. Sometimes you won’t look or smell your best, but keep moving forward.

Even on the easy trails, hiking in nature is an arduous process. You’re vulnerable to the elements, whether that’s baking under a sultry sun, getting drenched in a summer thunderstorm, or freezing in the biting winter. Because the weather is never under any control, you’re the one who’s forced to adapt. Be prepared, dress in layers, and expect the unexpected. Plan wisely, and never allow yourself to be in a situation where the unexpected could mean a loss of life or limb.

When you’re planning on hiking and camping in the wilderness for a few nights, you begin to understand what is necessary for survival and what takes up empty space. The only way to bring anything on a difficult hike is on your back, so bring only what is necessary. Experienced hikers know how to pack the very basics (weather-appropriate clothes, good hiking boots, tent, basic foods, etc.). As with life, it is best to pack light and not become burdened with things. You can quickly become trapped by what you own in life.

Today we learned 8 lessons from hiking difficult trails which will help us to navigate the tough trails of life. We do need to be prepared, and preparation is an important concept in the Bible as it is mentioned nearly 200 times. One of those is found in Proverbs 24:27, “Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house.” The tagline for Wisdom-Trek is “creating a legacy,” and this is very important to me. As we are coming up on nearly a year of our daily trek, we will invest a couple of days exploring legacy again, and then I will start in a series on life-planning as we have completed the beta version of Your Life Plan Blueprint Course. 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 so they can come along with us each day.

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If you are interesting in hiking, check out this great comprehensive article on Top 50 Long Distance Hiking Trails In The USA http://bootbomb.com/info/hiking-trails/top-50-long-distance-hiking-trails-usa/

This link is provided with permission by Brian Bradshaw of http://bootbomb.com

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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 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!

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 335 of our trek. Yesterday we explored how important it is to be living life with purpose. Today we will hike the trail of how to live an ordinary life in an extraordinary way.

Thank you so much for coming along with me on our daily trek through life where we weave the everyday occurrences of life and use it to grow in wisdom, insight, and understanding. While some of our daily treks are a multi-part series, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on. If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, iHeart Radio, and Google Play so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. On Thursday, we were onsite with one of our local clients assisting with monthly billing. Although we do like the structure and freedom of working primarily with our clients remotely, it is nice to be on site occasionally as it helps to keep the relationship strong. As it is with most relationships that we foster, it is about living everyday life together. It is the routines of life that foster the trust that is so important. Within the routines of our ordinary lives it is sometimes difficult to see how we impact others.

It is important that we do not minimize that impact as all of us have the capacity to be…

There are so many extraordinary stories out there about people who have overcome incredible and unimaginable odds to go on to do something even more extraordinary. I love these stories and am inspired every time I read another one.

Stories like Bethany Hamilton who had her arm bitten off by a shark while surfing is one. She went on to not only heal but to win several world titles as a professional surfboard athlete. She is referred to as the “Soul Surfer” for her strong faith commitment to God through her seeming tragedy. Another story is of Amy Purdy, who lost both her legs below the knee and a couple of internal organs due to bacterial meningitis. She too healed and went on to be a professional athlete as a pro snowboarder. Business Insider lists 15 corporate CEOs who have learning disabilities and overcame them to be successful in the corporate world.

It almost makes you feel like only the people with the really big, grand, unbelievable obstacles are the ones who can do anything extraordinary. For the rest of us, some days it feels like the biggest obstacles in life are just the mix of the daily grind. Whether that is your routine job, laundry, lawn work, dirty dishes, or playing referee between unruly kids, the mundane nature of it all is almost maddening. But, in the middle of this ordinary life, there are many extraordinary lessons of wisdom to be learned.

As we raised our five children to adulthood, our lives were a blur while we started our computer business, homeschooled the kids through high school, and were very active in our local church. Although we were very busy, probably too much so, our lives certainly created a hectic routine to our days and weeks. They grew up so fast, but within the ordinary course of our daily lives, we taught them to love God, love each other, work hard, and enjoy life. So, the moments that we shared working and traveling through life are absolutely valuable. Don’t miss the ordinary routines of life striving for something more exciting or extraordinary. Even if you can’t afford to travel much or buy things for your family, the times you invest enjoying life together will make your ordinary life extraordinary.

Just doing what you need to do day in and day out is sometimes hard. It’s faithfulness in the little things and those decisions and choices that accumulate into a life of integrity. It’s not exciting, and no one is watching to applaud your efforts. But there is a prize at the end – the prize of a good name and a life well lived. Rich relationships and meaningful moments all accumulate from staying the course, even when it’s boring, exhausting, and uninspiring, and you feel like throwing in the towel. Instead of throwing in the towel, pick it up, wipe the sweat off your face, dry your tears, and then stay the course and finish well.

When we think of world changers, we typically think of people who have discovered or created something that changes the way we live forever. – scientific discoveries, technological breakthroughs, or cures for diseases. I would like to ask you though, who has had the biggest impact on your life personally? Most people would say it was a family member or someone close to them, someone who was in their world and took the time to know, encourage, and love them. For me, it would be my Granny and my parents. They taught me to love, to laugh, to work hard, and to enjoy life. The people who change the world are the people who change the world one person at a time. 

As a family, we love to get together and do things together. When we were raising our kids, we invested most of life together through home-schooling, working together, and being involved in church activities. Even as our children are adults, we still love to get together and invest time with our children and our grandchildren. We love to experience life together. We always have a story of the experiences that we have had. And since it’s a shared experience, retelling and thereby reliving it, is rich. As I have grown older, I care less and less about having things. I care more and more about accumulating experiences. Experiences are life changing. Conversely, the shiny new things grow dull and lose their luster over time. Life is not about the stuff that we accumulate, but the riches of sharing life together. Scientific studies show that experiences will make you happier than any possessions, and they last longer. Within the course of your ordinary lives, create opportunities for shared experiences with the people you love. Then, talk about them long after they happened to continue to bask in the afterglow of wonderful connectedness. It is then you will realize that your lives are truly extraordinary.

Remember that the greatest things in life are not things, but the impact that we can have on the lives of others as we live our legacy each day. We have everything else that we need. As Peter wrote in his 2nd letter 2 Peter 1:3-4, “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”

On today’s trek, we reflected on four ways to make our ordinary life extraordinary. Life is not always easy for us though, so tomorrow we will hike a tough trail and learn 8 important life lessons along the way. 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 so they can come along with us each day.

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 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!

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 334 of our trek. Yesterday we explored how integrity is built over time by the choices that we make each day and why integrity matters. Today we will extend our trail of integrity and learn how important it is to be living life with purpose.

Thank you so much for coming along with me on our daily trek through life as we learn to live a life with purpose by growing in our wisdom, insight, and understanding. While some of our daily treks are multi-part series, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on. If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, iHeart Radio, and Google Play, so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. There are several loose ends of projects that I am attempting to bring to completion. Even with discipline and focus, at times I find it difficult to finish that last little bit. They are all important and somewhat interdependent with each other, which makes it even more difficult. When we have these competing priorities, it is important to understand and know your life values and what is really important so that you can create and live your legacy. That is why we are focusing our trek today on the trail of…

Some people measure success by the wealth they’ve accumulated, the power they’ve attained, or the status they’ve achieved. Yet, even though they’ve reached success beyond their wildest dreams, they still have an empty feeling, something is missing from their life, which is purpose.

In order to fill that void and be completely fulfilled in life, they are in a relentless pursuit but their soul is searching for something more. This type of person will be inflicted with at least some of these scenarios:

If any of these scenarios sound familiar to you, it may be time for a course correction.

For me as a Christ follower, I would never be complete without my primary focus on a life of faith. Although I have other purposes for life, the ultimate purpose is to bring honor and glory to God through my positive impact on the lives of others. Although everyone is different, there are seven common threads that bind a life with purpose.

People who live a life of purpose have core beliefs and values that influence their decisions, shape their day-to-day actions, and determine their short-term and long-term priorities. They place significant value on being a person of high integrity and in earning the trust and respect of others. The result is that they live with a clear conscience and invest more time listening to their inner voice than being influenced by others. For me, that inner voice is God’s Spirit working through me.

People who live a life of purpose identify those activities that matter most to them and invest the majority of their time and effort in those areas. Otherwise, it’s too easy to drift away in the currents of life. It could be said, “How we invest our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”

People who live a life of purpose wake up each morning eager to face the new day. They pursue their dreams with fervor, put their heart into everything they do, and feel that they’re personally making a difference. As James Dean once said, “Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.”

People who live a life of purpose put their heart into their career and in building relationships with friends and family. They also reserve adequate time to satisfy their personal needs. Achieving balance means living up to one’s God-given potential in all facets of life.

People who live a life of purpose have inner peace. They’re satisfied with what they have and who they are. To them, the grass is greener on their own side of the fence. As the saying goes, “The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.”

People who live a life of purpose make a meaningful difference in someone else’s life. They do things for others without expectation of personal gain, serve as exemplary role models, and gain as much satisfaction witnessing the success of others as witnessing their own. As the old proverb says, “A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.”  This is what living your legacy is about.

People who live a life of purpose cherish every moment and seek to live life without regret. They take joy in the experiences that life gives and don’t worry about keeping score. Dr. Seuss may have said it best, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”

The purpose of life is a perpetual question that has intrigued mankind since the beginning of human existence. Without purpose, it’s easy to wander aimlessly through life instead of following your North Star. Without purpose, it’s easy to squander your time instead of investing time by waking each morning with an unquenchable thirst to attain your mission. Without purpose, you could achieve remarkable success and still feel that life is passing you by.

Success in life begins with knowing your purpose. When you achieve clarity, you’ll gain a new perspective on your life. When you find your purpose, you’ll feel good about who you are, what you stand for, and where you’re heading. When you discover your purpose, an inner peace will replace the need to seek approval from others. You will be someone who is happy, motivated, and self-assured — a person with a mission. As Robert Byrne once said, “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” It’s never too late to start.

As I have referred to many times, as Christ followers we should live a life of purpose as mentioned by Jesus in John 10:10, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

May we be able to proclaim what the Apostle Paul said to his apprentice Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:10, “But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance.”

On our daily trek of life, let us know and pursue our purpose of our living legacy each day. Tomorrow we will hike a familiar trail as we learn lessons from an ordinary life. 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 so they can come along with us each day.

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 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!

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 333 of our trek. The past two days we traveled on a trail that presented us many choices as we consider the topic of why you always have a choice. Today we continue on a similar trail as we explore Why Integrity Matters. Of course, integrity is built over time by the choices that we make each day.

Thank you so much for coming along with me on our daily trek through life as we learn how to build integrity by growing in our wisdom, insight, and understanding. While some of our daily treks are multi-part series, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on. If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and Google Play so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We have certainly been enjoying our pair of hawks this past week as they fly in and out of the nest with additional nesting materials and food. They are beautiful to watch, and we are blessed to have such a close-up view. Inside the house, we continue to make slow, but steady progress on the woodwork in the parlor, but the end results are worth the effort. As I work on renovating the various parts of the house, I am thankful for the integrity used when building The Big House. In the same way, our lives should be known for being built on integrity as we hike our trail for today…

It’s not always easy to admit a mistake, persevere during tough times, or follow through on every promise made. It is not always easy to be mature, maintain your composure and not get angry when another person treats you unfairly. It’s not always comfortable to convey the hard truth or stand up for your beliefs. In a business situation, especially if you are a manager or owner, it may not be beneficial in the short-term to do right by your clients, to put people before profits, to distance yourself from a questionable relationship, and to maintain exceptional business practices. Without exception, though, in the long run, doing the right thing is the clear path to build and keep your reputation both personally and professionally. It is also the only path to long-term success and happiness. Your integrity always matters.  Here are nine foundation principles, or stepping stones as to why integrity really does matter.

People with good character and integrity can sleep well at night. They take great pride in knowing that their intentions and actions are honorable. People with integrity also stay true to their beliefs, do right by others, and always take the high ground. They would rather suffer temporary loss, if needed, in order to maintain long-term integrity. They realize that life is a marathon and finishing well requires that you run the entire race well.

People with character enjoy meaningful relationships based on openness, honesty, and mutual respect. When you have high integrity, people know that your behavior is reliable, your heart is in the right place, and your word is good as gold.

People with integrity command a rock-solid reputation. This helps them attract exciting opportunities “like a magnet.” People will follow someone who has integrity. Remember, though, reputation is how others see you, integrity is what you really are. A person of integrity will do what is right, even if no one sees them.

Psalms 106:3 – There is joy for those who deal justly with others and always do what is right.

People with integrity carry less baggage. They’re comfortable within their own skin, and they accept responsibility for their actions. They never have to play games, waste precious time keeping their stories straight, or invent excuses to cover their behind. They can love themselves properly because of their integrity, which allows them to love others unconditionally.

People who have high integrity can be more effective when they are in a leadership role. They have no need to pull rank or resort to command and control to get results. Instead, they’re effective because they’re knowledgeable, admired, trusted, and respected. This helps them trust their judgment without requiring ridiculous rules or strong oversight designed to force compliance.

Romans 15:2 – We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord.

People with integrity don’t worry about embarrassment if their actions are publicly disclosed. This alleviates the need for deception, damage control or the fear of potential disgrace as a result of indiscretions.

People with integrity set the standard for excellence. They live their life as an open book, teaching others important life lessons through their words and their deeds. They truly live their legacy each day.

John 3:21 – But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.

People with integrity live a life they can be proud of. They’re driven to make a difference and to do right by others rather than trying to impress others with extravagance. Their lives are a living testament to a life of purpose and meaning.

Having integrity is the foundation for a strong life both personally and in business. Everything else being equal, a person of integrity will be a better worker, manager, professional, and business owner. They do right by their family, friends, fellow associates, customers, and communities. Although it is difficult to maintain that integrity all the time, they know that long-term their lives will be stronger and better lived if they have stellar integrity.

Galatians 6:9 – So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

As we complete our trek for today, it is clear from the foundation stones on the trail that we have hiked why integrity really does matter. If we walk in integrity, God will grant common sense to go along with it as is indicated in Proverbs 2:7, “He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.” One of the foundation stones of a person with integrity is that he lives with a purpose.

Tomorrow we will hike the trail that will help us to understand what it means to live with a purpose. 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 so they can come along with us each day.

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 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!

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 332 of our trek. Yesterday and today we are traveling on a trail that presents us with many choices as we consider the topic of why you always have a choice.

Thank you so much for coming along with me on our daily trek through life as we choose to grow in our wisdom, insight, and understanding. While some of our daily treks are a multi-part series, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on.  If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.  You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and Google Play so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. On Monday, we were able to attend the funeral for my Aunt Mary. She was always special to us kids as she and Uncle Bill were at many of our recitals, birthdays, and graduations. They always made time for us and treated us special.  Aunt Mary continued to send us birthday cards every year, and with thirteen nieces, nephews, and spouses that was quite a feat. The choices that she made impacted our lives, and the choices that you make not only impact your own life, but also the lives of many others. If you desire to make an impact and live your legacy each day, it will be based on the choices that you make.

This is the 2nd day of our hike. Let us reflect on the subject of choices as we consider the topic…

Let’s continue our narrative from yesterday’s hike. If you have not listened to day 331, I would encourage you to do so before continuing on today. At the end of yesterday, I went through the 8 choices that I make every morning before I arrive at my desk, ready to work each day. What if I change choice #2 from getting up at 5:30 am to start my morning routine, and instead, I choose to sleep in until 7:30 am? I would have to grab a quick shower, eat a donut or cereal for breakfast, and then still be at my desk at or around 8 am. But, how would that choice, made on a regular basis, impact my life?

This one simple choice to get up at 5:30 am each day and follow through with my morning routine sets the entire day on a proper trail for me. It also allows all other choices, large or small, that I need to make for the day to be done with the proper mindset because I have taken care of myself physically, spiritually, mentally, nutritionally, and emotionally.

Through this simple exercise, you can see that there really are no small choices because the accumulation of small choices adds up to very big consequences, both good and bad.

Sometimes, you may not recognize that you do have a choice because the circumstances are daunting. They overpower you to a state where life looks like it is just a series of constraints, and you don’t see yourself having any power or choice over what you are faced with. It is to be understood that the choices you have available to make today may be constricted because of the choices that you have made in the past. Even with this realization, you also need to understand that tomorrow’s choices will be based on the choices that you are making today. It may require that very difficult choices and sacrifices be made today so that you will have the freedom to make better choices in the future.

You can either react in a helpless manner, which is still your choice, or you can gather your resolve to take action to obtain the outcome you desire. The first scenario will lead you to become a bitter, disjointed, unhappy person who gets a limited experience of life. The second scenario will lead you to live life proactively, making things happen and creating results you want to see. As with all aspects of life, the choice is yours.

Sometimes I hear people complain about how they dislike what they are doing. It seems like a badge of honor with them. I am convinced that some people just enjoy complaining or playing the martyr. Yet when they are asked what choices they are making today so they can have a better tomorrow, they come up with a whole list of reasons to justify why they haven’t been doing anything about their situation. In their mind, they think, “I don’t have a choice.”

To obtain success in any or all areas of life requires that we make wise choices in all areas of life so that our life is in balance. The seven areas of life where we need to make wise choices are Spiritual, Family, Physical/Health, Mind/Intellect, Personal/Social, Financial, and Work/Career.

If you keep thinking you have no choice over your situation, that’s exactly how it’s going to remain. You will always remain powerless over your life circumstances. You will be powerless because you refuse to accept and take responsibility for what you are doing. Your life will not change unless you take ownership of what’s going on in your life through the choices that you make.

When you recognize that your life is your life and everything you do is inherently a choice you make, that’s when a shift will occur in how you behave in your life. Rather than blame the external environment for what you are facing, you take action and become proactive in getting what you want. Rather than feeling victimized by your situation, you will gain power over it, one by one. Things will start shaping themselves into what you want them to be because you are actively working on them.

As we reach our plateau for our two-day trek on choices, here are some questions for us to ponder:

No matter how things may seem, you always have a choice. Only through accepting responsibility for that can you finally progress toward what you want.

Here are a couple of examples of good choices that all of us can make taken from the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 8:10, “Choose my instruction rather than silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.”

Proverbs 22:1, “Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.”

Choices, choices, choices – we make them every day.  Some are small choices, some are large choices.  All choices are important, so choose wisely. After stopping on our plateau for today, we will continue on our trek tomorrow and explore a topic closely related to the choices we make which is Why Moral Character Counts. 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 so they can come along with us each day.

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 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!

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 331 of our trek. Yesterday we reflected back on life a bit and shared advice for a younger generation. Today and tomorrow we will travel on a trail that presents us with many choices as we consider the topic of why you always have a choice.

Thank you so much for coming along with me on our daily trek through life as we choose to grow in our wisdom, insight, and understanding. While some of our daily treks are a multi-part series, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on. If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and Google Play, so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This past weekend was filled with activities both enjoyable and sad. On Saturday, I was able to get some work completed on the woodwork in the parlor as I am preparing it for polyurethane. The afternoon and evening we invested our time celebrating our oldest grandchild Paul’s eighth birthday party. It was a blessed time with two of our kids, their spouses, and five of our six grandchildren. On Sunday morning, we worshiped at church with Elizabeth, Nat, and their four children. In the afternoon, I was able to mow the entire lawn for the first time this season. In the evening, we attended the viewing of our Aunt Mary, who died this past Thursday.

It was good to see my cousin Rick and Uncle Bill. We are praying for their loss. My sister Rebecca and one of her sons Adam came up for the funeral, and it was nice to be able to invest Sunday evening visiting with them and my brother Jack and his wife Ann. Times of bereavement are usually times of reflection about the choices that we have made in life. On our hike today and tomorrow, let us reflect on the subject of choices as we consider the topic…

Have you ever looked at a difficult and unfavorable life situation and thought you are undergoing this because you “don’t have a choice”?

Have you ever said, “I have to do this,” or “I need to do that,” or “I have no other option,” or “I have no choice.” This can apply to anything in life, from your reactions to being in a predicament and solutions to small problems. The most common context I hear this phrase being used in is when people are doing work they dislike. As an example, they remain in the job because they need the stable income to support their expenditures and their family.

While you may think you have “no choice,” I think we would be wise to rethink this phrase when we are prone to use it. All of us always have choices, and we are making them every day, every minute, and every second.

I agree that you no longer have any choice or influence over what has already happened in the past. Those choices have already been made. However, you always have a choice in how you think, what you say, and what you do from this point forward. To use a gaming analogy, you can’t change the cards you are dealt with, but you can change how you play them. Some of the cards that we currently have in our hand may also be the results of how we played them in the past.

Let’s look at an example. Say, you are in an accounting job you dislike. You want to pursue your passion in starting your own business. However, you have financial needs and responsibilities to fulfill to your family, which makes your source of income from your accounting job very important. You are in your current situation, based on your previous choices, so in order to pursue your passion, you must make the choices that will set you on the path that will eventually allow you to achieve that passion.

You may think, “How can there even be a choice? I have to remain in the company. If I don’t continue working here, I wouldn’t have the finances to support my family and pay my bills. Any other options are just not practical.”

Of course, you have a choice, but all choices have consequences. You could quit your job today and pursue your passion. That choice may be irresponsible if your family is dependent on that income. You could choose to stay on for now because you feel the benefits of staying on the job outweigh the benefits of quitting. The choices that you could make in this situation is to downsize your lifestyle for a period of time so you can live on less. You can also choose to start putting money aside now and prepare for a time when you can make the change while still being responsible. This choice may have to be a long-term plan. If it is truly your passion, then it will be worth the wait.

We make many choices every day of our life that will impact us.  Some choices have become routines or habits, and we do not give them much thought.  To change your life, it starts with the small choices that we make each day.  Since I know my morning routine better than I know yours, let’s break down the various choices I make in a regular work day. It actually starts the night before.

Although it has become my morning routine and habit, do you see that everything I do each morning is actually a choice? Actions, whether they are benign or life changing in nature, are all choices we make. When you undertake a certain path in life, it is a choice you make.

Tomorrow we will look at the impact and potential consequences of a scenario if I make a different choice #2 and not get up at 5:30 am. Through this you will see that there really are no small choices because the accumulation of small choices adds up to very big consequences, both good and bad.

As Proverbs 2:11 tells us, “Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.”

Ecclesiastes 10:2 says, “A wise person chooses the right road; a fool takes the wrong one.”

We are continually making choices every moment of every day. Some choices may seem small and insignificant, but the accumulation of those choices may have a great impact on our life and legacy.

Tomorrow we will continue on our trail of choices as we begin the day looking at how the impact of one small choice change in my morning routine could have a major impact on my entire life. 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 so they can come along with us each day.

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 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!

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 330 of our trek. Yesterday we hiked the trail of accountability and learned why it is so important to take personal responsibility for all the decisions and actions that we make. Today we will reflect back on life a bit and share advice for a younger generation.

Thank you so much for coming along with me on our daily trek through life as we grow in our wisdom, insight, and understanding. While some of our daily treks are a multi-part series, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on. If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and Google Play so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We found out on Saturday that my mom’s sister, my Aunt Mary passed away on Thursday of last week. She was the last of the three girls born to my Grandma and Grandpa Burkhart. This did change some of our plans for the weekend, as we went to the visitation on Sunday night and will attend the funeral on Monday. Since we were already in Marietta, where she lived, it did not involve any additional travel for us, which we were thankful for.

Times like this give us time to pause and reflect on how short life really is and how important it is to live our positive legacy each day. Since I will be 60 this summer, I am reaching the age where I have gained enough experience and wisdom to be able to understand certain truths about life. If you learn these truths early, they will help you to live the rich and satisfying life that we are designed to live at every age.

So whether you are 5 or 105 here is…

God’s faithfulness in our lives is available with each new morning, regardless of your age.  As Lamentations 3:22-24 states, “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!'”

As we ponder this Advice for a Younger Generation, we realize that it is never too late to put this advice into practice, no matter your age. Tomorrow and the next day we will explore the trails that will teach us that you always have a choice. 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 so they can come along with us each day.

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 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!

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 329 of our trek. During the last two days, we hiked on a difficult trail that is precarious to navigate as we learned how to become comfortable with discomfort. Today we will extend that trail as we seek out what it means to have personal responsibility.

Thank you so much for coming along with me daily as we grow in our wisdom, insight, and understanding. While some of our daily treks are a multi-part series, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on. If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and Google Play so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We have a lot of projects in and around the house for this weekend, so hopefully we will make good progress. One special event is the birthday celebration on Saturday of our oldest grandchild Paul as he turns 8 on the 25th. It is amazing how quickly the years rush by.

The whole space/time continuum really makes my head spin sometimes. What seems like a few days ends up being years, and the opposite is also true. That is why it is so important to make sure that we are accountable for investing our time wisely to have the greatest positive impact as we are living our legacy each day. One trend though that appears to be growing in our modern world is the lack of accountability, especially when it comes to personal responsibility. Maybe it has always been an issue, but it seems that fewer and fewer people are willing to be responsible for their own actions in life.

That is why today on our trek we will explore what it means when we hear the phrase…

“The buck stops here” is a phrase that was popularized by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, who kept a sign with that phrase on his desk in the Oval Office. The phrase refers to the fact that the President has to make the decisions and accept the ultimate responsibility for those decisions.

It should be no different for each of us. We are ultimately responsible for our decisions. In other words, if you’re a parent, it’s time to act like a parent. If you’re a leader, then lead. If you want to be treated as an adult, then act your age. If you’re a politician, remember you weren’t elected to merely show up; you have a job to do. And if you’re not happy with your standing in life, don’t fault others. Success and happiness begin and end with personal responsibility.

Personal responsibility puts you in the driver’s seat to make the most out of your life. You have the freedom to choose the direction that you want to take, determine the choices that you’ll make, and decide how hard you’re willing to work to achieve your goals. The key is to personally “own” your life, rather than abdicating the responsibility to others. The fruits of your efforts are yours as well, to keep or share, to invest or spend.

Personal responsibility shouldn’t be a burden. It’s a blessing when you assume complete responsibility for your life’s successes and failures. We will all have our share of both. Hard work and commitment are required. If you want to lose weight, start with diet and exercise. If you want money for retirement, begin with a getting out of debt and committing to saving. If you want to be successful, you must possess the knowledge, integrity, work ethic, and determination to win. There is no genie in a bottle and “your ship is not going to come in” unless you build it.

Life is not a spectator sport, but some people sit on the sidelines and expect to be rewarded for the hard work and effort of others. If something goes well, they line up to receive the accolades. And if things go bad, they make excuses or find a scapegoat to pin the blame on. Life doesn’t work that way. If you’re not willing to make the personal investment and sacrifices required to be successful, then don’t complain when you don’t achieve success. Using the farmer’s analogy, if you don’t plant in the spring, don’t go looking for the crops in the fall. They won’t be there.

If you take a chance, and you succeed, you reap the rewards of your success. If you take a chance, and you fail, you have to accept the consequences.   There are no guarantees in life and just because you’re willing to work hard for something, you still may not obtain success.  Here is the key that you must understand, by accepting ownership rather than abdicating your responsibility, chances are you’ll get closer to your goals.

The fact is that the world doesn’t owe you anything. If you want something in life, you must work hard and earn it.  Even then, you must be willing to accept the responsibility of the outcome, good or bad with humility and grace.

To have the possibility of success begins with a positive attitude. Here are some principles to get you on the right trail each day:

If you want your life to be different, change it. If you’re waiting for something to happen, it won’t without your efforts. It’s not enough to think about what you want to do, or worse yet complain. Get up and do something about it!

One of the things that may be holding you back is a lack of self-confidence. If you don’t have the confidence in yourself, why should others? It may be time to invest in yourself so that you’re proud of who you are and what you represent.

What additional skills do you need to achieve your dreams? Take an additional course, or do self-study if needed. Find a great role model to emulate. Turn every experience, especially failures, into a learning opportunity. In today’s ever-changing technology environment, if you’re not learning something new each day, you’re becoming obsolete.

Think before you act. Then accept responsibility for your behavior. Remember, you own your choices. The decisions and choices that you make every day have consequences. In almost every situation, you are where you are today because of the choices you have made in the past. If you don’t like where you are, then from today forward make different and better choices and accept the responsibility for those choices.

Give everything your best effort. When things go well, accept your well-deserved rewards, and when they don’t, so be it. Get back up and shake off the dust. Don’t point a finger when mistakes occur. Admit fault, learn from your mistake, and then keep moving forward.

Everyone gets into a bind once in a while and may need a helping hand getting back up. That’s okay, and graciously accept it when it happens. Don’t let it translate into a life of dependency. If you break a leg, use crutches for a few weeks to get back on your feet. But you shouldn’t lean on the crutches forever.

As Vince Lombardi once said, “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” Accept failure as a part of life. As I said earlier, learn from it, and keep moving forward.

We will do well to take the exhortation from Paul in Galatians 6:4-5, “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.”

Let us revive the motto, “The buck stops here” and be willing to accept personal responsibility in all areas of our lives. This ties into our trek for tomorrow when I will share some advice I would give to my younger self. 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 so they can come along with us each day.

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 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!

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 328 of our trek. Yesterday and today, we are hiking on a difficult trail that is precarious to navigate as we learn how to be comfortable with discomfort.

Thank you so much for coming along with me daily as we add to our wisdom. Discomfort is a part of our lives on a daily basis. We are faced with decisions or circumstances that we would prefer not to deal with. Ignoring those times is not a real solution, so we need to acknowledge that it is part of life and make the conscious choice to being prepared. Learning how to be comfortable with the inevitable discomforts of life will help us to gain wisdom, insight, and understanding in our lives.

Every day presents us a new opportunity to learn, to laugh, to love, and to make an impact in the lives of others that will last for eternity. While some of our daily treks are a multi-part series, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on. If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and Google Play so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. It has been a steady week of work for us, as we are staying focused on the most crucial task while realizing that what we can’t complete today, if it is important, it will still be here tomorrow. This may bring us some discomfort, which is why we are continuing on our trail today as we explore…

Yesterday we focused on how many times we try to avoid discomfort. We came to the conclusion that if you avoid it long-term, the discomfort will be even greater. You may also miss the opportunity of making an impact on the lives of others. So, today let us move on and explore mastering discomfort.

The way to master discomfort is to do it comfortably. That might sound contradictory, but it’s not. If you are afraid of discomfort, and you try to beat discomfort with a really grueling activity, you will probably give up and fail and go back to your comfort zone.

Here are five ways to slowly become comfortable with discomfort.

Take a time for daily prayer and meditation as an example. It’s not really that hard. You will need to set the time aside where you are not interrupted. Relax and allow this to be a time of reflection. Try to be conscious of your thoughts and don’t allow them to wander. This may bring some discomfort initially, but give it time.

You don’t have to start by doing 30 minutes of something you’re not used to doing. Just do a few minutes. Just start.

Let’s use the example of exercising. If you are not used to walking, start with walking around one block each day for a week. The next week, walk around one block and additional 100 yards. Each week, push yourself just a little bit more than you are comfortable with. Soon you will become comfortable with the discomfort. Push yourself a little bit more each week.

Watch yourself as you get a bit uncomfortable — are you starting to complain – even if it just to yourself. Are you looking for ways to avoid it? Are you coming up with excuses? That is when you need to push yourself just a little bit more.

This is not trivial advice. If you can smile while being uncomfortable, you can learn to be happy with discomfort. It may take a little practice, but your attitude will change when you have a smile on your face. Repeat this practice daily. It will be strange at first, perhaps even difficult, but soon your comfort zone will expand. If you practice smiling while in discomfort and with different activities, your comfort zone will expand to include discomfort. Little by little, become the person that you are destined to be with your God-given talents and abilities.

Let me ask you this question, “Are you the master of your discomfort, or is it the master of you?” Once you learn to master your discomfort, here are 10 areas that you can learn to be comfortable with discomfort.

The primary reason that most people will not push past their discomfort is because of fear. Fear can cripple us. Within the Bible, there are over 350 instances where we are encouraged not to be afraid. One of those verses is Isaiah 41:10 where God tells us, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”

With that recap, let’s learn the lessons from our hike today to be comfortable with our discomfort. Tomorrow we will explore a new trail as we learn what personal responsibility means. 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 so they can come along with us each day.

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 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!