Wisdom-Trek © - Archive 2

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 317 of our trek. Yesterday and for the next few days, we are going to remain in camp around the campfire as we continue digging for the nuggets of wisdom that are found in the book of Proverbs. So far we have explored the first 13 verses of Chapter 10, and we will continue to cover a few verses each day. This section of Proverbs compares and contrasts bite size nuggets of wisdom that apply to everyday life. I know that you will enjoy it as we learn together.

Thank you so much for coming along with me each day as we explore and consume these “nuggets of wisdom.” These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy. 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 this podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. On Sunday, we were able to worship at our local church in Charlotte, which will be the only weekend this month that we will be Charlotte for church. After church we drove to Buddy and Chelimo’s home. They wanted to remove some of their rose bushes around their house, and we desired to have some new bushes to plant along the sides of our home where the original bushes had died. It was great to be able to invest part of the day with them and our grandson Kip. We transplanted 8 rose bushes, so hopefully they will take root and grow.

I love growing roses, and we use to have many rose bushes at The Big House. But, the deer love them also, so we have not had success keeping them alive there. This past weekend was primarily focused on activities outside of our core workload, but one that helped us to focus on what is really important within our living legacy.

As we remain at camp today sitting around the campfire sharing stories about life experiences, let us consider the thought of transplanting, like we did with the roses on Sunday. We become what we think about most, which is based on the type of information we allow into our minds. In order to change and improve, we must change what we think about. This requires that we remove the old thoughts and transplant good and godly knowledge into our minds. This is one of our objectives as we consider these nuggets of wisdom in Proverbs. Let their wisdom be transplanted in your minds, replacing those thoughts which are not good. That brings us to our starting point for today which is…

Let’s start right in digging for those wisdom nuggets in verse 14:

14Wise people treasure knowledge,

If you desire to be a wise person, then you must be willing to learn, to study, and to expand your knowledge. You must seek for it as if it were a treasure. One thing that I have learned through the years is that you cannot learn when your mouth is open, unless it is to ask a question. In contrast to this is someone who is always talking, expounding on their so called “wisdom” but is actually babbling as it is referred to in this verse. This person has a foolish concept of themselves. Since he is talking, he is unable to learn. Therefore, he will not make wise decisions in his life. This will ultimately lead to disaster and hardship.

15The wealth of the rich is their fortress;

In this world, there are advantages to having wealth. There is no other way to look at it. God never condemns a person for being wealthy. He just cautions us not to allow wealth take His place in our lives. Financial success provides us with many more options in life. The analogy of a fortress here has significance. A fortress was used as a means of protection from outsiders who would like to harm a town or group of people. If we are able to accumulate wealth, we should use it to help and protect those that are in need. It will not only be a fortress for us but can also provide a place of safety to those who are in poverty. Without that assistance, those who are poor will be taken advantage of and run into destruction.

16The earnings of the godly enhance their lives,

This verse dovetails nicely into the previous one.  If we are wise financially then our lives, and the lives of those we impact, will be enhanced.  As a wise person who is good and godly, the financial decisions that we make are based on the precepts in God’s Word.  We can invest our resources into the lives of those that we impact.   In contrast to this, if we are not wise with our financial decisions, it will be evident because our resources will be squandered on those activities that are not pleasing to God, nor in line with His precepts.

 17People who accept discipline are on the pathway to life,

Let me ask you this question. Do you like to be disciplined? I know I struggle with the concept of it, and you probably do also. It may be that our connotation of discipline is skewed today. To be disciplined is to become a disciple of another, who is a master. It is the basic premise of learning, of being eager and willing to improve, even when your shortcomings are pointed out. It gives you a plan and a way to improve because you know what the standard is for achievement. When you are willing to accept discipline, then you are gaining wisdom which puts you on the trail to becoming better. In contrast to this is the person who refuses to be disciplined, or corrected. This person will end up on his own trail, which will not lead to a successful life. This person will find himself wandering without direction or a plan for his life.

I know that we are slowly taking our time at camp, but there are times where we need to reflect and ponder these concepts so they are transplanted into our minds. This will allow for real and lasting change. There are so many morsels of wisdom found in the book of Proverbs. Let them permeate your thoughts and impact your life so that your living legacy will shine through for everyone to see.

We will continue with a few more nuggets of wisdom from Chapter 10 tomorrow, 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 316 of our Trek. Yesterday and for the next few days, we are going to remain in camp around the campfire as we continue digging for the nuggets of wisdom that are found in the book of Proverbs. So far we have explored the first 8 verses of Chapter 10, and we will continue to cover a few verses each day. This section of Proverbs compares and contrasts bite size nuggets of wisdom that apply to everyday life. I know that you will enjoy it.

Thank you so much for coming along with me each day as we explore and consume these “nuggets of wisdom.” These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy. 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 this podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. On Saturday, we met up with our daughter Janet and assisted in planting over 250 trees at a school here in Charlotte. This was part of the overall initiative from a non-profit organization called Trees Charlotte and was in conjunction with the Belk’s sustainability project. Janet works at Belk within their sustainability group. Afterward, we had Janet and Rowan over for lunch. Buddy, Chelimo, and Kip also stopped by, so it was a great time visiting. Saturday evening we stopped by Hobby Lobby to get Paula’s most recent cross-stitch project framed and also purchased material for the next two quilts that she is making. It was a relaxing and great day with family and not focused too much on work projects. Taking time away from work to focus on other important aspects of life is crucial in living a balanced, rich, and satisfying life.

Part of that balanced life is taking the time to gain wisdom through the study of wise information and following in the footsteps of those individuals who have proven themselves to be wise through a long life of wisdom and integrity. Who we become in the future is strongly influenced by what we allow into our minds today and who we invest time with on a regular basis. That brings us to our starting point for today which is…

Let’s transport ourselves in our minds and visualize once again as we are sitting around the campfire today. As we gaze into the fire, we listen in on the conversations of others that are with us today. Whenever we listen to others, we need to make sure that we filter what is being said through truths found in God’s Word. Only then can we make sure that what we are allowing to enter into our minds is right, just, and pure. Let’s begin with verse 9.

9People with integrity walk safely,

Wisdom-Trek is based on the analogy that life is like a journey. Each day we make choices that impact our trek in life. If we choose what is good and truthful, then we will be gaining integrity, and our walk will support our choices. You could say that our path will be straight and solid. If we refuse to make choices that are good and based on God’s wisdom, then we are in danger. This is like a traveler who wanders onto the wrong trail, one that is crooked and full of obstacles. This person will soon slip and fall, and it will be evident to everyone that they have taken the wrong path.

10People who wink at wrong cause trouble,

Contrary to the current environment of political correctness when someone ignores or winks at wrong choices, it never turns out well. It causes trouble because there are moral absolutes in our world.  There may be times where we need to offer a bold reproof so that the peace found in God’s Word can be restored.  Let us be careful that we are standing on moral absolutes, though, and not just our own conviction about a particular issue. In any situation, the greatest commandment is to love God and love others. All of our actions should reflect this.

11The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain;

When a person who is good and godly speaks, we should listen. That person’s words bring life to us. They are like water that pours from a fountain. That person’s words, like the water, are plentiful and good. And the person’s words bless everyone who listens to him. Ask yourself, “Are your words a life-giving fountain bringing healing to those who are hurting?” In contrast to this when a person who is neither good nor godly speaks, do not listen! Their words will cause trouble for everyone who listens to them. A person may say one thing, but their actions will reflect their true intentions.

12Hatred stirs up quarrels,

Hatred of anyone is a terrible cancer in your own soul.  When we find ourselves with even a tinge of disrespect, dislike, or hatred in our hearts for another person, especially if it is someone close to us, then everything we say and every action we take will be prone to arguments and quarrels. In contrast to that, when we truly love someone, and I mean unconditional love, then we look at that person differently. Love covers their offenses towards us. This is a beautiful line. When we love someone, we will tend to overlook offenses. We will not dwell on their mistakes. Our love makes up or covers their mistakes so that we do not think about their offense or offensive practices.

13Wise words come from the lips of people with understanding,

People who take the time to study so that they will gain understanding about life will also become wise.  They will gain wisdom, insight, understanding, and discernment.  They will not keep this wisdom just to themselves, but as they speak it will become very evident that they have obtained wisdom through the counsel that they provide to others. In contrast to the wise person, a person who lacks basic common sense will be like a stubborn donkey that needs continual prodding to move forward in life. Because of their unwise and foolish choices, they will suffer the consequences in all areas of life.

There are so many morsels of wisdom found in the book of Proverbs. As we uncover each one, let them melt within your soul in the same manner that chocolate melts in a finely made s’more. Let them permeate your thoughts and impact your life so that your living legacy will shine through for everyone to see. We will continue with a few more nuggets of wisdom from Chapter 10 tomorrow, 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 315 of our trek. Yesterday and for the next few days, we are going to remain in camp around the campfire as we continue digging the nuggets of wisdom that are found in the book of Proverbs. Yesterday we covered the first three verses of Chapter 10, and we will continue to cover a few verses each day. This section of Proverbs compares and contrasts bite size nuggets of wisdom that apply to everyday life. I know that you will enjoy it.

Thank you so much for coming along with me each day as we explore and consume these “nuggets of wisdom.” These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy. 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 this podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. I am making progress on a couple of our delayed projects and should be able to make an announcement about them soon. As I work on some of these newer projects, there is so much I would like to learn about some of the newer technology, so I have to balance what I am able to focus my time on.

It is good for you to take time each day to reflect on what you have learned and what you would like to learn. This will allow you to grow, to improve, and to make an impact on your world as you create and live your legacy each day. As we remain in camp, it is a good time to consume and then reflect on these short and concise nuggets of wisdom. As mentioned before, regardless of whether you consider yourself a person of faith, the common sense tidbits of wisdom found in Proverbs will apply to everyone. Let’s continue as we gain wisdom, insight, and understanding with each new bite.

Yesterday I introduced this section of Proverbs which contains 375 short compare and contrast statements that are actually poems in the original Hebrew text. If you missed yesterday’s trek, it would be helpful to listen to it to get a little background on Proverbs 10:1-3.

As we sit around the campfire today, watching the fire flicker in the breeze and soaking into our senses the wonder of nature, it is now time to share these wisdom nuggets to consume and reflect on Solomon’s wisdom.

4Lazy people are soon poor;

While this poem contrasts the lazy person with someone who work’s hard, it also tells us the consequences of both. This verse may seem somewhat obvious, but you need to personally ask yourself, “Which category do I fall into?” As I said yesterday, the proverbs are general principles for life, and there could be situations where this may not apply. Generally though, if you are lazy, then don’t be surprised if you are not wealthy. If you work hard consistently, with persistence, and are wise with your money, then you will become financially secure. There is a balance to everything in life, if you work hard but are foolish with your spending, then you will reap the consequences. Strive to follow all the principles found in Proverbs.

5A wise youth harvests in the summer,

This contrasting scenario is similar to the previous verse.  If you expect to have a harvest from your work, then you must prepare ahead of time, but also be ready and willing to reap the harvest when it is time.  You can’t expect to have a result from your work if you work hard and then you sleep when it is time to produce results. If you are not ready to work when it is needed, Solomon says it is a disgrace.

6The godly are showered with blessings;

In this verse, we can equate the godly person with a good person. A person that makes a practice of being good to others and themselves, will receive the blessings of living a good life. Keep in mind though that blessings can be many things in our lives and what is a blessing to one person, may be different to another.

In contrast to this, a person who makes it a practice of doing bad things, which can be immoral or unethical in nature, will usually make an attempt to cover up their true intentions. We need to have discernment when dealing with others, especially if we are aware of unsavory habits they are involved in. While we should be compassionate, we need to be wise also. A person may say one thing, but their actions will reflect their true intentions.

7We have happy memories of the godly,

The people that are good and godly will leave us with pleasant and happy memories, even when they are not around or even when they die.  Contrasting that are the people who have bad behavior or wicked aspects in their lives. This is especially true when it comes to their relationship with other people. They will not leave us with a good memory, and we will soon forget them because of their bad behavior. Let us make sure that we are living a good legacy each day so that others that know us will have happy memories of us and our interactions with them.

8The wise are glad to be instructed,

A sure indicator of a person who is truly wise is that the person always desires to learn and improve. The person is not hurt or intimidated when others teach them and instruct them. Even when he needs to be taught because he is not doing something correctly, he quietly listens and is glad to be taught how to improve.

Contrasting to this is a fool, which is a person who thinks he knows better than others. This person loves to expound on his false wisdom. A fool is proud. He thinks that he is wiser than other people. In fact, he thinks that he knows better than God. He trusts only in himself. A foolish person is usually one who talks too much, and in doing so makes a fool of himself.

We have discovered some great applications for our own lives from these small nuggets of wisdom. If we allow them to permeate our thoughts, we will see improvement in ourselves. We will continue with a few more nuggets of wisdom from Chapter 10 tomorrow, 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 podcast 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 314 of our trek, and yesterday we finished up a 2-day trek where we covered the 10 obvious truths that we soon forget about on our trek of life.

For the next few days, we are going to remain in camp around the campfire as we continue digging the nuggets of wisdom that are found in the book of Proverbs. We will continue where we left off previously with Chapter 10. This next section of Proverbs compares and contrasts bite size nuggets of wisdom that apply to everyday life. I know that you will enjoy it.

Thank you so much for coming along with me each day as we explore and consume these “nuggets of wisdom.” These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy. 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 this podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. With a little break from our intense workload of the last few months, I am back to planning and working on the projects that have been set aside. Hopefully, I will make some good progress over the next few days.

For now though, sit back, relax, and enjoy the fresh spring air around our campfire today as we consider the wisdom nuggets of Proverbs Chapter 10. Regardless of whether you consider yourself a person of faith, join us each day as we consume these tidbits of practical common sense. We all will gain wisdom, insight, and understanding with each new bite.

This is the second major section in the Book of Proverbs, which begins with Proverbs 10:1 and continues on through Proverbs [22:16]. This section contains 375 short compare and contrast statements that are actually poems in the original Hebrew text. Most poems have two lines, and each poem is one verse long. Each poem is called a “proverb.” Keep in mind as we work our way through these proverbs that they are not specific “commands” from God, but general precepts, that if followed will prove true.

The structure of this section is unusual. Solomon did not separate the proverbs into groups. The proverbs change from one subject to another. However, their order does matter. Solomon uses an “organic” or “natural” order in his writings. This order is similar to a conversation. For example, one proverb might explain the previous one, and another proverb might contrast with the previous one.

Together, these proverbs are like a conversation. Imagine as we sit around camp today that we are a group of wise people talking about wisdom. Each person in the group speaks briefly. We all listen to each other. Then, each person tells his thoughts or ideas to the other people. The conversation would be similar to this section of the book of Proverbs. As we go through these proverbs and you have some thoughts on them, please leave comments on each day’s journal pages so that we can all grow in wisdom.

We should desire wisdom more than we desire wealth. These proverbs discuss many different subjects. However, all these subjects start with the first proverb. This proverb is about the difference between a wise child and a foolish child. The difference is (of course) wisdom. So, let’s start with verse 1…

1The proverbs of Solomon:

A wise child brings joy to a father;

Just in case we were unsure the chapter reminds us that these proverbs were indeed written by King Solomon, the wisest person to ever live.

From verse one we discover several words in this verse contrast with other words. “Wise” contrasts with “foolish.” “Father” contrasts with “mother.” “Joy” contrasts with “grief.”

Without generalizing too much, when I read this verse it makes me think of the differences between a father and mother. When a child does well, in this case, makes wise decisions, the father takes great pride in this. Maybe even taking some credit for the child’s wisdom. In contrast, when a child is unwise the mother takes it much more personally as if there were something she did or did not do that made the child make foolish decisions. Going to the extreme in either case for a parent is not wise.

This is especially true as the child grows older and into adulthood. The child is then responsible for his own actions. Although we as parents and grandparents do continue to greatly influence our children and grandchildren, ultimately the decisions that they make, either wise or foolish, are their responsibility. Just remember to live your legacy each day.

2Tainted wealth has no lasting value,

If you obtain money illegally or unethically then it has no lasting value. You could argue that this is not true. If you obtain money illegally then you can still spend it. You can buy many things. We have all read about people who have become wealthy through illegal, or more likely unethical practices. Solomon argues that this type of wealth is worth nothing. We already have learned that the wealth of wisdom has far greater value than monetary wealth. Money is never more than a tool for good or bad…nothing more. Wisdom is better than money because wisdom will allow you to make the choices that will preserve your life long term. So if a poor man is wise, then he is richer than the wealthiest person who has obtained his wealth through illegal or unethical means.

3The Lord will not let the godly go hungry,

As we apply God’s general guidelines to our lives and as we follow His precepts, we will be taken care of in all essentials of life. There is an analogy that can also be gleaned from this verse. If we do what is right in life and business, we will be satisfied with what we have, regardless of whether it is little or much. If we do what is wicked, no matter how much we have in possessions, we will not find satisfaction in them and will be continually seeking more. This insatiable desire for more “things” is certainly evident in many Western cultures today.

What great wisdom nuggets we have uncovered today. Although it may take several days for each chapter, if our lives are changed by what we uncover, then it will be worth digging for. We will continue with a few more nuggets of wisdom from Chapter 10 tomorrow, 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 podcast 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 313 of our trek, and yesterday we looked at the first 5 of 10 obvious truths that we soon forget about on our trek of life. Today we will finish this current trail and explore the final 5 truths.

Thank you so much for coming along with me each day as we explore and consume these “nuggets of wisdom.” These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy. 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 this podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. It has been a steady week of work without being overwhelming. We are also putting into practice our commitment to head to bed earlier, so we can get adequate sleep – a required practice that we have put off too long. Being able to get more sleep might be one reason why the days seem less overwhelming…I will have to analyze that connection over time. There are many truths that we know mentally, but until they become a heartfelt conviction, we usually fail to acknowledge them or take action. That leads us to the continuation of our trek today as we look at the final 5…

As I mentioned when we started yesterday, we can hear truths many times in our lives, but until we apply them to our lives, they will not have any impact. There are ten fundamental truths for a successful life that become the foundation for a living legacy. We explored the first 5 yesterday, so if you missed yesterday it is advisable to go back and listen to it also.

Let’s get started today in exploration of the remaining 5 truths:

Life gets much easier when you learn to accept all the apologies you never received. The key is to be thankful for every experience – positive or negative. It’s taking a step back and saying, “Thank you for the lesson.” It’s realizing that grudges from the past are a perfect waste of today’s happiness, and that holding one is like letting unwanted company live rent free in your head.

Forgiveness is a promise – one you want to keep. When you forgive someone, you are making a promise not to hold the unchangeable past against your present self. It has nothing to do with freeing a criminal of his or her crime and everything to do with freeing yourself from the burden of being an eternal victim.

You will only ever be as great as the people you surround yourself with, so be brave enough to let go of those who keep bringing you down. You shouldn’t force connections with people who constantly make you feel less than amazing.

If someone makes you feel uncomfortable and insecure every time you’re with them, for whatever reason, they’re probably not close friend material. If they make you feel like you can’t be yourself or if they make you “less than” in any way, don’t pursue a connection with them. If you feel emotionally drained after hanging out with them or get a small hit of anxiety when you are reminded of them, listen to your intuition. There are so many “right people” for you, who energize you and inspire you to be your best self. It makes no sense to force it with people who are the wrong match for you.

It’s important to be nice to others, but it’s even more important to be nice to yourself. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. So, make sure you don’t start seeing yourself through the eyes of those who don’t value you. Know your worth, even if they don’t.

Today, let someone love you just the way you are – as flawed as you might be, as unattractive as you sometimes feel, and as incomplete as you think you are. Yes, let someone love you despite all of this, and let that someone be YOU.

Stuff really is just stuff, and it has absolutely no bearing on who you are as a person. Most of us can make do with much less than we think we need. That’s a valuable reminder, especially in a hugely consumer-driven culture that focuses more on material things than meaningful connections and experiences.

You have to create your own culture. Don’t watch too much TV, don’t read every fashion magazine, don’t read too many newspapers, and certainly don’t listen to the nightly diatribe of talking heads that spew propaganda on both the left and the right. Find the strength to fill your time with meaningful experiences.  The space and time you are occupying at this very moment is LIFE, and if you’re worrying about some celebrity, politician, or world leader, then you are disempowered. You’re giving your life away to marketing and media trickery, which is created by big companies to ultimately motivate you to think a certain way, to want to dress a certain way, look a certain way, and be a certain way. This kind of thinking is tragic. What is real is YOU and your friends and your family, your loves, your highs, your hopes, your plans, your fears…Live YOUR legacy each day. Don’t become someone else’s lemming.

Too often we’re told that we’re not important or that we’re just peripheral to what is. “Get a degree, get a job, get a car, get a house, and keep on getting.”  And it’s sad because some day you’ll wake up and realize you’ve been tricked. And all you’ll want then is to reclaim your mind by getting it out of the hands of manipulative media that wants to turn you into the perfect consumer that buys everything that isn’t needed to impress everyone that isn’t important. It’s a hamster wheel, think about it.

Embrace change and realize it happens for a reason. It won’t always be obvious at first, but in the end, it will be worth it. What you have today may become what you had by tomorrow. You never know. Things change and often change spontaneously. People and circumstances come and go. Life doesn’t stop for anybody. It moves rapidly and rushes from calm to chaos in a matter of seconds and happens like this to people every day. It’s likely happening to someone nearby right now.

Sometimes the shortest split second in time changes the direction of our lives. A seemingly innocuous decision rattles our whole world like a meteorite striking Earth. Entire lives have been swiveled and flipped upside down, for better or worse, on the strength of an unpredictable event. And these events are always happening to someone else right this second.

However good or bad a situation is now, it will change. That’s the one thing you can count on. So, when life is good, enjoy it. Don’t go looking for something better every second. Happiness never comes to those who don’t appreciate what they have while they have it. As Ecclesiastes 5: 19-20 says, “And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.” …and I might add let’s not worry about tomorrow either, no one knows what it will hold.

Today on our trek, we re-discovered the final 5 of 10 truths that will make for a successful life. Through these truths commit to the following: “Seize the day, make the most of every opportunity, and create your living legacy each day because when tomorrow arrives, it will already be today.” Speaking of tomorrow, let’s take a break and remain at camp as we dig for those nuggets of wisdom found in the book of Proverbs. We will continue with Chapter 10, which is a series of short contrasting statements that contain some real great insights for 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 podcast 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 this 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 312 of our trek, and yesterday we discovered the rest stops for reflection on the Trail of Hardship. Today and tomorrow we look for the 10 obvious truths that we soon forget about on our trek of life.

Thank you so much for coming along with me each day as we explore and consume these “nuggets of wisdom.” These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy. 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 this podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The workload this week has been busier than expected as we provide remote software technical support for one of our clients. This has impacted some of the progress that we hoped to make. We hope to gain additional ground the remainder of this week with some of our other projects. Each day I strive to gain new information so that I can be continually improving. Certainly some days I make a lot more progress than others. Much of what I read, study, and learn is actually information that I have come across in the past, but it did not stick with me long term.

Today and tomorrow on our trek we will visit or likely revisit the…

You know how you can hear something a hundred times in a hundred different ways before it finally gets through to you? The ten truths that we will visit over the next two days fall firmly into that category. These are life lessons that many of us likely learned years ago and have been reminded of ever since, but for whatever reason, haven’t fully grasped. This, my friends, is my attempt at helping all of us, myself included, “get it” and “remember it” once and for all…

We know deep down that life is short and that death will happen to all of us eventually, and yet we are infinitely surprised when it happens to someone we know. It’s like walking up a flight of stairs with a distracted mind and misjudging the final step. You expected there to be one more stair than there is and so you find yourself off balance for a moment before your mind shifts back to the present moment and how the world really is.

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, and then take the next step anyway. James 4:14 tells us, “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.”

Your life is yours alone. Others can try to persuade you, but they can’t decide for you. They can walk with you but not in your shoes. So make sure the path you decide to walk aligns with your own life purpose, intuition, and desires. Don’t be scared to switch trails or create a new one when it makes sense.  truths

Remember, it’s always better to be at the bottom of the ladder you want to climb than the top of the one you don’t. Be productive and patient. And, realize that patience is not about waiting, but the ability to keep a good attitude while working hard for what you believe in. This is your life, and it is made up entirely of your choices. May your actions speak louder than your words. May your life preach louder than your lips. May your success be your noise in the end.

If life only teaches you one thing, let it be that taking a passionate leap is always worth it. Even if you have no idea where you’re going to land, be brave enough to step up to the edge of the unknown and listen to your heart.

Busyness isn’t a virtue, nor is it something to respect. Though we all have seasons of crazy schedules, very few of us have a legitimate need to be busy ALL the time. We simply don’t know how to live within our means, prioritize properly, and say no when we should.

Being busy rarely equates to productivity these days. Just take a quick look at our schedules. Our busyness overshadows our productivity by a wide margin. We are rushing all over the place and running late much of the time. We’re heading to work, conferences, meetings, social engagements, and sports events. We barely have enough free time for family get-togethers, and we rarely get enough sleep. Yet, emails are shooting out of our smartphones like machine gun bullets, and our day planners are jammed to the brim with obligations. Our busy schedule gives us an elevated sense of importance. But it’s all an illusion. We are like hamsters running on a wheel, getting nowhere fast.

Though being busy can make us feel more alive than anything else for a moment, the sensation is not sustainable long term. We will inevitably, whether tomorrow or on our deathbed, come to wish that we spent less time in the buzz of busyness and more time actually living a purposeful life.

Many mistakes are unavoidable. Learn to forgive yourself. It’s not a problem to make them. It’s only a problem if you never learn from them.

If you’re too afraid of failure, you can’t possibly do what needs to be done to be successful. The solution to this problem is making friends with failure. You want to know the difference between a master and an apprentice? The master has failed more times than the apprentice has even tried. Behind every great piece of art is a thousand failed attempts to make it, but these attempts are simply never shown to us.

Bottom line: Just because it’s not happening now, doesn’t mean it never will.  Sometimes things have to go very wrong before they can be right.

Success never comes to look for you while you wait around thinking about it.

You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do. Knowledge is basically useless without action. Good things don’t come to those who wait; they come to those who work on meaningful goals. Ask yourself what’s really important and then have the courage to build your life around your answer. And remember, if you wait until you feel 100% ready to begin, you’ll likely be waiting the rest of your life.

Today on our trek, we re-discovered the first 5 of 10 truths that will make for a successful life. Tomorrow we will finish this trail as we uncover the remaining 5 truths. So, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

That will finish our podcast 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 this 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 311 of our trek, and yesterday we discovered the 10 Principles for Sustained Success. Don’t forget to apply them as you seek success in any area of life. Even when we are successful, there are days and sometimes even seasons of our life that are difficult. This may be based on our choices, or it could be completely out of our control. Today we will hike that rough trail, which you or someone you know, may be on at this moment which is the Trail of Hardship.

Thank you so much for coming along with me each day as we explore and consume these “nuggets of wisdom.”  These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy. 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 this podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. We do have a fairly open schedule this week without a lot of outside activities or extra demands on our time, so we are hopeful that we will be able to focus on some additional project work that has been delayed. This will include more work on the Wisdom-Trek volumes and Your Life Plan Blueprint.

Since we do have a difficult trail to conquer today, let us set out to look for those resting spots along the way where we can sit and reflect, where we can see that the sun is still shining through the thick growth of the forest, and where we can gain the strength needed to continue on even when the path is scattered with rocks, limbs, washouts, and other obstacles. Today we want to effectively navigate…

We’ve all had days (and maybe even years) when life just doesn’t seem to be going our way! Paula and I have certainly had our seasons of life where we have had to go through stormy nights and deep valleys. This hasn’t been in our relationship with each other but usually focused on our businesses. During the past 35 years as entrepreneurs, we have personally sacrificed and worked very hard to build our businesses.

We have seen success, but there have been downturns also. We have endured storms that have rushed in where within a short period of time years of labor and sacrifice have been washed away. A couple of times this was because of decisions that we made, which at the time seemed okay, but later proved not to be wise. At other times though, economic situations completely out of our control were the factor. This has certainly given us the insight to make sure we do not judge others that may be struggling, as you never really know what someone else may be going through.

Have you ever been on The Trail of Hardship where there have been long seasons of life when you felt like nothing was working and everything was out of whack? How about those frustrating days when you just can’t seem to get anything accomplished and for every step up the trail you take, you slip back two steps?

In the grand scheme of things, a stressful day doesn’t impact life or eternity all that much, but in those longer seasons of joblessness, sickness, financial stress, marital strain, and other ongoing life events, the stress and frustration can seem overwhelming. I think we can all relate to this in some form or fashion. So the question today is, how do we handle those trails of hardship? On the trail today, we have four rest stops where we can reflect on those challenging seasons of life. Struggles in life are inevitable, but destruction is optional. As a Christ follower, I gain my strength through the promises in God’s Word.

We can’t always control what happens to us, but we can always control how we choose to respond. In those moments when I choose to stop complaining and instead give thanks to God for the good in my life, the parts that seem bad start to seem much less significant. Choose to keep a positive attitude and thankful heart regardless of what you’re going through. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Every difficulty in your life, whether big or small, is something God will use to produce more strength, faith, and perseverance in you if you let Him! All your pain has a purpose. Romans 8:26-28 reminds, “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

God’s plans are almost always different from our plans, but His plans are always perfect! Have the patience to wait on His timing instead of forcing your own agenda. Jeremiah 29:11-13 says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.'”

You may feel like you’re going through this struggle all alone, but from the moment you ask Jesus to bring you into God’s family, He will be by your side to the end. So, never lose hope! Deuteronomy 31:6, “So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

Sometimes our Trail of Hardship is actually our unmet expectations, especially financially. Let us make sure we keep focused on what is eternally important. Regardless of the struggle, we can draw strength from the words written in Hebrews 13:5-6, “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, ‘I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.’  So we can say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?’”

Along our trek for today, we have found four resting spots to give us strength and encouragement when we do find ourselves on the Trail of Hardship. Tomorrow and the next day we will search for the 10 Painfully Obvious Truths that are Soon Forgotten. 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 podcast 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 310 of our trek, and yesterday on our trek, we will discover “5 Tips to Navigate Life’s Transitions.” Today we will dig for nuggets of wisdom as we discover the 10 Principles for Sustained Success.

Thank you so much for coming along with me each day as we explore and consume these “nuggets of wisdom.” These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy. 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 this podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our work week is starting off strong with the last couple of personal tax returns that we must complete. Our construction project in Mesa, Arizona, is coming along well although there are a lot of details tracking the project on a timely basis. It is our desire as more project ramp up in Arizona that we are able to spend more time on site, but for now, we will continue with most of our work remotely.

As with any major project, it does require a lot of hard work and coordination to be successful. With a construction project you must follow the blueprints for it to be completed successfully. In the same way there are certain God-given principles or laws in life that if followed will lead to a successful outcome. The same is true for a successful trek in life, we must stay on the trail to reach a successful destination. Today we will explore the…

On life’s daily trek you will run into a number of challenges along your journey. You will likely also run into advice from virtually every person or resource imaginable. I have discovered that no matter what your goals are, what your life’s calling is, or what you are looking to achieve, there are some basic principles that always apply. Here are the 10 that I find most important.

Along your journey, chances are you will have plenty of people telling you what you can’t do. In fact, you may be one of the people telling yourself that something is impossible. Aim big, you are capable of achieving just about anything, even what you thought was impossible, no matter what anyone says. There is always an investment of time, talent, and resources to achieve what you desire, so the question you have to settle is to determine if you are willing to make that investment. There is always a price to pay but always believe in yourself and never give up. My years of experience have proven to me we are all capable of achieving more than we think.

We all fail, and chances are you will fail a lot before you find any measure of success. The key to finding the success you seek is not giving up when these failures come around. Pick yourself back up and keep working. It will pay off in the end.

You aren’t going to achieve success overnight.  There is no such thing as an overnight success. In fact, you may not see significant progress for a few weeks, a few months, or sometimes even years. Real, sustainable success takes time and it happens slowly.

There are many people who become financially successful and do not live a rich and satisfying life. They are slaves to their success, their possessions, and their obligations. Seek true success in life that provides you with the freedom to be able to have choices in life. The more choices you have, the more impact that you have on your world.

There will be times when circumstances beyond your control will cause you to lose money, possessions, and even status. This is not a reason to quit. One thing that you should never lose is that which is most important. Your experience, your integrity, your positive impact on others through your example are the only things that are truly lasting. You can lose. In fact, you can lose a lot of material items, just don’t lose everything by giving up.

Life can be tough at times. It’s overwhelming, and it’s hard. Never lose control of your emotions. Keep them in check, so a cooler head can always prevail.

You will be wrong at some point or another in your journey. No one is ever right 100 percent of the time. Don’t be afraid to be wrong, and take some risks. They may pay off in the end, or they may not. But, either way, it is OK. You become successful through the experiences you are gaining.

The level of success you achieve depends entirely on your individual commitment. As mentioned earlier, to achieve success in any area of life requires that you be willing to make an investment of time, talent, and resources.  If you are not reaching the success you think you deserve, chances are you are not committed enough to your goals to make the investment needed.

You must never stop learning and improving. Even when you think you have achieved a desirable level of success, there is always room to work more, achieve more, and improve more. Stretch and grow so that you can have a greater impact on others as you live your legacy each day.

Financial freedom is a powerful thing, but it is important to remember it shouldn’t only be your end goal. Financial freedom provides us with more choices. Those choices allow us to have the freedom to have a greater impact on our world.  No matter where you are from or what you are working on, people all over the globe, want one thing: to love and be loved. Love is the most important thing to share with the world, and financial freedom allows you to provide love and happiness to others in a real way. Work toward financial freedom not so you can buy things but so you can have the time, energy and resources needed to share love and happiness with others and to have a greater impact by spending quality time with those who matter most.

As you seek for, pursue and obtain success in all areas of life keep in perspective what is most important as Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:31-34, “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

Along our trek for today, we discovered the 10 Principles for Success and what is most important when success is achieved. Tomorrow we will reflect on the four truths when life is difficult. 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 podcast 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 309 of our trek, and yesterday we visited the 6 essential waypoints to live a better life. Today on our trek, we will discover “5 Tips to Navigate Life’s Transitions.”

Thank you so much for coming along with me each day as we explore and consume these “nuggets of wisdom.” These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy.  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 this podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. On Sunday, we headed back south to our Indian Trail, North Carolina home. We dropped our grandson Kip off at his parents in Charlotte and did our weekly grocery shopping before arriving home. We will be at Home2 for a little less than two weeks before heading back to Marietta in mid-April. There is a transition for us each time as we travel back and forth every month, but we realize that life is full of transitions. And, we are thankful for being able to do the type of work that is location independent.

Thinking about transitions, certain seasons of life brings with it major transitions, and today we will explore the…

Change is inevitable and at times, those changes come in the form of major life transitions. Sometimes the transitions we face are welcome and joyous, such as graduating, getting married, having a new baby, starting a business, or moving to a new house. We feel excited about the possibilities ahead and look forward to the positive changes these events will bring to our lives.

However, transitions we don’t want or didn’t ask for often come our way as well. Divorce, losing a job, a business failure, sudden illness or injury, and the loss of a loved one are all examples of major transitions that do not initially appear favorable or desired. These changes can leave us feeling understandably angry, anxious, and depressed.

Regardless of the circumstances, navigating any kind of life transition often causes us to feel like a fish out of water. It leaves us in an awkward emotional place that demands us to respond in new ways and possibly even adapt to a different way of life. We often long for the way things used to be. Here are some tips for navigating these unfamiliar times and creating a new “normal.”

Be honest with yourself about how the transition affects your daily life, old patterns, and routines. When we are unable to rely on our former expectations or daily routines, it can leave us feeling unstable and overwhelmed. Fighting the transitions that occur in our lives can cause greater frustration and keep us from adapting to its new aspects.

Any life transition, whether wanted or unwanted, leaves us with many conflicting emotions. A new baby is a joyful and exciting addition to life, but can also make new parents feel anxious and overwhelmed until settling into new routines and ways of life with the child.

Feelings of excitement, anxiety, depression, and anger are common when adapting to life transitions. Additionally, it is natural to have feelings of grief and loss as we move forward in life and leave things behind. It’s healthy to feel all of the feelings that occur with any of these transitions. Even so, it’s important to move through these emotions and not get “stuck” in the anger, anxiety, or depression for too long.

Navigating any major transition can be stressful and impact us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Make sure to get proper devotional time, rest, nutrition, and exercise; this can be a great way to lay a healthy foundation.

Know when it’s time to take a break, do something fun, or go out with friends. Or, joining a small group Bible study can give us balance when stuck in a place of uncertainty. Having realistic expectations and timeframes for the transitions can serve as a reminder to take it one day at a time.

When it feels like life has been flipped upside down and is no longer recognizable, it is easy to look only at the loss or the negative aspects of the transition. However, these times of transition can also be great opportunities to explore new things in your life.

Times of change are a great chance to meet different people, try new things, use your skills in a unique way, or step back and re-prioritize your life. You may get a new and better job, start a business based on your experience and expertise, or form relationships with new friends. Whatever the case may be, looking for the new opportunities can help the makeover of your life be positive.

It’s hard to do it all alone. Leaning on others and learning from others can give the moral support you need to feel more grounded and to move on from the transition. Friends, family, church, small group Bible studies, or a professional can help support you during this time of upheaval. Don’t be afraid to ask for help; be specific with what you need and how you can be best supported during this time. If you feel stuck in the loss, anger, anxiety or depression that comes with life transitions, find a pastor, counselor, or other professional who can help you with the emotional and spiritual stress of moving on.

Letting go of the old and embracing the new in life transitions can be hard. At times, it may feel like things will never be normal again. While the circumstances are often different, doing the hard work of letting go and moving on can bring about positive results with time.

Getting support and looking for opportunities in these times can provide us with the ability to grow in previously unimaginable ways. Finally, it’s important to be patient and remember this season of life will not last forever. The transitions we struggle with today eventually will become new routines that will lead to a new “normal.”

In addition to the 5 tips just mentioned, as a Christ follower I feel that ultimately the key to assisting us during the difficult times of transitions is the strength that we can gain from God through His Word, which is summed up in Romans 8:26-30, “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.”

Along our trek for today, we reviewed the 5 tips to navigate life’s transitions. Tomorrow we will discover the 10 Secrets of Sustained Success. 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 podcast 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 308 of our trek, and yesterday we hiked steep terrain as we traversed the 7 steps to destroy bad habits. Today we will visit the 6 essential waypoints to live a better life.

Thank you so much for coming along with me each day as we explore and consume these “nuggets of wisdom.” These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy. 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 recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We finished the week strong with work and projects. We didn’t accomplish all that we had hoped to, but we still accomplished a lot. It was great to be able to invest the additional time with our grandkids this week also. On Saturday, I was able to finish stripping several layers of old paint from a couple of old metal army beds that were Paula’s dad’s and Uncle Don’s when they were growing up. I painted them with a fresh coat of brown Rustoleum, and they will have a couple of weeks to dry while we are back in Charlotte. When we come back to The Big House in mid-April, we will move them into the upstairs back bedroom.

As we head out on our trek for today, we will be on the lookout for…

I’m living a good life, but I can still do better. We all can. Every day is a series of choices. Today is the culmination of all the choices we’ve made up to this point. It is funny when we act surprised by how life has turned out when we ultimately made the choices that have led to this place. Like I heard an older person once say, “I would have made better choices if I had known I was going to live this long.” Here are the 6 essential waypoints that we can learn from to live a better life.

The Roman poet Ovid once said, “Take a rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.”

As a culture in the western world, we live at a break-neck speed. We’re going so fast we can’t stop until we crash. The statistical evidence of the negative impact stress is having on us is alarming. Stress is literally killing us:

I could go on, but it’s too depressing. The reality is, none of this is new news. So why do we continue? We need to stop.

You absolutely must rest from your work. Schedule down time into your day where you completely unplug from electronics and all the inputs that bombard you every day. Take time to just be still.

Get enough sleep. Well rested people have better memories and learning ability, better metabolism and weight control, better moods and better cardiovascular systems just to name a few. Sleeping is like hitting the reset button each day. We start fresh every day after a good night sleep.

Management Guru Peter Drucker said, “Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come more effective action.”

Few of us know ourselves the way we should. We are with ourselves all day long, yet we often can’t answer the question of why we do what we do. Or other basic questions like our true purpose and passions in life. Many times we continue doing the same things day in and day out, not getting the results we want, but for the life of us can’t figure out why.

It’s only through reflection that you can ascribe meaning to your experiences. Through reflection, you can better predict what will make you successful in the future. Without it, you continue blindly on your way repeating mistakes, scratching your head, and asking why, yet not taking the time to give a real answer. You can’t live better if you don’t know yourself better.

As Mother Teresa said, “Intense love does not measure, it just gives.”

We were created in God’s image to be relational people. Relationships are critical to our well-being. Relationships are the key to living longer, dealing with stress, being healthier, and feeling richer. They also help guard against decreased immune systems, depression, and high blood pressure. With all those advantages, why wouldn’t we want stronger, deeper, richer relationships?

Connect with others on a deeper, more meaningful level. It’s not without risk because to do so you must put yourself out there in an authentic way. However, authenticity breeds authenticity in relationships that are worth cultivating. To live better, invite someone to lunch, dinner, or coffee, somewhere, anywhere to connect. People are worth the investment of time and energy.

Bernard Meltzer said, “When you forgive, you in no way change the past – but you sure do change the future.”

This one can be hard to do. But you remain in a prison of your own making, drinking a poisoned cocktail of bitterness when you live in un-forgiveness. Forgiveness releases you to move on. It doesn’t make the other person right, it just sets you free. Choosing to continue on in un-forgiveness shortens your lifespan and limits your opportunities to have an abundant life.

1 Corinthians 13:4 tells us, “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.” So, choose forgiveness.

Henry Ward Beecher said, “Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.”

Do you know what all people have in common that are able to endure seemingly impossible hardships? They’re grateful. Not for their circumstances, but for the good in their lives that they see more clearly against the backdrop of tough times and less than ideal circumstances.

Gratitude is a character trait that must be developed, not just a temporary state of mind. It has many benefits including building your immune system and guarding against the ill-effects of stress. Other side benefits of a grateful attitude are increased happiness and life satisfaction. There really is no downside to it.

Build grateful habits into your life. Each day, begin or end your day writing what you’re thankful for. This sets the stage for a positive day.

Matthew 6:3-4 tells us, “But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

When you serve and give generously, without expectation of return or profit, your world is enlarged. You become better, live better, and fulfill one of your purposes for being on this earth. Because this life isn’t about you. It’s about your impact on your people, your community, and the world. It is living your legacy daily.

Along our trek for today, we visited the 6 essential waypoints to live a better life. Tomorrow we will explore the 3 crucial trails to survive major transitions on life’s trek. 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 podcast 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!