Tag Archives: Opportunities

Complacent or Purposeful

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Do you ever stop to evaluate your own life to figure out if you are living a life that is planned out and expected of you?  Do you ever get the notion in your mind that there has to be much more in life waiting for me than what has presented itself?  Do you find that you are just going along in life following a plan that just does speak to you or ignite you?  Are you feeling complacent?

Those questions are just the tip of iceberg when it comes to looking at our lives and how we live.  I have seen all to often where people jump down a particular path because it is either acceptable, safe and secure, or what they’ve been taught to do.  In addition, often times life circumstances happen that bring about decision that seem like a good idea at first, but as time goes on you realize that it really is not who you are or you chose that path for the wrong reasons.  It’s not a great feeling because then you start to find yourself stressed and not sure what you can do change.

Often times what is needed is for you take a step back and completely re-evaluate your direction to figure out what it is you are doing and whether or not the path you chose is the right one.  At this point your assessment should look at whether your life is just complacent and settling with your circumstances or if you are living out your real purpose and living purposefully.  I am sure many will say, if giving a true assessment will say they’ve become complacent.

In some ways, I’ve felt the same way.  not with my beautiful wife and children but in overall career and education paths.  Sometimes it feels like I’ve settled into rolls just to make sure they were provided for.  Nothing wrong with that, but when it becomes a problem is when you feel like your path is sucking away at your own soul.  I’ve certainly had that feeling.  The beauty part is that no matter what path you take, every part of it is a part of your journey and growth.  Going through those challenges better prepare you for the making the changes you really need to make in your life.

So what do you do if you find yourself complacent and realizing that you need to make a change.  Well that is simple, CHANGE.  I know it sounds daunting, but that’s what needs to happen.  Figure out what it is that truly makes you happy and go do that.  Live a purposeful life and don’t let naysayers stop you.  Author Joseph Campbell said, “We must let go of the life we planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.”  There is a lot more out there waiting for you accomplish in life and life is way to short to sit back and let it all pass by.

Take life by the horns and take the lead on the direction you want to take.  Choose to live a life of purpose and say goodbye to a life of complacency.  It’s something that we can all do.  You don’t have to live miserable and unhappy in nowhere jobs.  You don’t have to keep up with the Jones’s.  The life you lead is between you and God and he will get you to that life of purpose if you trust in Him.  Be purposeful and you can Come Alive!

Is Today The Day That You’ve Waited For?!?!?

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Every morning that I drive to the office, I spend the first part of my drive listening to Bible chapters for that day through my phone and then depending on the day, I will turn on music.  I will either flip through radio stations, turn on a CD, or key up the music on my phone.  It can either be some uplifting praise and worship music, country, rock, or just a variety.  This morning, I through my phone on shuffle and let it play at random. The first song that came up, is one I love that is by Rascal Flatts, called “Feels Like Today.”  You may know this song.  It’s been around for some time.

As I listened to this song it gave me a great uplift and I started thinking about the message in the song about being patient and persistent with going after your goals in life and eventually waking up and realizing that, maybe today is the day that I realize those goals.  I’m sure many of you, as I have, has had those days where you get up and feel like nothing good can come from that day, and then other days where you just want to pop out of bed and think, now this is the day I’ve been waiting for.  While we will always have those days that just are not motivating, I for one, would much rather have those days where I am up, pumped up and ready to role to get toward my goals.  What about you?

Too often, people get caught up in life and a routine that fosters continuous inaction and complacency. This complacency can impact their life, their family, their work, and their spiritual growth.  Dale Carnegie said, “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”  I wrote last week about the fears that we have in life.  What we need in our lives is action.  This build us up to know that we can accomplish anything.  If we stay persistent, we can accomplish our goals and not be sucked by fear and doubt.

So, is today that day you are waiting for, or do you see a particular goal that you know you want to shoot for?  You can’t stand around and wait for it to happen.  If you do, that train will pass you by.  In the song, “Feels Like Today,” the second verse says:

“You treat life like a picture
But its not a moment frozen in time
It’s not gonna wait
Til you make up your mind, at all…”

This verse says a lot.  Life does not freeze and wait for you to decide what you want to do.  You have to make that choice to get up and move forward and pursue your goals and allow yourself to come alive.  In another Dale Carnegie quote, he said, “Today is life-the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto.”

You have to choose to live for today.  Don’t stand to the side and let life pass by and then find yourself wondering, what in the world happened to my life.  We all have a purpose in life, but we have to choose to get off of our tails and achieve that purpose.  Learn from the past and apply that knowledge to the future, but always live for today.  Don’t waste the gift of life that God has blessed each and everyone of us with.  Make the most of it to make an impact and on this life and even to serve others.  Make today that day that you decide I’m going to do what I am called here to do.  I am not going to wait for life to pass by and wait for something to fall in my lap.  I am going to make things happen.  Begin today!!!

Going for What’s Yours

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Reflecting on yesterday’s post and answering the call to your path, I started thinking of the hesitancy that still surrounds so many us when that call comes.  Out of nowhere this morning, my senior quote from my high school year book came into my mind.  Part of the quote was, “…Stay real; don’t hesitate to go for what’s yours.”  I was 18 when I wrote that little quote and it was something that spoke very loudly to me then and even to this day, it speaks very loudly to me.  At the time it was symbolic of my attitude to marry the love of my life, Amber, who has now been my bride for 15, going on 16 years.  We caught a lot of negatives for our decision, but we knew that this was what we wanted and it was ours to go after.  We have grown together and learned together, which has been phenomenal.

Now I digress.  What does it mean to you to go for what is yours?  Could it be going after that dream job, that dream house, the freedom of working for yourself, or even owning your calling from God?  I think it is really anything.  I’ve quoted Earl Nightingale a few times, but what he says in “The Strangest Secret” is very profound.  He says that we become what we think about.  With that said, if there is something in life that you feel called to go after, then you have the opportunity to set your mind in motion to reach that goal.  You will get challenged for thinking this way, but if you keep your mind on that goal, you will eventually be able to realize that goal.  It may be instant or it may take some time, but you have to be persistent to achieve it.

For each one of us, there comes a time where we feel challenged to reach the goals we have set for ourselves.  Obstacles may come in our way making it more difficult to reach those goals.  When I said “Stay real” in my quote, I meant that you have to stay true to who you are and who God called you to be when those challenges and naysayers come around.  Don’t hesitate.  Own what it is you want to go after and what it is you were called for.  Don’t let anyone tell you that what you are doing is not right or not  worthwhile.  If you feel compelled to that goal, then it is worthwhile and right.  Do not ever let yourself get boxed up into a tiny definition of yourself that people hold for you.  You have the opportunity to define yourself by the actions you take.  You choose to stay complacent or go for what’s yours.  Believe me the naysayers will come.  As I have said before, if people want to challenge your direction, nine times out of ten, you are doing something right.

4 Pillar Living has presented me with a tremendous opportunity to talk to people like you through multiple channels about very parts of life and living.  Everything I write about here are things I believe in wholeheartedly.  This was my opportunity to own what it is I believed and bring that to others in hopes that it helps your life some way.  I knew that I did not want to hesitate to go for what is mine and what I feel is my calling to serve.  Likewise for each of you, don’t hesitate.  If you let that call and those opportunities pass by, then they may be gone forever.  Choose to go for what’s yours and choose to unleash yourself and come alive.

A Lifetime of Doors

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We have all heard the saying that when one door closes, another one opens.  I posted a quote on the 4 Pillar Living Facebook page from Alexander Graham Bell that said “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened for us.”  Our lives are filled with doors of opportunity at which we are left with the daunting of decision of stepping through or passing by.  When we reach those challenging moments in life where a door closes, as Alexander Graham Bell mentioned, people often times stair at the closed door and don’t look forward to the new ones.  A example of this is going through a layoff.  I have been there before.  For me, it was right after my second child was born and on my wife’s birthday of all days.  That was a difficult time, but I knew that at that moment, I had the opportunity before me to do something better.  I could sit and sulk or bust my tail to open the next door, which I did.

These doors opportunities start when we are kids as well.  As a parent, I want to help my children be able to crash through those doors and make the most of every opportunity that’s presented to them.  We have taught all three of them that they have to set their mind to what it is they want in life and then take the steps to achieve that goal.  They also know that through each door of opportunity that comes their way, is another opportunity to do great things and further glorify God in how they tackle those opportunities.  As adults, I want my children to always be able to understand that they can have whatever it is in life they set their mind to do, if God wills it.  If they continue to seek Him, He will show the doors that are meant to be opened in life.

I bring my children up as an example of how doors of opportunity continue to come our way.  I have a son with passions to be a chef, another that plays competitive travel baseball with desires to play professionally, and my daughter plays competitive travel softball with desires to play professionally as well.  Each of them has before them several doors they can take as kids and teenagers that can lead them toward their goals or lead them away toward other areas of life, good or bad.  This is the same throughout all of life.  We can either crash through the doors of opportunity or sit back and let fears, doubts, and temptations take us through alternating doors.

Now, you may think, I have heard a lot of this before.  This is true.  These same things I am talking about are lessons many of us have received from our parents or others we have looked up to in life.  The problem that may of us have, however is that when we come to these doors of opportunity, we either shy away, or when we open them, we step through very timidly.  2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”  These are our golden opportunities to stare that fear down and come crashing through those doors.  Don’t open them with fear, even if it is totally new and unknown territory.  I have said that few times in this blog.  Crash through those doors.  Have confidence in yourself that you can make the most of the opportunity ahead.  People who excel in life take the challenge that is before them.  Learn from each door and always press forward through the next one.