Stand Up to Your Obstacles - it's about perspective

My life has been filled with procrastination. Some of you can probably relate. If you didn't procrastinate in school, maybe you did with your household chores as a child. Most of the time that we tend to procrastinate or avoid an area in our life is because we view the task/situation much larger than the actual size.

It is similar to the light on a small object will project something quite large a few feet away. Also, depending on the closeness of the light the object will appear much larger. Sometimes life can be much the same way, which brings us to this week's quote...

Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven't half the strength you think they have. ~ Norman Vincent Peale

When situations are closer to us, or more present, they appear much bigger. It can be both the positive and the negative things. If success is near then it may give the false appearance that success will always be that big. When, in fact, it is the same size always and we may need to take a step back to see the reality of it.

Maybe it is a certain problem in life, it appears quite large because we are upon it, but if we take a step back or move past it, we see it wasn't as big as we made it out to be.
When I went to see Mt. Rushmore, I was "initially" disappointed. Not in the craftsmanship but in the size. When you see it at ground level, it doesn't appear that Washington has a 12-foot nose. If I were to be right up on the nose, it would appear huge. It is all about the view.

Let us take situations and obstacles for what they are, not necessarily what they appear to be. Maybe you need to take a step back (or a few) to see what is going on and not just what you see.

Obstacles are not gernally as challenging if you see them for what they are and start to do something about them. However, if you don't then you can get a false view of your obstacles and they will appear bigger (and possibly scarier) than they are in reality.

Now it's your turn...what do you need to take a different look at?

Expected Outcome

When I was a freshman in high school one of my classes was called "Beginning Shop I." Almost the whole year seemed like a waste of time. We didn't get to use one single power tool the entire year, even if we learned about them. There was one day which our whole class had been kind of goofing off and our teacher was getting frustrated with us. I don't remember what I did or didn't do, when I heard my teacher exclaim "Spence!" I responded, "What? I wasn't doing anything." He zinged me by saying, "That's the problem."

I wasn't working on my assignment so I wasn't going to have much of a chance of completing the assignment.

When it has come to getting things completed in life, procrastination or distraction can have a tendency to sneak in. I may put things off or choose to do something else instead, for the time being. What is going to happen in that time I am either putting it off or choosing to do something else is nothing. That brings us to this week's quote...

You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

What have you aimed to start in life but you did nothing to get you there. The result is predictable - the end result will be nothing.

What is something you wanted to try to pursue but haven't started yet? If you want to have the outlook you envision you need to begin. Otherwise the result will be predictable. There may be no guarantee that what you pursue you will reach, but there basically is a guarantee that what you don't pursue you won't reach.

What steps do you need to make in order to get yourself closer to your goal?

Now it's your turn...what do you need to start?

Time Spent Worrying

I have wasted a lot of my life worrying. Another way of phrasing it is that I have lost a lot of my life worrying. There are a lot of minutes or days that could have been spent more wisely if worry would not have been present.

Some worries were brought on by myself (i.e. procrastination) where as other moments were not (weather, bad news). Either way it has caused me to lose time that will never be gained back. However, worry for any reason causes one to focus on themselves and their desires too much.

Worrying often points back to how "I" will be able to accomplish something. Some things may be valid, within this context, but there are a lot of situations in which worrying does nothing to help the situation, but God does! That brings us to this week's quote...

Often times worrying is trying to figure out what to do to save yourself rather than trusting in God for deliverance. ~ J. Meyer

How much time have you wasted in worry? Probably more than you should have. How many of those times of worry did you gain anything? Probably not many.

As you can see there is a lot of truth found in the quote. With life situations that are basically "out of your hands" you should be trusting God He will take care and accept the outcome. It is probably easier said than done.

Now it's your turn...How does the verse impact you?

Biggest Loser: Unpriority Priorities

We're all probably guilty of allowing something small become big enough to get in our way by ruining our mood/day or causing us to put other things to the back burner.  Waking up late isn't that big of a deal but we may allow it to have some major impacts on the day.  We could deal with it and understand that this is the situation and not allow things to be affected by it.  I could write several examples of areas where we allow the little things to grow to sizes they shouldn't become close to growing.

Life tends to be filled up with lots of little things: daily duties, new duties, unexpected twists.  With those little things that fill us up we may lose focus on the "one thing" that Jesus spoke of when He was in a teachable moment with Martha and Mary.

As life hands us things that "pack on the weight", we need to think about how we can shed some of that extra poundage so that we will live a healthier life for Him.  One way to think about that is to understand that we tend to prioritize things that are not much of a priority.  Therefore, we need to unprioritize the priorities.  Yesterday, we discussed that, leaping off from Habakkuk 3:17-18.  Here are some applications you can choose to use this week...

1. Make a List (literally or figuratively) ~ Over the next week you may want to make a list of the different areas in which you tend to give your attention to.  Think about those areas and see if they are important - really important.  Are some of them taking you or your attention away from the things that are actual priorities?  If so, put your priorities first and the one of less priority after.
2. Accountability ~ Grab someone to be your partner to make sure that you are following up on your newly found habit.
3. Rejoice in the Lord ~ Take time to count your blessings.  This is helpful all the time, but when life doesn't seem to be going well for you, realizing your blessings can make a big difference.
4. Praise God ~ Thank Him for the things you like in your life.  However, do not limit it to that.  You may want to praise Him for the areas you don't realize are worth praising about.  Praise Him for all the little things - name some of them.  Praise Him for bigger things by naming some of them, too.  Praising Him humbles us and encourages us.
5. Don't Worry...Be Happy ~ Easier said than done, that's for sure. If you're like me you worry or analyze things that shouldn't.  Those habits weigh you down.  I can't even think to imagine how many things I have forgotten to do because I was worrying about something else.  It is really frustrating, which doesn't make one happy.  So, try to reduce your "caloric intake" of worry, so that you will have room to concentrate.

As the week progresses keep in mind the little things that are collecting on your plate.  Are they beginning to weigh you down?  There may be nothing wrong with these things.  You don't necessarily have to avoid them, just be disciplined enough to put them to the bottom of your list, so they do not cloud with the most important.  Some of these "least important" may be what you are carrying around with you continually, just like fat on a body.  Do you put more emphasis on your job or your friends than you do your family?  Do you rush to the phone the moment a text message comes in, even if it is conflicting with other events going on at that time (time with family, school, job, etc.), not realizing that the message isn't that urgent, generally.

Have a great week shedding the calories of "unpriority priorities" and "ME" (from last week).

 

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Eating an Elephant

Procrastination is some people's "disease". They think they can do it at a later time, just to put it off. Sometimes the later time will catch up with them (I've been victim). There are still other times that not starting is not defined by procrastination, but rather it could be labeled as scared, anxious, uncomfortable, non-traditional, etc.

Those other "labels" are just as damaging to starting a project, and getting ahead, as procrastination. Here is this week's quote pertaining to this principle...

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. ~ Mark Twain

There's an old, dry saying that asks, "How do you eat an elephant?"...One bite at a time. Projects may seem big, but they will get accomplished a "bite" at a time. However, there has to be a time when the bite is taken.

Any project is able to be completed, even if it looks big going into it. So, if/when you are wanting to get ahead, even when it seems it may not be possible, just get started. Then, create a priority list and "bite" them off one at a time. Whether you are planning a Presidential Campaign, a community event, a dinner party, or just trying to get your house in order, they all can be accomplished, little by little.

"Eating" on my elephant...