With 2015 dawning on us we have a new year, a fresh start, a clean slate to make anything possible! So with that in mind…
motivational
New Year’s Resolution: There is no try, so just do it!
2014 is coming to a close and 2015 is just about here. Not going to lie, i’m pretty excited. I’ve always really liked the start of the year because it’s a fresh start, a clean slate full of opportunity. And yes as I’m sure you’ve guessed, I am one of those people who makes New Year’s Resolutions.
It’s so easy to write what you want to accomplish and achieve, but the follow through is where the difficulty comes in. I mean it’s easy to say I want to go to the gym 3 times a week, but getting out of bed on those cold winter mornings at 5 in the morning is really really hard! Or trying to eat healthier is great, but who actually has time for it? It’s so much easier just to buy something at school or work, which typically ends up being not so healthy.
I’m a pretty disciplined person but there needs to be more than discipline with following through on goals. There needs to be desire. You have to really want it. That desire pushes you even when you feel like it’s impossible and you don’t have an ounce of motivation left. Let’s face it, if you are waiting to feel motivated to start, you aren’t going to get anywhere. That desire however, it forces you to move even when you don’t feel like it. It’s deeper than a feeling.
I just recently came up with a catch phrase (aka stole 2 other phrases and mashed them together) for 2015 for following through on my goals. It’s pretty deep. Ready? Here it is… “there is no try, so just do it!” Yoda and Nike, can’t beat that combination can you! Yoda is a pretty wise guy and his advice to Luke Skywalker of “Do or do not, there is no try” is 100% true. If you think about it, try doesn’t exist. Trying is just a way to make ourselves feel better about not reaching our goal or not committing 100%. It’s a way to let us down easy. For example, lets say I want to get out of bed at 7am. Either I get out of bed at 7am or I don’t. I can say “I tried to get out of bed but I was just too tired”. Sure I can say that. But all that really means is I didn’t get out of bed. It makes me feel better because at least I tried, but when push comes to shove, “try” doesn’t mean anything. Either I did or didn’t. One of my goals for 2015 is eliminating the word “try” from my vocabulary.
Once you have the goals and the desire, then comes the hard part. The doing part. This is the part where you put that discipline into action and face your obstacles, all the difficulty and discomfort and just push through knowing that the end goal is worth it all. It’s the thinking that yes, that chocolate bar would be delicious, and yes I’ll enjoy it, but it’ll be gone in 2 minutes and then I’ll feel crappy, so I’m going to be healthy, not eat it and feel better in the long run. It might not feel good now, but by keeping the end zone in sight, you force yourself to just do it and keep moving forward. For me, as a Christian when I’m feeling like giving up, I can always remember Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”. That’s a huge part of where I find my strength to do anything in life. Even something as small as saying no to a chocolate bar.
Lastly, along with desire and disciple, timelines are key in achieving any goal. A goal without a timeline is just a dream. You have to take action in order to reach your goal. For me, that means mapping out steps of how I’m going to accomplish my goals, practical realistic steps. Whether that goal is going to take a month, a year, or 10 years, a game plan with a timeline is a huge part of successful reaching that goal.
So there you go, some my thoughts on New Year’s Resolutions. Hopefully I’ll be able to follow my own advice! Here’s to 2015 being the best year yet!!
C.S Lewis inspired Monday Morning Motivation
C.S Lewis is one of my favourite authors. The Chronicles of Narnia was kinda my childhood. There were more than once occasions where I would open the closet, go through the coats and hope the further I went, those coats would turn into trees and lead to Narnia. Sadly, they never did.
As I got older, I discovered his other works, Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and so many other fantastic books, some that I have read and some that still need to be read. That man had so much insight and I always feel so inspired after reading his works. He has like a bazillion amazing quotes, but here are 10 that I especially like.
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I’m going to try and review these incredible insights this week do my best to remember them throughout my day. Happy Monday!
Good is the enemy of the best
Comfort is overrated. Yep, I said it. Sure it feels good, but is good good enough? If you look at the lives of people who have had incredible success, the road to get there was not comfortable. There were mountains to move, battles to fight and pain to be preserve through. It’s not an easy life.
However, our society promotes easy. Comfort is a must and we want instant gratification without the hard work. We are happy with good but there’s a huge divide between good and great.
Something I think that can be learned from kids is that they don’t really have “good” in their vocabulary. They dream massively huge and always want the best. I mean, when you are 10 years old, pretty much anything is possible in your mind. There’s a refreshing innocence about the way kids look at the world. Nothing is unachievable and they always strive for the best, something we seem to lose as we get older. But it seems to me, successful people keep those dreams.
It was September 25, 1976, when 4 kids from Dublin Ireland with big dreams had their very first band practice. Who would have guessed that one day, they would become one of the biggest rock bands in the world. 38 years later and still going, their new album was released to over 500 million people via iTunes, the biggest album release of all time. Yes, some people didn’t like the fact that they got the album, but you got to give U2 credit, they aren’t afraid to push the boundaries. Greatness pushes limitations. I personally think it was a brilliant idea. But the point is, you don’t get to that stage of incredible success by being just good. There’s a lot of blood sweat and tears involved to get to that level and it’s not easy to maintain. Bono says it so well, “As you get better, you get very good and very good is kind of the enemy of great. You can mistake it for great”.
It’s so easy to become complacent and forget those dreams of greatness, of changing the world and of making a difference amidst the everyday grind of life. Becoming caught in the rut of comfort is a trap many people fall into, myself included. It’s comfortable and easy to stick with what you know, what works, with where you are right now.
But the thing is, I’d take great over fine, or good any day. Life is short and I want it to be great, a life well lived. I want to help people, I want to make a difference in other people’s people’s lives and as much as this is the king of cliches, I do want to change the world. And that doesn’t come with just good. For me, I can’t live a great life myself, it’s only through Jesus Christ where I can truly make a difference. Living for Christ is a life well lived.
Oswald Chambers also has a great quote that i’d like to share, “The great enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good which is not good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best”. For me, that means living a radically generous life that most likely won’t be comfortable, that will be difficult, and that will be outside of my comfort zone. It means pushing myself and breaking through the limitations and being exceptional even in the little, everyday ordinary things. I don’t know where living that kind of life will lead me, but in the words of Bilbo Baggins, “I’m going on an adventure!”.
So here’s to living not good, but great lives and striving for the best!
Oswald Chambers Devotional: Monday Morning Motivation
There’s this fantastic devotional that I’m working through right now called My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. It’s very short, less than 1 page for each day, but each line is ridiculously insightful and very practical. Highly recommend it. That being said, I just wanted to share a few passages that have stuck out for me.
“Which are the people who have influenced us most? Not the ones who thought they did, but those who had not the remotest notion they were influencing us. In the Christian life, the implicit is never conscious. If it is, it ceases to have the unaffected loveliness which is the characteristic of the touch of Jesus.”
This is beautiful because when you are so lost in Christ, the love of Jesus just flows so naturally.
“Are you so identified with the Lord’s life that you are simply a child of God, continually talking to Him and realizing that all things come from His hand?”
Something that I need to work on, having that constant back and forward with Christ throughout the day.
“It is so much easier to do something than to trust in God. We mistake panic for inspiration. That is why there are so few fellow workers with God and so many workers for Him.”
This so applies to me because I like to get things done. I like to be productive and do things. But sometimes you aren’t supposed to do anything, just trust in God, and yes, that is extremely hard.
“It is inbred in us that we have to do exceptional things for God; but we have not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things.”
Even in the everyday ordinary things we can shine for Christ.
“Prayer does not fit us for the great work: prayer is the great work. We think of prayer as a common sense exercise of our higher powers in order to prepare us for God’s work. In the teaching of Jesus Christ, prayer is the working of the miracle of Redemption in others by the power of God.”
Enough said.
Anyways, those are just a few snippets from Mr. Chambers. I could probably blog for days about all the insights he has to offer!
Happy Monday:)
Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving. A holiday where we can take a moment and realize how truly blessed we are and how much there is to be thankful for. As I’m writing this, the smell of turkey is wafting into the living room where I’m lying on the couch with a blanket, pillows, listening to U2’s new album and feeling so blessed. Yesterday was Thanksgiving dinner at the cousins and today is a super chill day of hanging out in pjs, doing nothing but eating turkey and pumpkin pie (yes I waited all year for that pumpkin pie). I’ve actually been able to take some time today and reflect on what I’ve been given and how much I have to be thankful for.
Having today off and spending it with the family is a nice much needed break from the craziness of work. To be honest, in day to day life, I often and regularly forget how blessed I am and how much I have to be thankful for. So much of what God’s blessed me with, I just assume that I deserve it and forget that everything in my life is a gift from Him. Each day my heart is beating is a gift.
On Saturday I was seriously reminded of this. A friend I’ve known since I was young passed away last week and there was a memorial service for him. Stephen was only 25 when Christ called him home. We were never really close but I grew up with him, we played hockey together and even tried starting a band back in the day. It was shocking news to hear of his passing because you figure at that young of an age, you have have so much time left, but you really never know. The short time that he did have here, he touched so many people and made a difference with his life. He really made every moment count and now he’s living in Paradise with Jesus.
No matter what’s happening in your life, no matter what you are going through, there’s always something to be thankful for, you just need to look hard enough for it. Stephen’s best friend shared with us at the memorial service that Stephen had that mentality and always found the good in any situation. That’s an amazing way to live life.
So as this weekend winds down and everyday life starts up again tomorrow, I’m really going to make an effort and try to complain less about things and instead, remember what I’ve been blessed with. Happy thanksgiving everyone, eat lots of turkey and pumpkin pie!!
End of summer and so many memories!
Ladies and gentleman, it’s officially that day, September 1st…and that means the last day of the long weekend and the unofficial end to the summer. Kinda crazy to believe it’s all over. I mean, the weather is just starting to feel like summer! It feels like it should be the beginning of July, not the start of September. Not gonna lie, I’m a little sad summer is over. It’s one of my favourite times of year (summer and Christmas time) and I was really looking forward to this summer in particular.
But it DEFINITELY lived up to my expectations. Probably played the most beach volleyball I’ve ever played in a summer which right there already makes it a win:) Those late night chillages with friends, cottage weekends, celebrating my little brother’s 20th in Niagara Falls, Skillet road trip, the CNE and my first ever Country concert (Jason Aldean, which actually was the best concert of the year, sorry country haters!) were some of the highlights that made this summer seriously incredible. So many amazing memories with awesome people.
Today I was thinking about the great times this summer. I think summer especially goes by so quickly because if you are working, you are looking forward to the weekend every week. Also, typically there are a lot of things to look forward to which I find makes time go by really fast. I think it’s a little ironic the more you look forward to something and want it to come, the faster it’s over. It’s so easy to get caught up trying to experience everything you can possible experience and a lot of times I think, people feel the more they experience, the more they have lived. But those legendary nights always end, no matter how much we don’t want them to. Monday always comes way too soon. I think that most people feel that there should be something more. It shouldn’t have to end, it shouldn’t have to be gone and just a memory. I think that feeling really shows how we are wired with the knowledge that there is something more, something bigger and better out there, something that is lasting. And there is, and that’s having a relationship with Jesus Christ.
I know, as least for me, it’s so easy to get caught up in the moment, the craziness of summer, the weekends, and life in general. But when I take a moment, and stop, spend some time reading the Bible, praying with Him, life just comes into perspective. It’s beautiful thing really. I don’t need to worry about that sad hollow feeling inside after something I was super excited for is over, because in Him, I never have that feeling. I have ultimate fulfilment in Him, it’s just reminding myself of that over and over. It’s living each day reminding myself that this earth is just my temporary home and Heaven is actually where I’ll spend most of my time. It really gives you a different perspective on what really matters. Anyways, just some end of summer thoughts running through my head:)
Officially full-time! To eternity and beyond…
Wow it’s been a long time since my last post, you know how it is, summer craziness! Planning on posting a little more regularly though:) So a lot’s happened this summer, but I have some exciting news…today I signed my contract at work so Monday is the first day of my full-time work life! Does that officially make me an adult? (kidding, you don’t actually grow up, you just get older!) God’s just been super awesome, blessing me with the internship which has lead to full-time work with amazing bosses, great coworkers and doing something that’s actually in my field!
With the whole job thing, it’s kinda funny because people keep asking me questions like “So are you going to move out?” “Steven are you going to get a place downtown close to work?” and I’m like “I like my family!”, “downtown is really expensive” and a really important one “my mom makes amazing food”. It’s true, my mom makes the healthiest best food. EVER.
But on a more serious note, being done school and starting my work career has kinda got me thinking about the future. I mean 5 years from now, who knows where life will take me, a lot can happen in 5 years. So with this whole theme of thinking about the future floating around in my brain, this quote by C.S. Lewis really popped out at me. Not only in one place but two, first on Instagram, and then it was mentioned in a sermon I was listening to today. It goes like this:
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next”
That really resonated with me because lately I’ve been thinking a lot about this world and my immediate future. And don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing. I mean, making goals and planning for the future is just wise, but ultimately, all those goals and plans, everything will soon be gone and in the past (kinda like this summer, gone before you know it). I feel like the older you get, the faster life goes, and you realize that life is not that long, especially when compared to eternity. You gotta make it count, but ironically, by making it count, you aren’t focusing on this life, you are focusing on what is to come. Living with Jesus at your center, reflecting Christ’s love, spreading that joy, that’s how to make the biggest impact in this life and to live a truly successful life. So what if I have a ridiculously successful career, make millions, drive a yellow Mustang, have an amazing wife, a house with a white picket fence and the cutest kids ever. That’s all great and those things are good, but they are temporary, they’ll all be gone in a blink of an eye. The C.S Lewis quote reminded me that I have to really adjust my mindset and think bigger. Living a life for Christ makes this life really count for the next life that will last for all eternity. And with that in mind, I’ll end with one more C.S. Lewis quote because you really can’t say it better than C.S Lewis:
“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
I need to constantly remind myself to think bigger and beyond this world, to infinity and beyond people!
Rest
Rest doesn’t come naturally to me. I like to always keep busy, be doing things all the time. I just got an internship downtown which has been a huge blessing, but has also made my schedule extremely insane. The internship is 9-5 Monday-Friday, so I leave my house at 7:30 and get home around 6:20. I also have a landscaping business with my brothers, so Monday and Thursday nights after work and a quick dinner I’ll cut grass till dark. Tuesday night I’ll stay downtown for my Bible study and Wednesday night I’ll go straight from work to the beach because I play in a beach volleyball league. As well, I’ll hit up the gym for 6am Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It is basically go go go all week and the weekends usually fill up with social events. So as you can tell, there’s not a whole lot of downtime or rest for me.
But this past weekend I went up to Muskoka for a young professionals retreat with my Church and got to slow down and relax. My favorite talk of the weekend was actually the last talk by our associate pastor, called “Resting with one Another”. The talk was based off Mark 6:31 “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while”. It’s Jesus’ call to rest, a call to get away from the busyness of life. My pastor was saying that even when we aren’t working, we are still going. How many times do you check your emails, then check your Facebook, then back to your email? What’s the first thing you do in the morning? Pick up your phone and check for any messages? Life is just so fast paced for our society when people slow us down, we don’t have time for that and we snap. That’s an indication that our attitudes need to change. What I found that really hit home for me, was the question “do you have space in your day, is there space enough for God?”. And it’s not just the space, but the rest that comes when you make space in your life and spend time with Jesus Christ. My pastor was saying it’s the rest that we so desperately want, but something that this world cannot give, something only Jesus can give. When he fills us, we are prepared to face the day. We have more patience, more love that we can give to others because we are filled with Jesus.
It really struck me that I’m not regularly filling up with Jesus in the mornings. I can find time to go to the gym 3 times a week in the morning, but can’t wake up a little earlier to read my Bible and pray with Jesus. It was just what I needed to hear.
Yesterday I woke up at 5am and spend some quality time with God. It was crazy how amazing I felt throughout the day. Throughout the day at various points I would think about him, and just be thankful for the blessings he’s given me, my job, my health, and just Him being there next to me. That normally doesn’t happen. I’ll usually only think of God during my devotionals, or praying before I eat, but yesterday was different. I also had patience in a couple of situations where I normally probably would have snapped. All because I started my day off right with Jesus and I really think it made a big difference.
Time is precious these days for me which makes it even more important that I make space for Jesus. Say you are in a relationship with someone. Just because you are crazy busy, that’s not an excuse for you to not spend time with them, you make time, you set aside space for them. Same thing for Jesus, being busy is no excuse. I need to spend time with him, even if that means waking up ridiculously early at 5am. When I do spend that time with Him, he gives me strength to start my day right and be able to give to others and not burnout.
This weekend really taught me the importance of resting in Him and I plan on making sure I set aside some quality time with Him every morning and remember Him throughout my day so I can really show other’s His love.
Life Was Simple As A Kid
A few days ago I was talking with my brother about how life was so simple when we were kids. I mean, when I was 10 years old, my biggest problem was finishing homework as fast as possible so I could go outside and play. Fast forward to today and I’ve finished my undergrad, I’m starting a new internship on Monday and beginning the next stage of my life. I mean, things are a little more intense now compared to then. There are so many more responsibilities, decisions, and not just decisions, drastic life changing decisions! I mean, at this point in life, the choices I made in the next few years will shape my future. So there’s a lot more pressure and sometimes, I think it’d be nice to be a kid for a day without a worry in the world.
Oddly enough, that topic came up in my Bible study group. My buddy brought up that exact point, how sometimes it’d be nice to be a kid and not have to worry about life because you don’t have any real problems and your parents take care of you. But he said that we still can still have that. He was saying when you are a kid you don’t worry about anything because you rely completely on your parents. My buddy was saying that if you think about that, God is our Heavenly Father who we can rely on completely. I never thought of it that way before. I mean, yes I know God has the best possible plan and loves me, but I never thought that parallel to having that care freeness of being a child because I can place my trust in God. It just really hit me that yes, that is so true and Jesus does say to have the faith of a child. A child is completely dependant on his or her parents and looks to them for everything. Having that childlike faith and trust in my heavenly Father, being completely dependant on Him means I don’t have to worry about things in my life because He has it all under control.
As well, when you are a kid, you don’t have a reputation, you boast about your parents, “My dad is the best dad ever”, “My dad has the coolest job”, “My mom makes the best food in the world”. The hymn we sang was “How Deep the Father’s Love for Me” and the lyrics jumped out
“I will not boast in anything No gifts, no power, no wisdom But I will boast in Jesus Christ His death and resurrection”
If we don’t boast and look to anything in this world, not gifts, not power, not wisdom, not relationships, not jobs, not money, not anything but Jesus, that’s when we truly can start living the way we were meant to live. We can live without fear, without worry, and can live life with childlike faith, joy and dependence on Jesus Christ. I find it’s always when I look to myself that I start messing up. When I boast in my abilities, and when I say boast, I mean take pride in my abilities and the things I’ve accomplished, that’s when the focus shifts off of Christ. When I lose focus of Him, I start trying to figure out everything, and then I get stressed and overwhelmed.
When I was a kid, I didn’t get stressed and overwhelmed because I completely trusted in my parents and was fully dependant on them. Now I’m an “adult”, I need to work on completely trusting my Heavenly Father and regaining that childlike trust and becoming fully dependant on Him. As amazing as my parents are, my Heavenly Father is even more amazing, even more loving. He’ll never let me down and always has my back. So in a sense, I can be 10 again, living life without worry, remembering to always place my trust in Jesus because He is always taking care of me, no matter what I’m going through.
THINGS WE GO THROUGH 