Category: Lifestyle

It seems like everyone is trying to figure out their life’s purpose right now. Wondering what they are supposed to be doing with their lives. I count myself among those searching for deeper meaning and purpose, however, I’m not sure I’ve found a definitive answer yet. What I have found out is this: Just because you don’t know what to do with your life, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do anything at all.

We have a finite amount of time on this earth. Just a few days to hold someone’s hand or offer an encouraging word. To let someone ahead of us in traffic. To enjoy a sunrise. Time is ticking and eventually it runs out for each one of us.

I do know that what we do while we’re here matters. In fact, it matters a great deal. So be nice. Eat your veggies. Move your feet. Visit the beach every so often, it renews your soul. Become the person you admire. Don’t let the cynics win, fight them with everything you have.

Don’t watch the news. Watch the sunset instead. Hug your dog. Hug your kids. Call your parents, they won’t be here forever. Stretch. Breathe. Love. Stop binge watching TV, it’s not becoming. Read a book instead, it opens your heart and your mind. Write a book. It frees your soul. Be an inspiration to someone else.

Never assume that another person has it better than you do. Offer love, always and in every circumstance. Give your time without grumbling and complaining. Time is the greatest gift you have.

Laugh more often. Live your life in such a way that other people see God in you. Be someone’s friend. Pray for people who are mean to you. Pray extra hard for the extra mean ones.

Smile a lot. Smile when you don’t feel like it because it will make you feel like it.

Find something you love and do it. Simply because you enjoy it. Find someone who needs help and help them. Be kind.  Be the good in the world that you want to see.  

Who knows? Maybe these small things are our life’s purpose. Maybe we will find deeper meaning in life when we open our hearts to the things that have meaning to begin with.

It has been several years since my dad passed away, but I am fortunate to have saved some old voicemail messages from him.  It’s good to replay them and hear his voice. But there is one message from him, the last one he ever left, where he had asked me to call him back. But I didn’t. I waited a day. Maybe two. And then it was too late.  He was gone.

Even after all this time, I have felt guilty that I didn’t call him back right away. Maybe I could have talked to him just one more time.

But today I listened to this old message again and I heard something entirely different. His message ends with these exact words,

“Remember, one thing.  Remember it for all time.  I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you!”

Today I realized that the only reason my dad had called me was to tell me that he loved me.  He said it four times, but still I had missed the point of his message. I suppose that I was too busy feeling guilty about not calling him back.

It also struck me this morning, how much this reminds me of our relationship with God. He calls out to us, “I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you!” But we too miss the message, we don’t have time to listen or are too busy to notice.

I am incredibly thankful for the handful of messages I still have from my dad. But his last message is the most special of them all. So, thanks Dad, for the best last words ever.

In Judith Bardwick’s book “Danger in the Comfort Zone,” the author writes, ““The comfort zone is a behavioral state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviors to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk.”

Read the entire article here:

https://www.amli.com/blog/how-to-get-out-of-your-comfort-zone

Mental fitness is just as important as physical fitness. And, like physical fitness, it takes more than just one workout to develop it. Improving our mental fitness takes time and practice but it can lead to a greater sense of well-being by relieving stress and anxiety.

Read the entire article here:

https://www.amli.com/blog/how-to-build-mental-fitness

It seems like it should be easy to put yourself first. To spend time doing the things you love and want to pursue. The problem seems to be that life continually gets in the way. Obligations and commitments. Families and jobs. Long laundry lists of items that need to be completed.

Read entire article here:

https://www.amli.com/blog/how-to-make-yourself-a-priority-in-2023

Have you ever seen a t-shirt with the words, “A few things are possible.”

Of course not! That would be a lousy t-shirt, and no one would buy it! Mentally, however, we buy into the idea that only a few things in our lives are possible. We consistently doubt ourselves and our abilities.

Ironically, many of us have probably seen a t-shirt with the words, “All things are possible with God.” The question is, do we believe that? Or does it just sound good on a shirt? And if we say we believe it, then do we believe ALL things are possible? Or just a few?  It is a radical thought to believe that all things are possible. “All things” covers everything. It leaves nothing out.

The challenge in believing that all things are possible lies in how we believe. For instance, when we believe in something, there is always room for doubt. Believing is based upon what we have been taught. Often, we are taught things which we find out later are untrue. We must be able to believe with our whole hearts. Without a doubt. And, that can be pretty hard to do.

I suggest that we approach our belief from a place of knowing instead. Knowing something is entirely different from believing. Knowing is based on our own personal contact. Knowing comes from a personal encounter and it leaves no room for doubt. For instance, we might believe that we can ride a bike but until we do it, until we come into personal contact with it, we will not know it.

“All things are possible with God” is a verse that gives us hope. 

Often, however, we live lives where everything seems to be impossible. We might ask but we do not receive. We might try but we give up too soon. Or we try with half a heart, saying things like, “This probably won’t work.” or “I don’t want to get my hopes up.” We shoot ourselves in the spiritual foot before we even start. 

The reality is that hope may be the one thing that can get us through. So, why not get your hopes up? There is always more hope. It never runs out. Hope springs eternal. And, it is vital. It is more than just a positive outlook on life. It is a true gift from God, much like faith and love.  

By using the gift of hope and incorporating it into our daily lives we can start to live from a place of knowing. Because living in the hope that God gives us is one way to draw closer to Him. Knowing God is a game changer. Knowing exists without doubt. When we get to know God, truly know Him, that is when the possibilities get real. And that includes all of them.

Photo courtesy pixabay/jplenio

Why do we think we are incapable of so many things?  What causes us to doubt ourselves and our abilities?  To look past our strengths and focus on what we can’t do rather than what we can?

Several years ago, my husband and I took a trip to the Grand Caymans and went snuba diving.  Snuba is like scuba in that you have a mask and a regulator to breathe but your air supply runs to a tank that stays on the surface of the water.  After listening to the instructions about snuba diving, I began to try to go underwater and breathe through the regulator.  Each time I would attempt to go under, however, I would immediately come back to the surface.  After several unsuccessful attempts, the instructor looked at me and said, “You can do this.  But you have been conditioned to believe that you cannot breathe underwater.  You just have to tell your mind that you can.”

And with that, on my next try, I was able to go under and stay under.  It was that simple.

This morning at the gym, I had a similar experience.  I go to boot camp where we do a different set of strength training exercises each day.  Today we were doing an exercise where you kneel on the floor and then jump up into a full squat.  I have been going to boot camp for three years and have yet to master this.  Today, as I kneeled for the umpteenth time my trainer walked over and said, “You can do this. You have all the strength in your legs to do it.  You just have to tell your mind that you can.” 

As soon as she said this, I recalled the words of the snuba diving instructor. They were nearly identical. I began to shake my head in disbelief. I had just been telling myself that I was unable to do this exercise. The trainer called to me again, “Swing your arms back. Concentrate. Exhale!” and then she demonstrated the move landing neatly on her feet.  I got on my knees, swung my arms back, and then jumped as hard as I could, and I did it! I landed on my feet!  It wasn’t perfect and it wasn’t pretty, but I did it.  All of a sudden, I could see possibilities where none had existed before. 

And then I grinned like an idiot for a full five minutes.

The power of the mind is staggering. So it’s important to remember that we can override our body when it tries to tell us that it is too tired or not strong enough.  I know this is true because I have experienced it. But it is also true for overcoming other obstacles.  Things like wanting to write, create, sing, and dance. All the things that we perceive we are not talented enough, coordinated enough, or brave enough to do.

So, what are you telling yourself that you cannot do? 

Maybe it’s time to tell yourself that you can.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com