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“To Lead with Consistency in Adversity, Transition or Challenge. Leadership is Proven in the Tough Times!”
~ by Brian Houston
Your behavior is a reflection
Your behavior is a reflection of what you truly believe.
by Hyrum W. Smith
You’re as young as you allow yourself . . .
I am not sure who said it first, but the quote “You’re only as old as you feel.” I don’t think is very good, because some day’s my body reminds me of how old I really am. I have come up with a new quote as I believe that it all has to do with you mindset.
“You’re as young as you allow yourself to be,
even when your body feels old.”
~ by Lisa Rae Combs
Melissa and Audrey going down a slide at the park.
Maturing and Growing Young . . .
I have been reading a book called “The other 90%” by Robert K. Cooper. I am not quite finished reading it yet, but would recommend it to any and every one. There are a few things in chapter 17 that I have been thinking about and wanted to share them with you.
First I will quote the two paragraphs that I just believe are profound!
“Scientists have discovered that with a broad range of active intellectual interests and a vigorous lifestyle, your body, mind, and spirit can keep unlocking hidden capacities and there’s a great chance that we can be as sharp – or sharper – at age 70, 80, and even 90 as we were at 20. We are designed to last a remarkable 120 years; most of us die in late middle age, around 75.”
“As living cells – or as people – there is no staying the same. If we aim for some middle ground or status quo, it’s an illusion – beneath the surface what’s actually happening is we’re dying, not growing. And the goal of a lifetime is continued growth, not adulthood. As Rene’ Dubos put it, “Genius is childhood recaptured.” For this to happen, studies show that we must recapture – or prevent the loss of – such child-like traits as the ability to learn, to love, to laugh about small things, to leap, to wonder, and to explore. It’s time to rescue ourselves from our grown-up ways before it’s too late.”
Just ponder on those two paragraphs for a little while.
When I read these two paragraphs in the book “The Other 90%”, my first thought was: no wonder God tells us in his word that we must become like little children, to have that childlike faith. I always loved this in scripture; it was very clear to me. Most adults get so set in their ways that they no longer trust, forgive, no longer have that wonder, the ability to learn, to explore and to laugh at the little things in life. Adults have lost the ability to even laugh at themselves or laugh with others when we do something silly. Adults tend to bend toward the harsh judgmental attitude that everyone is out to get them or to make fun of them. What happened to the days that we laughed at each other and with each other for doing something or saying something funny, even when we weren’t trying to be funny? We would laugh together hysterically until our stomachs hurt. It never entered our minds of putting the other person down or trying to make them look bad. It was just funny.
As children we believe that we can do anything. We are adventurous, explorers, and we are determined to learn something even if it is hard. That is until we are discouraged and told that we can’t. What are some of the things others have told you that you can’t do? Maybe we should re-explore some of those things that draw at our heart strings. Maybe it’s playing an instrument, drawing, painting, starting a new business, etc. etc. The list goes on and on.
I wholeheartedly believe that the Almighty God of Creation created mankind with a very sharp mind. We do not have to fall into the trap of listening to man saying that as we grow older we lose this function or that function. Please don’t get me wrong I know that there are people that have medical issues that they are dealing with that may be real issues. However, I also believe that there are a lot more people that are dealing with issues that are just symptoms and could be reversed with just a few basic things.
Physical activity is very important for our bodies, the flesh and bones that carry us around. If we do not take care of our bodies properly we are robbing ourselves of years of life that we could and should be living. Get up and move! Those old bones have a lot of life left in them if you get the blood flowing. You may have to start slow, but continue to build your activity. You will be amazed at how you feel after a few days, weeks, months, etc.
Mind activity is also very important for longevity of life. Our minds are a beautiful thing. (Hey, I think there is a movie called that, or something like that.) Anyway our minds are a treasure that is just waiting to be unlocked. Scientist says that we don’t even use but a very small percentage of our brain. What a shame! Just think of the things we could do if we became lifelong learners. Do things to keep your mind active. Put puzzles together, word scrambles, read about new things, take a class in something, but keep your mind actively learning. I love hearing about older people (that is people older than me) that go back to college to earn degrees. Absolutely beautiful!!! We could learn a lot from people that are older than ourselves, they have so much knowledge and wisdom if we would just stop and listen.
Spiritual, we are spiritual beings that live in a physical body. Our spiritual being is what gives us the life driving force that makes us who we are. This is the part of mankind that touches God. And the part of man that God speaks to.
“One belief about growing older is that the mind steadily, irrevocably deteriorates, until you end up stuck in an inevitable web of confusion, frailty, and despair. This belief powerfully affects our thinking, resulting in hundreds of small but insidious habits and choices that conform to our view of an aging person, not a young person, which can shape the second half-century of your life in a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Quote from the book “The Other 90%” Chapter 17.
Let us stop listening to all the lies of “You’re too Old” or “You’re too Young”! You are at the perfect age to do whatever it is that God has placed in your heart right now! Whatever your passion! Who made the rule you have to be this age or that age. I say Hog Wash! Go for it! The only one that can hold you back is yourself. And that is if you listen to all those negative Nancy’s out there. (Sorry if your name is Nancy, just a figure of speech.)
If you are 75 you have just reached middle age! Just think of the possibilities you could do with the rest of your life. 120 years sounds good to me!!! That means I am still a teenager, but you better believe that if I reach 120 before the Lord calls me home I will continue learning, and loving life actively. No rocking chair for this grandma, except to rock my grandbabies!
Book Referenced:
The Other 90% ~ By Robert K. Cooper
How to Unlock Your Vast Untapped Potential for Leadership and Life
Copyright 2001 Published by: Three Rivers Press, New York, New York
A special thanks to my daughter-in-law Melissa who lovingly proofreads all of my articles!
As always I am honored that you stopped by to read my article. I hope it blesses and encourages you. If there are any topics you would like me to talk about please comment below.
Have a Beautiful Day!
Lisa
The Ultimate Question . . .
The Ultimate Question . . .
Do you Honestly? Truthfully? Whole Heartedly? Believe? Trust?
God will or has done what He said He Will Do????!!!!
The above is something we really need to ponder on before we answer. Because most everyone will answer quickly with a resounding YES! Yes I believe God’s word.
Let me challenge you just a little ~ give you something to ponder for a while.
This very question is what I would write on the board every Sunday in my prayer group. We always started out with the above question. Why you ask?
When we pray to God, we pray in a few different ways:
- Some pray believing that God will do what He said He would do in His Word.
- Some pray hoping that God will do what He said He would do in His Word.
You see if we pray just hoping that God will do what He said in His word, we are really praying in doubt. When we pray in doubt, this is unbelief, and therefore, we have cancelled our prayer out.
The Bible, God’s word says that if we have faith (confidence) and do NOT doubt (unbelief), and we believe (confidence in truth), we WILL receive whatever we ask for in prayer. You see a lot of people pray hoping that God will answer their prayer.
This is the very reason that I would post what I call “The Ultimate Question” on the board, because it would remind us to think about what we are praying ahead of time. And provoke us to really ponder if we are praying in belief and trust or if we were praying in doubt and hope.
There is a lot more that can be said about prayer, but for now I will leave you with “The Ultimate Question” to mediate on.
Do you Honestly? Truthfully? Whole Heartedly? Believe? Trust?
God will or has done what He said He Will Do????!!!!
Scriptures for the Bible of what God says in His word:
Matthew 21:21-22 (New Living Translation)
Then Jesus told them, “I assure you, if you have faith and don’t doubt, if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Mark 11:22-26 (Amplified Bible)
And Jesus, replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly]. Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believe that what he says will take place, it will be done for him. For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it].
NOTE: If you have any questions or topics you would like me to talk about, please write your question in the comments below and I will get back with you.
Thank you for visiting and following my blog. I am honored.
Lisa Rae Combs
Change . . .
“Change” is such a small word, yet most people resist it or are afraid of “Change”. This has always been quite interesting to me, because change is inevitable. From the day we were conceived in our mother’s womb the one thing we have experienced is “Change”. All of creation changes constantly. There is not one thing that was created that stays the same. So why do humans resist change?
One day I was pondering this thing called change and this came to me:
God is the author of change for He created the Seasons.
Everything in nature is constantly changing.
If we are not changing we begin to become stagnate just like the Dead Sea. We start to die. The Dead Sea has only one stream that runs into it, but nothing runs out of it.
This is how some people live their lives, always wanting people to give to them, but they never give anything out. Eventually this kind of living causes them to become dead inside, just like the Dead Sea.
So why do we resist change?
We become comfortable and complacent, and when we allow these two things to take over they become our mindset. When we start to resist change we start to say things like: we like the way things are, we know where everything is at, we know how to work the program, if it’s not broke why fix it, etc.
To the “If it’s not broke don’t fix it” ~ I always say,
“The outdoor toilet wasn’t broke, but we sure do like our inside toilet.”
Just think about where we would be in society if every person allowed this resistance to change to become their mindset. We would not have all of the advances in technology, medicine, science, etc. The list could go on. People that do not resist change are the ones that become innovators, world changers, and people that make history. Just think if Grace Hopper fell into the trap of becoming comfortable and complacent? We would not have the advances in computer programming that most everyone uses today (that we can’t seem to live without, if you’re like me). Most everyone loves what we can do with computers today and when we look back at how things use to be we say things like “I wonder how we did all this before we had ________”.
So why are we resistant to change? Just think about what we could do or become if we just allowed ourselves to dream a little. Allowed ourselves to color outside the lines. How about try something new or learn something new. Let me challenge you to step out and do something you always wanted to do deep down inside, but were discouraged because someone said to you that “it can’t be done, you can’t do that, you’re too old, or “you’re to young”. Let me be the one to encourage you to get out and explore and develop all of those hidden treasures that are inside of you!
“Dream and let’s Embrace Change”
Definitions below come from Dictionary.com
com·fort·a·ble
1. (of clothing, furniture, etc.) producing or affording physical comfort, support, or ease: a comfortable chair; comfortable shoes.
2. being in a state of physical or mental comfort; contented and undisturbed; at ease: to be comfortable in new shoes; I don’t feel comfortable in the same room with her.
3. (of a person, situation, etc.) producing mental comfort or ease; easy to accommodate oneself to or associate with: She’s a comfortable person to be with.
4. more than adequate or sufficient: a comfortable salary.
5. Obsolete . cheerful.
com·pla·cent
1. pleased, especially with oneself or one’s merits, advantages, situation, etc., often without awareness of some potential danger or defect; self-satisfied: The voters are too complacent to change the government.
2. pleasant; complaisant.
1. an attitude, disposition, or mood.
2. an intention or inclination.
Committed or Controlled?
RANDOM THOUGHT: Committed or Controlled?
When your planner is full of all kinds of things that we have to be at from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm is this a sign of someone that is committed or controlled?
What ever happened to spontaneity? Do we even know what that word means anymore??
Spontaneity = (according to Dictonary.com)
1. the state, quality, or fact of being spontaneous.
2. spontaneous activity.
3. spontaneities, spontaneous impulses, movements, or actions.
Our lives need to have room for spontaneity. If our planners are so full and scheduled then there are many things we are missing out on in life.
First is actual rest.
When our schedule is so full we do not get adequate rest that our bodies need. God created our bodies to need rest. If we do not get adequate rest we will become weak, moody, sluggish, unable to think clearly, and just down right exhausted. If you get to the point of pure exhaustion it can be very dangerous, physically, mentally and spiritually. Rest is when our bodies are re-energized.
Second, we miss out on new opportunities.
If our schedule is so booked, we will miss out on a lot that life has to offer. That surprise date that your special someone would have planned. We will miss out on a friend getting tickets to that event we always wanted to go to, but they could not ask us to go because we are so busy. What about the times that we are sitting around the dinner table enjoying a conversation with our family; but this never happens, because we are so busy that we never make it to the dinner table. When our schedule is planned out to the last detail of every hour, this is where we lose those missed opportunities.
Third, we miss out on the spontaneity of God.
I know I got some of your attention now. What? God is spontaneous? Yes He is! When we are so busy a lot of times we do not hear what God is speaking to us. He may want us to stop by the river to share a few things with us, but we are so busy we never hear His voice. He may ask us to stop by someone’s house just to visit with them to show that they matter. What about the times when the Lord says, “Go buy that man’s cup of coffee.” Or stop and pick up this or that for so and so. Go tell the lady she looks beautiful in that color. These are times that God is spontaneous with us. The rewards can be just incredible, but we miss all these opportunities because our schedule is too committed.
For those of us that say, Hey I totally understand and agree people should not allow work or extra curriculum to control our lives. Let me just say that we can be over committed and controlled by an organization as well. Even the church. Sorry if I got someone’s tail feathers ruffled. Let me just say that I am totally committed to my local church and am involved in ministry. But, I don’t have to be there every time the doors are open. I have known some people that are controlled by the church schedule as much as someone that is controlled by a work schedule. Our lives need to have balance. If we are so committed or controlled by something – - – we will lose the time for, a personal relationship with God, time for ourselves to rest and be refreshed, much less time for our spouse, children or friends.
How do we know if our life is out of balance? Well, are we able to have someone over for dinner at the last minute, ever? Or do we have to plan it weeks or months in advance? Are we able to wake up on a morning and decide what we are going to do that day, or do we have every day scheduled and it is inflexible to change? What would happen if someone called us up and asked us or our family over for dinner this week? Would we be able to go? (Now I know that there are times that we have a commitment that we can’t break and that is not what I am referring to.)
Life needs to have balance. God first, time for self-second, spouse third and family & friends fourth and EVERYTHING else comes after that. Why do I put it in this order?
God first ~ because we were created to fellowship with God first and for most, we were created to be worshipers of God.
Second ~ time for ourselves, if we don’t have time for ourselves we are not very nice to be around.
Third ~ your Spouse (if you are married), because this should be your very best friend in the whole world! This is the person you chose to spend the rest of your life with, the person you wanted to share everything with.
Fourth ~ family and friends. We were created for relationship. We were not created to be alone. We need other people in our lives.
Fifth ~ everything else. Do not put the “everything else” above any of the first four. Because the first four are really what life is all about anyway!
So do you have a committed life or a controlled life? Or is your life full of commitments that are controlling you? For me I want a spontaneously, committed life that is controlled by God.
ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER
Accountability Partner
Accountability ~ this word is used quite a bit, especially in “Christian” circles.
the state of being accountable, liable, or answerable.
Accountability is a term used to describe how reliable someone is. It is a positive character trait that demonstrates someone’s responsibility and professionalism. If someone is accountable, they will meet their expectations.
And while being “Accountable” is important, an “Accountability Partner” can also become a crutch and make people lazy. What do I mean by that?
This where God gave me a revelation . . . I was thinking about all the “great” men and women of God that I admire, like Joyce Meyer, Christine Cain, Darlene Zscheck, John Maxwell, Joseph Prince, Brian Houston, etc. I was thinking about how relentless, unwavering, undaunting, steadfast they are in Christ. How much they shine and stand firm for Kingdom of God. Then I started to think about how they are just as human as the rest of us and they deal with frustrations, disappointments, bad moods, being hurt by others, etc. the same as the rest of us. Otherwise everything that we face, they also deal with. So what is the key to their strong stance? Well it is the decisions that they make on a daily bases.
These normal human beings that I admire are just as human as I am, the difference is that they have determined what their goals are and they are faithful to fulfilling those goals regardless of if things get hard. And things always get hard at one point or another. When have you ever set a goal and had it go smoothly? Whenever we set a goal it seems that “things” try to slow us down, get in our way or just stop us all together. “Things” are different, but yet the same for everyone. Some examples of “things” are: getting discouraged, getting our feelings hurt, lack of support from others, etc. Or maybe I should just say “things” are the excuses that we come up with as to why we have not or are not able to fulfill our dreams and goals.
I then started to evaluate my own life and how in my life it seems that I depend on “accountability partners”. I really enjoy exercising, but I am not very dedicated unless I have a work out partner, someone that I am accountable to. My friend Melissa and I would go to the Peak (a gym) three to four times a week right after work. And on the days that I didn’t feel like going, I still went because I knew that Melissa was meeting me there, and this gave me the motivation to go. Once I got there I was fine and really enjoyed it. We stopped going to the gym two years ago, due to my job becoming way to demanding. I hate to admit to you that I have not exercised on regular basis since that time. I have talked about the need to start exercising again, but haven’t done anything about it. Why? Because for or during the time slots in my day that would work out in my schedule, I did not have an accountability partner.
I also started to think about my relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and how I have let the time that I would spend with Him just slip away. Other things that I just let slip away are my times of prayer, my times of studying His Word, and my times of just reading a good book. Why? Oh, well, I could tell you about all of the reasons why (excuses), like working full-time, going to college full-time, having a husband, kids and a granddaughter, but honestly these are all excuses. The fact of the matter is “We Make Time for the Things that are Important to Us”. Every person has the same number of hours in a day, and we all get to choose how we use those hours. How we decide to use our 24 hours will decide what dreams and goals we will fulfill.
As I was pondering on all of these different things in my life, I started to think about an athlete that goes to the Olympics (funny I did not even realize that it was the year for the Olympics). Someone that trains for the Olympics gets up early to practice. Some may get up at three, four or even five in the morning to make sure they get practice time in BEFORE going to work. They are not doing it because someone is waiting for them. They do it because of self-motivation. They are running after a dream, a goal that they want to fulfill – The gold medal. As I was thinking about the athletic running the race to win the gold metal I thought about all the effort, sacrifice and hard work that they put forth just for a chance to win the ultimate price – The Gold Metal. Any athlete that trains for the Olympics does not need an “Accountability Partner”. They have a determination deep within them that they are going to get in the best physical shape that they possibly can, or they are going to study every chance they can get so they can win. I would dare say that they don’t spend a lot of time just watching TV, or non-productive activities. (Please don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that we need to always be working or studying, but I think that there may be something we can learn from this for our own lives, the goals and dreams that we have.) You see a person really doesn’t need an accountability partner to motivate them to reach their goals or to fulfill their dreams. We can waste a lot of our time waiting for our accountability partners and that is not what will help us to reach our goals or to fulfill our dreams. A person simply must have the drive, determination to reach their dreams and goals.
“Do not go where the pat…
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
I love it! It makes me think of new adventures, innovation, etc . . . dare to pursue your dream my friends!!! Just because it hasn’t been done, doesn’t mean it can’t.
