Sought through prayer and meditation...

“Rich people have small T.V.s and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big T.V.s” – Zig Ziglar

I am not entirely sure what the famous motivational speaker Zig Ziglar meant when he said this, but when I recite it to myself I can think about this statement in several ways. The quotation might suggest that rich people might be more educated than poor people. This is sometimes true, I suppose. Mr. Ziglar might also be speaking about the accumulation of knowledge as the path towards financial well-being. Again, this is might be true in some, possibly even most, cases. It is true that reading and studying can yield an education. It is also true than an education can lead to a better paying job and more financial security. However, the primary meaning I take from Mr. Ziglar’s words is this: people that are “rich” are rich in faith, spirit and knowledge. People that are “poor” are poor in faith, spirit and knowledge. Being rich does not necessarily mean financially rich and being poor does not necessarily mean financially poor.

The Holy Bible speaks many times about being rich in spiritual, heavenly things, not material things. This is just one example, from Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I like to think that Mr. Ziglar was referring to a spiritual library. This is something we all should have if we are truly on the path to a better, more fulfilling life. A spiritual library could simply consist of a Bible, a motivational book, a recovery oriented book, a self-improvement book, or a book of prayers. Remember what makes you what you are? Remember what defines who you are as a person and who you are becoming? If you forgot, here it is once more: You can tell what is important to a person by how they spend their time and what they make a priority in their lives. You can say that “God, faith, and working to become a better person is my primary focus in life”, but if you spend all of your time watching your flat-screen T.V., carelessly spending your money, hoarding your possessions, and generally living a life void of faith, God, and study, these things are obviously not as important as you claim they are. While I do enjoy watching T.V. on occasion, I find that I get the most fulfillment from studying spiritual things, meditating and praying, and trying to learn God’s will for me. Try it today. Turn of the T.V., and turn on your mind to the possibilities that await you through the study of spiritual things. As always, all you must do is begin.

EASY DOES IT...BUT DO IT!

Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? Why not just sit back, relax and take care of whatever it is you need to do another day? You are probably just too tired, over committed and just have too much on your plate. You certainly deserve a break. Why not just hunker down in your favorite recliner, click on the ol’ idiot box, and enjoy doing nothing for the afternoon? While you’re at it, you might as well crack open a can of your favorite adult beverage and call the pizza guy. You work hard all week, after all, and deserve a break – don’t you? Remember that old commercial from a certain fast food chain? It goes something like “You deserve a break today…”, and you certainly do. Mowing the lawn can wait until tomorrow. Paying the bills can wait until tomorrow. Getting some well needed exercise can certainly wait, as can cleaning up the house, taking the dog for a walk (that would exercise, and you’ve already decided against that), visiting your friends, or playing with your kids. You are just too tired from working all week, aren’t you? Just feel how tired and stressed you are. Your tiredness is almost overwhelming, isn’t it? I bet you don’t have energy to do much of anything. Today might be a good day to not even leave the house at all. Why not just commit to staying in your p.j.’s all afternoon? Who needs to get dressed, anyway? You probably don’t have anywhere important to go, and even if you did, that is going to wait until tomorrow, remember?

Today sounds like a good day to just sit at home and call in sick to life. Remember, you have earned it. Nobody works as hard as you, and it is likely that nobody would really understand just how busy your life is. Shall I pass you the box of Kleenex? There there, it’s okay. It might be a good idea to get onto your favorite social networking site and tell your friends just how tired and overwhelmed you are. You could post something like “feeling tired and stressed…my life is sooooo hard, and nobody understands me!” I would highly recommend that you include in this posting one of those cute frowning or sad faces L. That way all your friends will “like” your status, and some of them might even comment on it. That way your bad feelings will be validated by others and you can keep on feeling sorry for yourself. You will feel much better after you have sat in that comfy fo-leather recliner, watched reruns of your favorite “Housewives” program and eaten and drank yourself silly. That way, you can go to bed tonight feeling guilty about doing nothing all day. I am certain that you will have trouble sleeping due to your excessive inactivity and feelings of guilt from wasting away the day, so I would recommend you medicate yourself with your choice of sleeping pills or sedatives of any kind to assist you in reaching REM.

Tomorrow will come and you will wake up groggy at best. Your belly will be filled with the grease, alcohol and sugar you consumed yesterday, so I would advise that you take a double shot of that chalky pink liquid. Your head will hurt, and your body will feel heavy from overeating and sitting all day yesterday, so it might be a good idea to take two or three pain relievers and wash them down with multiple cups of coffee, maybe even one of those high-octane energy drinks. You woke up late and are rushing to find something to wear to work, the less wrinkled the better. You've got that oatmeal and fruit you bought for your “healthy eating” kick you were on a few weeks ago, but you don’t even have the time to make a quick breakfast. That’s okay. There are plenty of fast food joints on the way to work. You can grab a double sausage biscuit, super-size it for a buck (what a deal) and get two hash browns and another large coffee. You can race through traffic while inhaling the bag of grease you just bought and wash it down with a cigarette. For added effect, you might try tuning your radio to one of those morning talk shows which relentlessly tear others down, gossip, and talk about how bad the government is. That will help to solidify your negative attitude for the day, and you can arrive to work (late) feeling extra critical about the world, the price of gas, and the 40 hour work week. You will be well on your way to living as through you are a victim of circumstance, the unfair rules and laws, and powerless to change any of it. Sound good? Okay. Keep living that way, if you choose to. That is your call.

If I have described you, (even a little) and you’re mad, I have done my job. I am happy that you are upset. As a matter a fact I am really happy. You don’t know me, but you are likely wondering why the hell I would take pleasure in a complete stranger’s pain and discontent. That is a fair assessment, I suppose. The reason why I am happy that I’ve gotten you stirring is this: Until you realize that the unhappiness you are feeling is YOUR CHOICE you will not change. That is a fact. Until you awaken your mind to the truth (and you just might have gotten a dose of it), nothing is going to change. In order to start making positive changes in your life you must first become so dissatisfied, so uncomfortable and angry that you DECIDE to do something different. And that is where I come in. In the following weeks and months I will be posting excerpts inspired by my new book, Easy Does it…but do it. These excerpts will be based on the 12-steps of recovery but apply to ANYONE wanting something better out of life. If that is you, feel free to subscribe to this blog. You are also free to read about my current book, Chopping Wood & Carrying Water: One Day at a Time available on Amazon. I’ve provided the links below. Thanks for reading.

By the way – if you don’t like how you feel, DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

Best,

Paul

 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FIGADEE

http://freedomthroughchange.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ChoppingWood76

http://askdavid.com/reviews/book/addiction/6953

Overcoming the wind

"When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." ~ Henry Ford

Maybe it's because I'm a born and bred Michigan boy, or maybe it is my love for all things motorized and mechanical, but I find incredible power in the words of the late Mr. Henry Ford. Did you know that Mr. Ford failed hundreds of times before achieving success with the Ford Motor Company? I wonder how he kept himself motivated when adversity and hard times struck. He was a visionary, an incredible thinker, and did not take "no" for an answer. Henry lived a simple life as a child, raised as the son of a farmer in what is now Dearborn Michigan. Even as a young boy, Henry was fascinated with all things mechanical. He built water wheels, fixed watches and was mesmerized by steam engines of all sorts and sizes. His parents encouraged his mechanical tinkering and told him that he could be whatever he wanted to be - as long as he was willing to work for it.

Think for a moment about the power of his simple words: When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. I wonder what might have become of the automobile had the young Mr. Ford given up on his dream of the "horseless carriage." The modern automobile as we know it might be quite different today. It might not ever have existed at all.

It is easy to give up when we seem to be working against the wind. In aviation, the wind equals resistance. There are four forces working against an airplane: lift, thrust,weight and drag. In order for a plane to keep on course (and stay in the air), the pilot must constantly monitor for changes in these four areas. This is not intended to be a tutorial on the physics of flight, so I will stop right there and ask you to just consider this simple concept: ARE YOU WORKING AGAINST THE WIND, OR WITH IT?

Often times life seems to be working against us.The wind seems to be blowing directly in our faces. Nothing seems to go right. The plans we make don't work out. We get told no when we with think we should be told yes. We often question ourselves and consider giving up - be that with a health concern, a new job (or lack thereof), relationship problems, financial issues, sobriety, depression, worry, or just about anything else. It is easy to throw in the proverbial towel and say it just wasn't meant to be...maybe I'm just not cut out for _______ (fill in the blank). It is all too easy to find a variety of excuses and justifications to why we cannot do a certain thing.

The problem is not so much the WIND, but learning to overcome the initial takeoff. Once you fight like hell and get to a comfortable cruising altitude, it is then just a matter of making minor adjustments to stay on course. It is the taking off that is hard. The rest is just monitoring all gauges, keeping an eye on the weather, and enjoying the ride. And so it is with life.

My best friend since childhood knows all about this. He began his journey into becoming a pilot when he was around 18 years old, attending college and working at a small airport. He would tell me how he dreamed of one day becoming an attorney, practicing aeronautical law and owning his own plane. Guess what? Today he is a successful attorney and he does own his own plane; not just any kind of plane, but a small one-seat acrobatic plane. He is one of those guys that does flips and figure eights thousands of feet in the air on purpose. While this kind of flying (or flying in general) would be way out of my own comfort zone, my friend tells me it is actually quite easy..."it's just physics" he says. According to my ol' buddy, stunt flying is simply working with the wind, not against it. He's told me on countless occasions that scariest parts of flying his little stunt plane are the TAKEOFF and the LANDING. Pushing his plane into the sky requires a measure of confidence and reliance on his equipment. He needs to figure out exactly what the wind is doing, rev up his engine and fight his way into the sky. Once he is airborne, he again relies on his own skills as a pilot, reads his gauges to keep him on course and uses the wind to his advantage.

He has told me countless stories about having a great flight followed by white knuckle landing. This particular plane of his does not allow him to "spot" his landing. In essence, he cannot see over the front of his plane because he is sitting so low in the cockpit. He must rely on his coordinates and his gauges, ever watching for the tiniest changes in wind. He tells me that "it's just a trust thing...I know my plane is mechanically sound. I know all my gauges work, and I know that the landing might be rough...but I know I will be okay if I just trust that all will be well."And so it is with faith in God that we will get to our destination, safely, IF WE TRUST HIM.

Here is what I ask of you today: DO NOT BE SCARED OF STRONG WINDS. THINGS ARE OFTEN TIMES MOST DIFFICULT IN THE BEGINNING. Under no circumstances should you ever give up. Keep on fighting the wind until you have come to the place where you want to be. Too many people give up on their dreams RIGHT BEFORE they have achieved a comfortable cruising altitude. DO NOT LET THIS BE YOU! Be inspired. Get into the business of living. Keep on fighting for your rightful place in the sky, then adjust accordingly. JUST FOR TODAY.

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Be blessed and keep chopping wood and carrying water.

~ Paul

If you would like to know more about the book that inspired this blog, you can click on any of the links below:

http://freedomthroughchange.com/

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FIGADEE

https://www.facebook.com/ChoppingWood76

http://askdavid.com/reviews/book/addiction/6953

NO EXCUSES!

“If you really want to do something, you will find a way; if you don’t, you will find an excuse” – Jim Rohn

I love this quote. This is the essence of either getting something done or finding an excuse to not get something done. The choice is yours. Yesterday was a big day in your life. You sincerely took one thing in your life you have wanted to change for some time, wrote this thing down, and decided how you would go about changing it by writing down action steps. You should feel accomplished, proud, and motivated. If you are not quite there yet, do not worry. Today’s exercise in change will help you get there, I promise!

Today we will take a close look at the art of excuses. Excuses are those little justifications and rationalizations that keep us from taking action in life. Consider the following statement closely: excuses are an attempt to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Say this to yourself again, but using an “I” statement: the excuses I make in life are attempts to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. What do I mean by pain? Firstly, pain is relative. Pain is something we imagine, and it exists only in the mind. I am not talking about physical pain. I am referring to something we believe will be uncomfortable in some way. For example: if you have decided to change your exercise habits in life and get into better shape, there is only one thing stopping you from doing so – your own justifications and rationalizations. The way you are thinking about exercise is all wrong. You perceive that it will be difficult - painful in some way, and your mind immediately devises a way to give you an “out”. It is all too easy to get off of work, grab dinner on the way home, and plop in front of the television to watch Seinfeld reruns. It would be more difficult to pack a gym bag and commit to going to the gym after work for an hour.

While going to the gym after work may not be actually painful, if it is not something you are in the habit of doing, it is minimally uncomfortable to change your routine. Humans resist change because it is uncomfortable. We like to do what is easy, and easy becomes a habit. Habits can be positive or negative. If I am in the habit of going home immediately after work, sitting on my rear end and doing nothing, I have formed this habit through a series of excuses. I have gotten into the habit of justifying and rationalize why not to exercise.  Do any of these sound familiar to you? I will start exercising once my work schedule slows down…I will make it to the gym for my New Year’s resolution (why not now?)…I will start exercising once my wife/husband does…I will start eating a healthier diet next week…I would start exercising now, but I’m just too__________. Read the following statement again: the excuses I make in life are attempts to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Write down in your journal what excuses you might be making to avoid changing the things in your life that you can. Think about these excuses carefully. As we discussed earlier in this book, wanting to change and intending to change require just one thing…ACTION. Benjamin Franklin said that “he that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” Look at the excuses you have been making once more, and finally decide to expel them from your life. You will be pleased with the results. Just begin.

Feel free to check out the book that inspired this post at:

freedomthroughchange.com

Best ~ Paul

Kill your television

“A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” – William G.T. Shedd

Television is a formidable opponent, and it is one of humankind’s sneakiest enemies today. Untold numbers of hours are spent by people every day starting at an electronic box, watching images of other people participating in their life. With more cable channels than ever, it is quite possible to click on the old idiot box and “tune in” to watch people in all sorts of situations: a bunch of strangers living in a house together (we call this entertainment?); a group of people living on an island, attempting to survive (with film crews close by, of course); “celebrity news” type programs, which catch us up on the latest Hollywood gossip (who cares?); and my personal favorite topping the list would have to be the “police” type shows, in which millions of viewers can sit comfortably in their favorite chairs, sipping a cold beverage, all while watching complete strangers at possibly the worst moments of their lives. I have always found the “police” genre of programming to be a real indication of humanity today. We take pleasure – we even call it entertainment – to watch other people suffer. Watching women get beaten, children taken from their drug-abusing parents, gang members shooting at one another, and homeless individuals getting harassed for being homeless. It is all too easy to sit in the comfort of our own homes, eyes glued to the newest sixty-inch flat screen T.V., and watch life happen.

The lives we live have become too safe. Watching too much T.V. is not tuning in, it is actually tuning out. We have become a sedentary, complacent society. We have become too dependent on media to provide us thrills and adventure in life. It is a sad reality, but one that is true. Life begins right outside your comfort zone. Those seven little words are game changers. Do you like to travel? What about instead of watching endless hours of travel programming on T.V., you took a trip? Don’t have the money? Why not start small? You could go explore a town near your home, learn about its history, and maybe even chat with the locals. Do you like to cook? Or would you like to know how to cook? What if, instead of watching show after cooking show, you found a recipe and tried preparing it as a surprise to your spouse or best friend? Have you ever seen the countless “get ripped, get buff, lose fifty pounds in thirty days” commercials? What if, instead of watching other people exercise, you got up off your comfortable couch and got moving? Not next week, not as a New Year’s resolution, but TODAY. If you have become bored in life, it is because you have become too comfortable. If you do not like the way you feel, do something different. All you must do is begin.

CHANGE STARTS HERE.

Today you have a choice...

"The strongest principle of growth lies in that of human choice" - George Eliot

What an awesome thing. We have a CHOICE in how our day will go. I was once a victim of circumstance. I thought that only some people were meant to live "good lives", and I was not one of them. Through a series of "takin' lumps" (what I refer to as taking the bumps, bruises and the pain of life from thinking and behaving the WRONG way) I have learned the hard way that I DO HAVE A CHOICE, and so do you. Today will go about as good as you want it to go. You can be as happy as you wish to be today, or any day, if you DECIDE TO BE HAPPY. 

Happiness and contentment ARE choices, and ones that need to be made each and every day. Happiness is truly and inside job: happiness does not come from having money, possessions, a good job, being popular or from ANY external force. Happiness comes from within. Happiness is about wanting what you already have, being grateful for the little things, and living in the moment. As the Bible and any 12-step program tells us, life exists IN THE PRESENT. LIFE IS HAPPENING NOW. You cannot be happy tomorrow when it is still TODAY. You cannot be happy when___________ or when___________. In other words, do not put conditions on being happy. Putting conditions on happiness is like a dog chasing its tail...it never quite gets there, and drives itself crazy trying! 

Take an inventory of where you are RIGHT NOW, and think about what you have to be grateful for: your health, no matter how good or bad it might be, you are ALIVE if you are reading this, which translates to you having a CHOICE in how you spend your day. A choice in the thoughts that you think. A choice in what kinds of things you will do. You have a choice to either sit on the sidelines of life or get into the game. We are all here on loan...none of us know when our time will come. We can't be certain how long we have on this earth. It is up to us to make the most our of every single moment, following God's will, and just do our very best. 

This is one of my all time favorite passages from the Bible: 

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." ~ Luke 11: 9-10

Choose your attitude today. Ask the One who created you for help. Roll up your sleeves, sharpen you axes, and get into the business of creating the kind of life you want!

facebook.com/choppingwood76

freedomthroughchange.com

Roll up your sleeves, sharpen your axes, and get to work

“Change your thoughts and you change your world” – Norman Vincent Peale

We have spent considerable time thus far looking at the way that we think. Changing the tone of your habitual thinking is the one thing that can begin to change your life for the better starting today. Life is pure perception. Shakespeare said that “nothing in life is good or bad but thinking makes it so.” Take, for example, the dreaded Monday morning. For years and years I absolutely hated Monday mornings. Monday mornings meant a return to the grind; back to work, back to dealing with people and problems. Back to fighting traffic, paying bills, cooking dinner, getting to bed early, and so on. As you read yesterday, if I attach a negative thought to some person, place, or thing, I will have a negative reaction emotionally. A negative emotion can only produce a negative action or behavior, and negative actions or behaviors will only produce negative results.

I challenge you to pick one part of your life today and work on changing the way you think about it. Remember this: WE ARE WHAT WE THINK. If I think over and over again, I love Mondays! It means the start of a new week, and a chance to work on becoming a better me. It means I have been given one more chance at this journey called life! If you begin to change the way you think about Mondays, or any other area of your life for that matter, you will begin to feel differently. You will begin to act differently, and of course the results of your actions will change as well. Think back to day two when you began looking at your thought diet. Carefully analyze what you are feeding your mentality. Are you feeding it jealous thoughts? Victim thoughts? Thoughts about lack, worry, or fear? What if you were to change the way you thought about just one area of your life, starting today, and changed this thought for good? Do you think you could keep this up for an entire day? What about an entire week? Try this exercise to help you: pick one area of your life you view as problematic and change the thoughts attached to it. I find in incredibly helpful to use sticky notes for this exercise. Write down alternate positive thoughts to replace the negative thoughts you have attached to this area of your life on several notes and place them where you will see them. It is helpful to place them in areas of your home, office, or car where you will be forced to look at them. I put one on the bathroom mirror, one on the dashboard of my vehicle, one in my wallet, and affix one to my computer monitor at work. Every single time that a negative thought pops into your head, immediately disregard it and think the positive thought instead. It sounds too simple to actually work, but it does! Try it today. All you must do is begin. 

For some more insight, inspiration, and direction, please visit my website. You can download my book "Chopping Wood & Carrying Water: One Day at a Time" For free all day today. Roll up your sleeves and get to work!

freedomthroughchange.com

Thanks for reading.

Paul