Perfection

I recently talked to an elderly man who had been blind for the last 60 years. He is still married to the same woman whom he wed a few years before he was struck blind in the war. Very seldom do I ever get a chance to talk to a blind person, so I took advantage of the time I had with him. I also knew that if I offended him and he wanted to beat me up, I had a slight advantage.

One of the questions I asked this man was about his dreams. I was curious about if he saw anything when he dreamed. He said he did and that his dreams were in vivid color and everything he sees is in perfection. If he dreams or even thinks about a pine tree, what he sees is a perfect pine tree. Not one with dead branches or any defects.

This man then went to say when he talks to people he has a mental picture in his head of what they look like. Also, when he talks to his wife or thinks about his wife he sees her as the lovely young bride of so many years ago. He said that he knows she has gray hair and wrinkles, but in his mind he can't picture that. He only pictures her in absolute perfection.

What would it take for us to see people in perfection? To see people for their full potential. Loving those around us for all the right reasons, rather than looking for fault in them.

Move

"Draw near to God and he will draw near to you." - James 4:8

One translation I have heard for this simple yet profound scripture is, "You don't move, I don't move." This concept of moving is true for so many other things in life. If you are moving towards improving yourself then helpful people will appear in your path. Things will begin opening up for you. Those that move towards getting psychically fit will soon find new information, techniques, people, etc. that will help them to achieve this goal.

What are you moving towards? Whatever it is, the quicker you move the quicker it will come to you!

Significance

What do you know about your great grandparents? I would think that if you asked 10 people this question, then 9 would say they don't know anything about their great grandparents. They wouldn't know what their great grandparents interests were. What their hopes and dreams were. Or anything about what really made them tick ... what made them unique.

I think it's natural for us to have a natural yearning to "leave our mark" on this planet. I believe that the best way we can do this is by influencing other people. More specifically, helping those around us to get the most out of life. If we are doing that then we in turn will be getting the most out of life.

Here's where it gets tricky for me. What type of imprint am I making on the planet that will be seen or felt by my great grandchildren. What will my daughters children's children know about me ... or will they know anything about me? If history is a good predictor of the future, then I already know the answer to my own question; they won't know much of anything.

I've been giving this question some thought the last couple weeks and here is my conclusion:

* I can instill values, integrity and the thirst for knowledge in my children which will pay dividends for generations to come. The bible says that the sins of the father get passed down for several generations I believe the reverse can be true as well. I am a benefit of the heritage my ancestors created for me, whether I recognize that or not.

* The effect I have on others can not only improve their lives now, but into eternity. I think we will all be surprised when we get to heaven and learn of the impact we all had on each other without even realizing it. That's motivation to make every day have purpose. You never know who's life you can positively effect each and every day.

Formula

If you want to fail in life or if you want to succeed in life, I've got two simple formulas for you.

Failure formula: A few errors in judgment repeated every day.

Success formula: A few simple disciplines practiced every day.

Attraction

There are many things in our world that I don't understand. I don't understand exactly how gravity works. I can think back on some high school physics lessons and dumb my way through explaining it . . . but honestly it doesn't make sense to me. Gravity holds us all down but at the same time hundreds of thousands of planes fly each day and we routinely send rockets into space. Crazy stuff!

Even though something like gravity is outside my understanding does not mean that I am not affected by it. In fact, gravity affects a normal joe like me just as much as my high school physics teacher that gave me a B-. Thinking back on my high school physics teacher, maybe gravity affected her just a little more than me. She was a big lady.

My point is that just because there are forces in our world that we don't understand or choose to ignore does not change the fact that they are real. One such force is called the Law of Attraction.

Basically, the Law of Attraction states that the things you think about will move towards you. Or as Proverbs 23:7 states, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is."

There has been a lot written on the subject of the Law of Attraction. Some good stuff, some applicable stuff, some goofy stuff, and some things that are just someone's limited understanding of this 'law'. Regardless of what other's understanding is, I do believe that the Law of Attraction is in full effect.

I believe that people attract those like them. I believe what we get in life are the things that we think about the most. I believe what we think in our heart is who we truly are and this determines our actions, which then determines what we receive in life.

I don't need to understand how the Law of Attraction works in order for it to affect me. Just like gravity, it affects us all the same.

Seeds

There is an interesting portion in in the book "As a Man Thinketh" that talks about our minds. The entire book is very deep and thought provoking. Now that I have this book on my iPod, I can listen to it over and over and get the information to sink in a little deeper each time.

One part that is really jumping out at me right now is the part about mind "seed". Our minds are like a garden. It says that seed is always being planted in the garden all the time. If we are putting good things (ideas, knowledge, information, etc.) or seeds in our mind then those seeds will eventually sprout and grow into good plants in our minds.

On the flip-side, if we aren't planting anything in our minds, then weed seed will be planted. And eventually that weed seed will sprout and grow into bigger weeds.

This is a challenge for me to always be aware of what is being planted in my mind. If I'm not planting anything, then rest assured the weeds are going to move in.

Truth

I heard a quote one time that really challenged me. So here I am, passing it on to you ... in hopes that it will challenge you:

"Thousands of men will quickly die for truth, but very few will spend their whole lives searching for it."

Snap! That's true isn't it? I think about the wars and battles in my life time; Vietnam, Desert Storm, the conflict going on now in Iraq . . . . thousands of men dying. Dying for various reasons I suppose. Probably the most popular reason is that they are dying for what they believe is "truth", what is right. I commend them all and have the utmost respect for the sacrifices they (and their families) are making.

But in America, how many people spend their lives searching? Looking for answers. Asking questions. Reading, listening, and observing. Trying to understand more and more what "truth" really is. And what to do with this "truth".

Reflecting on why this quote really struck me is probably because I don't know if I really am searching for truth. And more importantly, when I learn it how do I specifically apply it in my every day life? For now, I guess I will focus on the continued search and through that I hope to learn how to apply it. Wish me luck!

Spiritual

I believe that we are born with an innate desire to connect with God. Every civilization in the history of the world believed in something bigger than themselves. Some higher power. I think this is something that God put inside all of us. This spiritual connection is something that Christians try to deepen.

Here are three good ways to grow spiritually:

1. Study - read the Bible, read the books, listen to the messages, anything you can get your hands on.

2. Practice - use what you know and apply it to your every day life. Not just your life on Sunday morning.

3. Teach - find ways to share what you've learned with other people.

Significance

I was talking with a guy the other day who told me that he was forced to evaluate his entire life by just seeing a skull on a t.v. program. As soon as he told me this, I knew exactly where he was going. Seeing a skull from some anonymous person that died a long time ago is one thing. But then to think that our bodies will one day be insignificant bones ... that is another thing.

That skull represented a person. Someone who had a brain, a family, hopes, and dreams. That skull was once attached to a person just like him. Did the owner of that skull get the most out of life? Did the owner achieve everything that he set out to do and more? Did the owner make any sort of difference in the world?

This is a reminder that our lives are just a short blip in time. 80 years or so (if we are lucky) out of over 6,000 years of recorded history. We have just a small amount of time to make our mark. Make our lives count for something ...

Rust

I remember 4 years ago when the new Hummers (H2) came out. They were freakin' awesome! I had always thought how cool it would be to have a Hummer . . . you know the REALLY big ones that the Army used? So when GM came out with an urban vehicle, the H2, priced at about half the original price it was tempting to figure out how I could get my hands on one. I of course wasn't taking into account the nearly $50k price tag and 12 miles a gallon performance!!! I think gas was a bargain basement price of about $1.70 at that time. Whew! Remember those days?!

Any way . . . Here it is 2007 and a gallon of gas is nearly as expensive as a Chipotle burrito. The war in Iraq is still going on and owners of H2's have somehow been blamed for stranding polar bears on melting glaciers in the Arctic. I'm not exactly sure how that happened. I'd like to say that I'm making my contribution to the global condition (can't bring myself to say 'warming') by driving a Vespa scooter that gets 60 MPG. The reality is that I am just cheap and wanted a fuel sipping machine so I didn't get bent over at the pump.

A few days ago I'm driving down the road and am sitting right behind an H2 at a stoplight. As I'm marveling at all it's masculine glory, I notice a 2-inch rust circle on the metal bumper. Here this guy spent a crap-load of money to purchase his H2 and spends over $100 to fill it up every week. All this investment and pride still didn't stop rust from eating away at it.

This rust spot was a gut check for me. The scripture in Mathew 6:19 came to my mind, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." I really had to evaluate what things I want in life and why I want them. Man-toys and gadgets are always going to be fun to have, but they shouldn't be our first pursuit in life.

I have to ask myself what types of treasures do I have in heaven? Have I invested in people? Have I spread God's love to all those I meet, or only those that I like? Ouch . . . that even hurt to type! Have I given of myself to spread Jesus' message? Could I sell everything and follow Jesus completely? Whew, another tough one to write!

A guy I listen to quite regularly is Jim Rohn. He is very good at asking questions that drive home a point. Recently I heard him ask, "If you can change, should you change?" That's a simple yet extremely powerful question. (Maybe a question for another blog)

So if I can invest in people more, should I? If I can spread God's love to everyone, should I? If I can be selfless with things that are less important than serving God, should I be? Tough questions, tougher challenges . . . but treasures in heaven sounds like a much better reward than a rusted out H2!