Author: newdaycoach

One of the most famous quotes on life is from Socrates, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Author Mitch Albom shares “Mortality means you don’t have forever to work things out. You can live your life unexamined but then on the last day you’re going to think: ‘I’ve left things a little late.'” Psalm 139:23 says “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!” The psalmist asks God to reveal the true condition of his heart. All of the above speak of introspection and it’s a risky business because of what you might find.

For me the journey began in Utica, NY. I was 24 years old, working on the road with a band. Alone in my hotel room, I began to peel off the layers of crap that had shaped my life. It was an ugly experience, but through it I began to discover who I really was. I came away from that day knowing there were life changes I needed to make. That sent me off on the most rewarding search of my life.(see my first blog post)

It is a process, an ongoing process that I continue to work on today. With the Lord’s help, mercy and grace, there has been change, but the work is not over. I never want to think “I’ve left things a little late.” So I press on, keeping my eyes on the prize. “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” 1Cor 9:24

It’s a new day…live it!

I know we are all busy, but I want to encourage you to take time and make a list of all you are thankful for. Maybe you can share it during the Thanksgiving meal. Thankfulness is more than a sappy sentiment. It is something deeper we acquire. A thankful heart is a heart that knows peace and contentment, but It is something we must guard.

Let’s face it, we live in a world that thrives on discontentment. Advertisers are always trying to get us to buy the latest and the greatest. Playing on vulnerability, they plant the thought that what we now own is not good enough… It’s too slow, it no longer has that new shine, that new smell… .They hammer away at our contentment, breeding discontentment. Suddenly our thankfulness has been quenched.

But it is not just advertisers, the culture can play the same game. So we must know what we believe, nourish it and protect it. I’m challenged by this quote from John Wooden, “What are you committed to? Know who you are. Stick to your principles, make choices that are in line with your principles, and deal with the results.” With so many voices trying to influence us, I believe he is correct.

I will leave you with the words of the Apostle Paul:
“I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.” Phil 4:11-13 The Message

INDEED!

Please have happy, happy Thanksgiving.

In His Great Love,
Joe

In October of 2013 I made an appointment with an orthopedic to have my lower back examined. I would get the surprise of my life that morning. I needed a hip replacement. It gets better… not one, but both of my hips (bi-lateral hip replacement). I was blown away.

So after finding a great surgeon, in February of 2014 I had the surgery. Three days later, without walker or wheel chair, I walked out of the hospital. There were many people praying for me and I am so grateful to the Lord who answers prayer.

But what was interesting was the responses I got from people as I shared the need for my surgery. “You are going to wait right?” “Both at the same time?” “I would put it off as long as I can.” The truth is, if I had delayed the surgery the pain would have been prolonged, the healing could have been more difficult and the quality of my life would suffer. I had to make a choice; stay in destructive pain or move to constructive pain. Sometimes we don’t think we have a choice when we really do.

This process comes in many types and flavors, some more complex than others. We hold on to things that bring us pain and for a myriad of reasons. Some are found in last week’s post. A list which I’ll call destructive pain. So the lifelong question is, how bad does the destructive pain have to get before we take action? (constructive pain)

The pictures above taken by my brother-in-law Ralph are my legs before the surgery. My legs don’t look like that anymore. In place of the surgical marks are two scars, one on each leg marking a place of change. These markings involved pain, faith, money, time, perseverance, prayer, patience, risk, etc. They serve as reminders that something happened, a choice was made. A choice to get better, to heal, to move forward, to choose life.

“The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, life controls you.” Tony Robbins

Remember we are all works in progress.

It’s a new day, live it.

Making bad decisions
…judgmental decisions
…graceless decisions
…hateful decisions
…enabling decisions
…destructive decisions
…reckless decisions
…fearful decisions
Making no decisions

Maybe it’s time to look inside and take some action?

It’s a new day…live it!

We have all heard motivational phrases like, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going” or “winners never quit and quitters never win” but are these true? Do winners never quit? (Please note I didn’t say that whiners never quit, that’s a blog for another time).

In Seth Godin’s little book “The Dip” he says winners quit all the time. His 3 keys on quitting are; “Quit the wrong stuff. Stick with the right stuff. Have the guts to do one or the other.” Years ago I resigned from a full time job I liked and it paid well. A little over a year into the position the cracks began to surface. I’ve always been what’s called a bi-vocational pastor, working part time and pastoring. But the full time job was beginning to take its toll. On top of that, there were some personal pursuits I was not able to finish because of time restraints. I had to make some choices.

I got an offer for a great part time job and after much weighing and praying, I gave my 2 week notice and quit. In the months that followed I was able to complete the two projects I had started and did more weighing and praying. In my first blog post back in February, I quoted Richard Boles “We want to feel we’re put here on Earth for some special purpose, to do unique work that only we can accomplish.” Yup, I believe I stuck with right stuff.

It’s new day, Live it!

When shopping for a new smartphone and reading reviews, the term bloatware will inevitably pop up. Here is the definition courtesy of Google.

noun: bloatware
software whose usefulness is reduced because of the excessive disk space and memory it requires. …unwanted software included on a new computer or mobile device by the manufacturer. “users must initially contend with the usual bevy of bloatware (unnecessary toolbars, games of questionable value)”

How useful is this stuff compared to the storage space and memory needed to support it? There is only so much energy available and to waste it on something of no value defeats what you are trying to do.

You and I don’t look anything like a smartphone (at least not the last time I looked). But much like a smartphone we may have picked up some bloatware along the path of life. It wastes our resources, makes our purpose harder to realize and our goals exasperating to achieve.

So what can we do? First, identify it, whatever or whoever it is. Then ask the same questions, how much valuable energy do I waste holding on to it? Does my quality of life suffer from allowing it to be there?

Unlike the smartphone, good chance there is no YouTube video of how to uninstall your personal bloatware. But don’t let that stop you from taking the needed action. The uninstall may take some time, but that time and energy will be worth it.

It’s a new day, live it!

This week I am writing from a hotel room in Portsmouth, NH. I bring you two quotes. The first was a wakeup call for me and the second, I heard years later, powerfully supports it.

“How do you spell faith? R-I-S-K” (I never was very good at spelling. ) John Wimber

And the second,

“Boldness precedes the miraculous”. The Benham Brothers

It’s a new day…live it!

A few weeks ago I ended up in the ER of a local hospital at 3am with chest pain. After a myriad of tests and one night in the hospital, we got the good news I had not suffered a heart attack. In the bed next to me however, was a man suffering from stage 4 lung cancer fighting for his next breath. I was going home he was being moved to CCU.

Throughout the past month we have had people come to our church food pantry who were homeless. A few were living in their cars and one man was living in a tent in the woods. My wife June, who heads up the pantry helped the best she could. But at the end of the day, she was able to return to our safe, secure, home.

Perspective is a good thing, at times a needed thing. It helps us discover where we are. It helps us see all that we have to be thankful for, the little things, the intangible things. Remember no one can take those intangible things from us.

It’s amazing the things we complain about. Helen Keller brings light to this with, “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet”. Perspective… we all can be thankful for something. I wonder what would happen if we focused on being thankful? Who knows ? We might even be moved into action.

Thanksgiving is over a month away, but there is no time like the present to begin.

It’s a new day, be thankful and live it!

The featured image is
The Thankful Poor
By Henry Ossawa Tanner

I receive a daily blog written by Seth Godin. His post dated 7/31/19 was short and to the point. The title was “Narratives Keep the Feeling Going”. His point was, if our narrative is causing us pain then maybe it’s time to drop it.

In a piece from The Atlantic 8/10/15 Julie Beck shares, “The narrative becomes a form of identity, in which the things someone chooses to include in the story, and the way she tells it, can both reflect and shape who she is.” So our narrative can be a powerful force in perception of who we are and who we become.

The good news is we can make choices, healthy, positive choices about our narrative. I am not suggesting we live in denial about our past. What I am suggesting is that we learn from it and put it into a healthy context in the way it shapes our lives. If forgiveness is needed, the Good News is it’s available to all. Once forgiven, we have the task of forgiving ourselves. Both steps are key to writing a new narrative… be patient and be encouraged.

New Day…New Story.

Maybe you’ve heard the old joke: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Answer, practice, practice, practice. After you stop laughing I will continue 1,2,3, OK… many of us bought that tale or some version of it. Just keep practicing, trying harder and you’ll make it kid… you can do anything you put your mind to, and on and on. The truth is without the talent and giftedness the hard work will remain hard work. With your intended goal alluding you a harsh reality sets in.

Michael Jordan is one of the greatest basketball players that has ever lived. After he retired from basketball he decided he wanted to try his hand at baseball. In the words of Tom Rath, “…the power of raw talent on the basketball court, did not become, well, the “Michael Jordan” of …baseball, no matter how hard he tried.”

Many of us were told in school when we didn’t do well in a subject, we had to work harder in that subject. 77% of parents in the United States think that a student’s lowest grade deserves the most attention. In his NY times bestselling book Strength Finders, Tom Rath follows with, ” Parents and teachers reward excellence with apathy instead of investing more time in the area a child has the most potential for greatness.” Digest that thought and ask yourself, am I playing to my strengths or to my weaknesses? Am I investing my time, money and energy in the right places?

With passion and sound investing, Carnegie Hall or your version of it, is doable.

It’s A New Day…Live it!