Living With the Lights On

End of Construction - Thank You For Your Patience "End of Construction - Thank you for your patience" is inscribed on Ruth Graham's burial marker.   Yes, that is the experience for all of us who believe on Christ our Redeemer and Rescuer. Like Mrs. Graham, you and I may feel like our experience while we remain here in this world, feels like a never ending construction zone on the highway of life.   Some of that has to do with our circumstances, but most of it has to do with our thoughts about our circumstance.   Especially when we begin a journey to create improved results in our lives. That is when our patience with ourselves has a chance to grow.  Rather than beating yourself up for mistakes, turn judgement into curiosity.   You can't struggle your all the way to peace, you have to start there. When you set out toward a goal - maybe it's time management, maybe it's stress management, maybe it's weight ma...

Compare Leads to Despair Have you noticed this in yourself, when you compare yourself to others?  I know I have, and it feels awful.  It is human nature to measure ourselves against others.  It comes from the primal, toddler brain and it keeps us in stress response or fight-or-flight mode. Despair.  The wises man who lived, Solomon, has this to say about it: Eccl 4: 4  And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. When we use comparison to others to motivate ourselves, it is like chasing after the wind. It steals the joy from what we have accomplished.    You hear the whisper: they are more respectable, they are more acceptable, they are more lovable.... May I offer some replacement thoughts? "That's a lie. That is chasing the wind. I don't chase the wind. " I am not recommending passive inaction.  Eccl 4:5  Fools fol...

Success Comes From Massive Action Most of us would agree that if we want to accomplish anything we must take action.   I have two questions for you:  Have you ever wondered why you aren't taking action?  Have you ever wondered why you can't stop the action you don't want? Here is the answer to both questions - It's because of the way you feel.   Your feelings drive your actions. Your actions are always going to create the results you want in your life or you don't want in your life.  Your actions create your results.  What causes your feelings?   Our thoughts. Period.   Now we forget this, we don't remember that everything we think is within our control.  We think that our thoughts are not within our control, and in fact most of us don't even know what we are thinking.  We are responding to our thoughts that we aren't even aware of.  Why does this matter?  It really, really...

Recalculating Will Get You There Have you ever noticed your GPS gets you back on the right path without judging you?  What if we talked to ourselves in the am way as our GPS?  Are you willing to think about it? It could  make a huge difference in how we reach our destination and how much we enjoy the journey to that destination.  Let's talk about how to use a GPS.  First we access our beginning location.  When I work with my clients, we do this by noting our food intake.  We also begin to notice how we are eating- hurried, emotional, unconscious.... After we determine the starting point, then we get clear on the destination.  This is not simply a number on the scale.  What difference will it make?  What will I be able to do physically?  How will I be thinking about my relationship with food?  How will I be thinking about my body, mind and spirit?  We have the starting place, we have the destination. No...

The One Thing You Need to Know...  What is it?  What is the one thing you need to know in order to achieve your goals? If your goal is to lose weight, is the one thing you need to know, a diet , powder or pill? If your goal is to manage your time, is the one thing you need to know, the best planner? If your goal is to exercise, is the one thing you need to know, the best workout? If your goal is to have more self confidence, is the one thing you need to know, the best mantras? Would you believe me if I told you that the one thing you need to know for accomplishing   any goal does not come from outside of you?  It comes from within.  One day, I was hosting a group call with my coaching clients, and I asked the question, "What is the one thing you need to know in order to continue in the wellness steps we have been practicing?" I listened to the answers from the group and then they asked me the one thing I needed to know. My ...