Tag Archives: #thoughts

Spirituality

I Get To

A couple of weeks ago I was having a conversation with a young woman who said something that stuck with me. She said that instead of “having” to do something, she changed the verbiage to “I get to.” This one little word is a game changer.

For the past couple of years I’ve been struggling to write a second book. There’s so much inside my mind and heart that I want to share with the world. Yet, I had become the Mt. Everest of coming up with excuses to avoid writing. It doesn’t matter how impactful my written words might be if I never put them into print. Graveyards are full of unfulfilled dreams.

Changing this one small word in our verbiage makes a huge difference. We approach life’s challenges with a willing attitude instead of one filled with dread.

And remember to thank God along the way. After all, He’s the one who gives us our time and abilities…

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Parents

When I became a father, I had no idea how to do the job. I had no skills because I had a terrible father. He was a cruel, angry, abusive man. All I knew was I didn’t want to be like him.

Fortunately, there are tons of good books available about parenting. So, I read many of them. And I sought out the advice of men I knew who had raised good children. I’m proud to say my two sons turned out well. They are good young men who have solid character. I will say their teenage years gave me a head of grey hair!

When my kids were in school, I saw parents who believed their children could do no wrong. If they got in trouble at school, it was the teachers fault. Some parents even lobbied the school to give their children better grades than they had earned. Those kids were being set up for failure later in life as they learned how the world works.

Parents are the first teachers children have. The little ones are always watching, learning their behavior from dad and mom.

If you are fortunate enough to be a parent, teach them well. And if you, like me, didn’t have good parents, you can learn…

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Spirituality, Uncategorized

Confession

It feels good to talk about things, doesn’t it? There’s much freedom that comes from unburdening yourself of your troubles.

Trigger warning: this is a dark story I’m about to tell you.

Last week, I was doing a round of volunteer speaking in prisons. On Wednesday morning, a few women inmates were sharing stories about their lives. One of the women said, “I was raped by my father from the time I was 3 until I was 13 and I ran away from home.” She went on to say that she had never told anyone until that moment. It’s heartbreaking to think about what she had been carrying inside for years, never talking about it. I cannot imagine what causes someone to harm an innocent child. He was a very sick fuck.

Everyone has a story. They aren’t always pretty. The woman I described above took her first step toward healing by talking about what happened to her. I asked her how it felt to tell someone and she said it felt good.

We need good people in our lives, people we can confide in who won’t judge us. Confession is a good first step to becoming whole…

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Starbucks

Coffee is my favorite drink in the morning. I easily drink 48 ounces of coffee every day. In the times I have abstained from coffee it has rewarded me with a headache!

Starbucks was started in 1971 by three friends who wanted to bring dark roast coffee to Seattle. In the beginning they only sold beans. People loved the flavor so the business thrived. Today there are over 40,000 Starbucks stores all over the world.

I have read about people who boycott Starbucks for a variety of social reasons. That’s their choice. I love their coffee, and the workers tend to be friendly. That’s good for a store that is trying to sell you something!

If you haven’t, I encourage you to give Starbucks a try. If you don’t like coffee, they sell lots of other stuff. And you’ll be supporting the workers with your patronage.

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Scammers

It seems like I receive a scam attempt every day. They come from everywhere: text messages, email and phone calls. I sometimes wonder how many people fall for this stuff.

There are some very bright people behind the trickery. They put a lot of thought and energy into cheating others. What a waste. If these people would use their creativity for good rather than evil, there’s no telling how far they could go.

Be aware, and be careful. It only takes one slip up to get scammed…

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Spirituality

Addition or Subtraction?

Our words and our actions are either helpful or hurtful. Anything we say or do is rarely neutral.

The content of our hearts reveals a lot about us. Pure thoughts create pure hearts, while perverse thoughts bring out an ugly side of people. Most of us steer clear of judgmental, negative people. They suck the life out of you. Change your environment and change your life!

We are either adding or subtracting from the lives of others. At the same time, we are adding or subtracting from ourselves.

My encouragement to you is to become really good at addition. Leave the subtraction to someone else…

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Spirituality

Watchers

I never watch the weather. You see, only old people watch the weather and I like to stay young!

Everyone is always watching something. We watch the road when we drive, watch television, watch the bats (in Austin, Texas), and we watch each other. There are always eyes on us.

God watches over us all the time. He is there when we sleep and He’s here right now. Some believe God is looking to catch us doing something wrong. That’s just not true. He sees those things, but He sees everything else as well. When we do something good for mankind we don’t need to blow our own horn about it. The only one who matters sees it. And He remembers.

The world is watching. Give them something worth their attention…

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Spirituality

Constructive Dialogue

There’s a lot of people tearing each other apart nowadays! In case you haven’t noticed, people love to argue about their political opinions. Many are dying on that hill daily.

This has been going on for a very long time. The advent of social media has brought the battle into the public. But one thing I have observed is, no one has been changed because someone is yelling at them. What a waste of time.

Constructive dialogue builds relationships. You can only learn about others by listening to them and observing how they act. We should respect others for what they believe. They have their reasons and it isn’t our place to try to change others. People can make decisions for themselves.

Ask yourself if what you are about to say is helping or hurting. There has been a lot of hurt heaped on other people because they believe differently.

Be different. Be helpful…

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Spirituality

Phonies

You have probably heard of imposter syndrome. People believe themselves to be a fake because they are acting like things are better than they really are. That’s not being fake. It’s simply not airing everything in your public life.

Phonies are like chameleons. They shift their energy from crowd to crowd. You are never sure who you’re going to get. Being a phony is pathological when it is manipulative. Other people are just insecure, so they put on a front.

Get comfortable with who you are. Accept yourself and work on personal growth. You are here for a purpose, and there’s nothing phony about that!

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