Do you want to play a major role in history or a minor one?

Once upon a time in a town nearby lived a man who had an inexpensive hobby.  He loved to sit on the towering stone wall that surrounded the city.

One day while sitting and watching the world go by, he nodded off and fell off the wall.

The paramedics rushed to the scene and took him to the best hospital in town where the finest doctors worked around the clock to help him.

When the man finally left the hospital, something amazing happened.  He took his life savings and had a fine home built on top of the wall and lived happily ever after.

The man’s name was Humpty Dumpty.

I hope you had as much fun as I did re-imagining Humpty’s story.

The fact is that the one who changes the most in any story is the major character.  The paramedics aren’t the major characters in the story.  Neither are the fine Dr.’s.  The main character is Humpty Dumpty.  Why?  He changes the most.

If you want to play a major role in history, you have to be the one who changes the most.

Like our friend Humpty, Adam and Eve began life completely whole in the garden of Eden.  They had everything they needed, including an intimate relationship with God.  But then they had a Fall of their own.

Everything changed at the moment in time.  And they knew it.  In fact, they were so horrified with fear that they hid from God.

Long story short, God forgave them and a radical change occurred.  Whereas they died spiritually because of their disobedience, God forgave them and transformed them with new life!

Remember, the main character is the one who changes the most throughout the story.

The good news is that wherever you our in your story line, you can change!

The truth is everybody is inspired by people who change dramatically for the good.

The first vital step we need to take if we want to play a major role in history is to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is who he says he is.  Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6).

Jesus was the greatest man who will ever live.  Why?  Because he grew the most.  That may sound hard to believe, but it’s true.  Speaking of Jesus, Luke wrote, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:40) Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Like Jesus, God wants us to grow in four particular areas.

1. He expects us to grow mentally.
2. He expects us to grow physically.
3. He expects us to grow in our relationship with Him.
4. He expects us to grow in our relationship with others.

As a pastor, I frequently encounter people who grow in one of these areas and neglect the others.  For example, they exercise and diet and lose fifty pounds, but neglect their physical, spiritual and social growth.  Or they focus on growing mentally and neglect their physical, spiritual and social growth.

A trim waistline and advanced degrees are wonderful, but we should never pursue them without putting ourselves in position to grow spiritually and socially.

In the last few years I’ve come to enjoy and appreciate daily vitamins.  I don’t care what the research says, it’s incredible that we can get our necessary daily requirements in one single pill.  But as incredible as vitamins are, our bodies require more if we want to live.

Church is like a vitamin.  God never designed it to be like a pill that we take once a week and thrive.  Yes it plays a vital role and yes we should make it a priority, but if we neglect our souls all week and think a weekly dosage of church is going to fix everything, we’re wrong.

We are not just physical bodies with a spirit, we are spiritual beings with a body.

As you look at the four areas of growth, is there any particular area that glares back at you.  An area where you could use some growth?

Here’s a short perscription to get your wheels turning.Are you connecting with God and other Christians throughout the week?

To grow mentally.  Reading, Write and Relfect.  Read.  Read about the particular area you are struggling with.  Read books that address your particular need for mental growth.  Reflect on what you read.  Reflect on your life.  Examine negative thoughts and unproductive patterns and replace them with new and better ones.  Write.  Record the things you are learning.  Writing things down makes them concrete.  Until you do, they are just abstract ideas floating around in your mind…

To grow physically.  Determine one step you can take to get healthier.  Burn more calories than you consume.  Walk.  Replace soda with water.  Go to bed earlier.  Find a work out partner…

To grow in your relationship with God.  Find a church where Jesus is the center point of attention.  Get around people who love God and each other.  Determine to learn God’s plan for your life.  Talk with God daily and let him speak as you read your bible.  Acknowledge your sins and ask him to forgive you.  Serve others- when you do, you serve Him!…

To grow socially.  Read ‘How to Win Friends and Influence Others’- it’s essentially an exposition of the Golden Rule and will provide you with a sound way to love and be loved.  Treat other people the way you would want to be treated if you were in their situation.  Calendar times when you will intentionally seek the welfare of others.  Share the gospel with friends and loved ones early-on your relationship…

Remember, the one who changes the most throughout a story is the main character.  Imagine the joy you’ll experience when people begin to comment on how much you’ve grown the next time you see them.  Imagine the contentment you’ll experience when at the end of your life you’ll be able to look back on the people whose lives have been changed because you changed.  Imagine the future generations that stand to be impacted if you begin by taking just one small step today.  Bam!!!

What would your ideal life look like?

For some of us, we imagine sitting on a warm beach with an unlimited supply of cold drinks.  Others imagine not having to work another day of their life.  Some imagine just having unlimited time to do something…if you asked them what they probably wouldn’t know.

None of these things are necessarily bad.  Rest and relaxation are both great ideas.  Without either one, we can quickly burn out and fail to thrive.

However, today on Good Friday, I’m glad that Jesus followed through with the mission he came to earth to accomplish!  That mission was to experience great pain and suffering so that you and I could receive the free gift of eternal life.

It could have been otherwise.  After all, Jesus was tempted three times after praying and fasting in the desert for 40 days and nights.  You can read about that in Matthew chapter 4.

I know it may be difficult for some to believe that Jesus was tempted to abandon his mission while here, but we see it all throughout the scriptures.

I’m glad he stayed on course.

In the words of a wiseman, we can pay now and play later or play now and pay later.

Just as Jesus was tempted to live a pain-free life of ease, so are we.  Let’s face it, not many people get excited about the thought of pain and difficulty.

The question is, what would you do right now if you could walk away from everything?  Think about it.  If you could abandon all responsibility and commitments today, what would you do?

Again, it might mean living the rest of your days on a beach or sunny place.  Maybe you’d quit your job or leave your spouse.

Look before you leap!  There is a vast difference between living the life you’ve always imagined and living the life that God has ordered for you.  Left to our own ways, we usually take the path of least resistance.  Yes, it feels good doing it…for a while, but eventually it doesn’t feel so good anymore.

That may sound like bad news or pessimistic.  The truth is that joy is a derivative of a life well lived.  Just as gas is a by-product of oil, joy is the by-product of a purposeful life.  Seek out joy exclusively and you won’t find it but take the road that leads to it and you’ll arrive in due time.

Hugh Hefner is an example of someone who sought joy and never found it.  Billy Graham, I guarantee you, found joy.  Why?  Because experiencing joy is not a mystery.  We experience joy when we are fulfilled.  And taking the path of least resistance never leads to joy, only regret and remorse.

The last thing any one of us wants is to reach the end of our life and find out that we were running toward the wrong end zone.

So how do we avoid that tragedy?  We follow the example of Jesus.  Rather than just doing as we please, we live the life God has orchestrated and designed for us.  It’s not a great mystery.  Many have tried it and found a life of purpose and meaning.

Today is a celebration of the fact that Jesus accomplished his mission on earth.  But more than that, it is a call for all of us to find out how we can carry out his last wishes and continue the work he came to do.

So today I’m glad that Jesus didn’t take the path of least resistance and abandon the mission he came to accomplish.  Because of his example, each one of us can have peace knowing that despite our greatest hopes, we will all experience pain and difficulties in this lifetime.  Yet none of us should avoid the hard things in life just because they’re painful.

Most people live according to their emotions and prejudices, but we don’t have to.  If we’re going to go the distance we need to rise above our emotions and prejudices.  Jesus did, and it made a world of difference for the entire world!

The choice is yours, you can live life as you please or follow the example of the wisest man who ever lived.

The bible says, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” Proverbs 14:12.

Have you ever felt like you weren’t making much progress?

It’s difficult sometimes being rather than doing.  The pace is so fast that it seems like there’s never enough time to focus on the things that are important to us.

If you want to learn more after reading this post, be sure to check out ‘The Me I Want to Be’ by John Ortberg.

I bet there are some areas where you’ve been trying harder lately.  Good for you!  However, we can only try harder for so long.  Eventually we get tired and when we get tired we quit and feel guilty.  Eventually the whole cycle begins again and we try even harder.  Sound familiar?  Ortberg talks about this in his book.

If we’re real ambitious, we want to fix everything all at once.  But rather than doing that, what if we just focused on one thing.  For example, if you want to lose 20 pounds, why not try to do it in 60 days rather than one week?  See the difference.

Very rarely in the bible did God try to fix someone in one week.  Sometimes it took 40 years.  For example, Moses spent 40 years in the desert.  If you think that’s a long time, the nation of Israel spent 400 years in Egypt!  Again, God usually isn’t in much of a hurry.

Ultimately, most of us would like to be a certain way.  As fast as possible.  Some of us want larger houses.  Larger bank accounts. Notoriety.  Influence and respect.  None of those are bad things.  The challenge is that quite often we want to be someone other than the person God intended us to be.  What if I told you, God had more in mind when he imagined your life?

It’s so easy to spend large amounts of time and energy trying harder.  However, despite our greatest efforts, there are gaps.

The good news is that God loves us and works with and for us.

In the words of Ortberg, “grace is not opposed to effort, but it is opposed to earning.”  It’s not that we shouldn’t try. We should.  However, at the end of the day, we can rest knowing that God blesses our efforts.

In the meantime, as we labor, it’s good to know that God is gracious.  How gracious?  He even gives us the seed, the strength to plant it and the rain and sun to grow it.  He also gives us the wisdom and skill to plant and harvest.

So how does God reap a good harvest in our lives?  It starts with me and you.

More than what you ‘do’ God is interested in who you are becoming.  Sure, there are some areas of your life that you have down pat.  However, as long as you live, there will be areas still under development.

How do we know if we’re becoming the person he wants us to be?

We can tell, when we grow in our love for him and others.

For example, your finances.  Do you use them to love him and others more than you did last year or are you selfish?  Health.  Is your health allowing you to love him and others more than five years ago.  Your job.  Do you love him and others more on the job than you did six months ago?

In some cases there may be a gap between the person you are and the person God wants you to become.

Ortberg says: God’s plan is for you to become the best version of you, but right now there are two versions of you. There is the you God made you to be—and there is the you that currently exists. What do you do with the gap?

It all boils down to faith.  Trusting him and taking the steps necessary to cooperate with his plan for our lives.

Ulitmately, its not all about YOU!  God is more interested in your development as you love Him and the people he has placed in your life than YOUR self-purification/sin management plan.

Rather than just taking life as it comes, with God’s help we can establish the areas that need changing and take the daily steps necessary to experience transformation.  Just as we witnessed in this last Olympics, the steps we take today determine the person we’ll become in years to come.  Athletes don’t become Gold Medal Olympians over night

Why not take one of these steps today?

1. Buy a book written by experts that addresses the area you’re working on.
2. Pray for 1 minute a day about this issue for the next 30 days.
3. Exercise 5 minutes a day.  This is a keystone habit which means that an improvement in this area affects all of the areas of our lives.
4. Get up 30 minutes earlier every day and give yourself more time to relax and set the tone of your day.
5. Intentionally set aside a block of time each week to spend with a loved one.
6. Take a walk outside and reflect on where you are and where you feel God wants you to be.

These are only some examples to get you started.  Ultimately, if we want to take control of our lives, it’s going to require carving out time daily.

“Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.” Matthew 6:33 The Message

Have you ever wished you had made better choices? I have.

It’s late Summer and there is evidence of Fall fruits everywhere. The Mums in our yard have reached full height and are about to burst into orange flames. A Pumpkin seed took root by our front porch and it’s broad leaves stand on erect stems ready to collect rain.

Then there are the weeds. I don’t know all of their names, but it’s been a wet Spring/Summer and there are lots of them along my back fence line.

The same can be said with our personal lives. We are constantly reaping the benefits of our good and bad habits.

For example, I was in the habit of blogging weekly. Generally trying to get it out before the weekend. With the advent of a new job and Summer activities, that habit has taken a hit. Today I’m attempting to rectify that.

You too, may get discouraged from time to time. In fact, you may find yourself in a season right now where the fruits are far from gratifying. And if you take a minute and look back, you can see where habits went south.

The good news is you can start a new habit today or pick-up where you left off. But I don’t recommend taking a huge leap, I recommend taking a small step.

Simply order the book you’ve been meaning to read.

Start the computer and leave the blank screen staring at you rather than thinking about completing the whole task.

Get some gas for the lawnmower.

Purchase some totes for the decluttering project.

Sign up for the marriage counseling.

Call about the anger management sessions.

Do the research of finding a mentor or Life Coach.

The problem is it’s so easy to beat ourselves up about the past. We want to go back and fix our mistakes and take a re do. Some of those things are too far down river to go back and amend. Dip your paddle and keep moving forward.

The journey is never easy. This past weekend I threw my bike in the back of my truck and drove into the heart of the Adirondacks. The plan was to bike in six miles to an area I’d heard about. I parked the truck and began riding uphill for about two miles and after cresting the hill I rode downhill for about a mile before coming to a parking lot…full of cars! The access was a lot better than I’d thought. I was under the assumption you could not drive beyond the first parking lot!

After riding three more miles (Keep in mind along a dirt path) I reached my destination. The whole time I was asking myself what God was trying to teach me.

I’m still not quite sure to be honest. BUT, I did learn a couple of things.

1) The farther I got away from the truck, the more committed I was to reaching my destination. I kept telling myself I’d gone too far to turn back. Now if you’re deep in your journey and God’s telling you to turn back, you’d better. But if this is something you believe he wants you to do, then go for it.

2) The journey was less difficult when I took time to look around me and spent less time focusing on the path. I know this sounds counter intuitive but it helped me. I think we can get so focused on the destination that we get weary and we stop enjoying our lives. As I rode, I thought about how far my wife and I had come in our marriage. I thought about how our children had grown and the stages they’re in now. I thought about my career and the payoffs and setbacks I’ve experienced. Again, the journey isn’t always easy, but it has it’s rewards.

3) Next time I’m going to drive in as far as I can and take some peole with me that I care about. That day I needed some time to get my head back on straight. The woods is where I do that. But now that I’ve done the difficult exploratory work, I want to go back with loved ones. I want them to experience the fruits of my labors and see the body of water at the end of the path like I did for the first time.

So, in hindsight, don’t get discouraged if you’re in a difficult season right now. This may not have been the path you chose, but now that you’re here, it’s important to realize that it’s not too late. In fact, this path taught you some lessons you wouldn’t have learned otherwise.

Now, you can stay on this path and this level or you can climb higher. Maybe right about now, you’re telling yourself that this path isn’t going help you become a better version of yourself. It that’s the case, do something about it.

Having said all of that, I promise you that you’ve reached the end of your rope, you haven’t. There is a whole new life waiting out there for you. It’s just a matter of making different choices and accepting the things that cannot be changed.

Moreover, I want you to know that God knew life would be difficult, so he sent his son Jesus to die for you. Jesus lived the sinless life that we’re incapable of living and we can be totally forgiven and free simply by recognizing our need for him.

Then, something amazing happens. It’s called grace. That means although we are undeserving, he wants to bless us. That means that regardless of the season you’re in, you have the assurance that he is for you and is actively working behind the scenes in your life to make sure that you succeed and prosper.

I don’t know about you, but I need that kind of assurance because I have times when I don’t perform well and feel unloved because of my poor performance…as a husband, dad, believer, friend, co-worker, etc. The good news is that as believers, we are loved, deeply and wholly. Our lives matter. We can make a difference and when we don’t we can rest assured that a difference has already been made.

8:59 a.m. The Corvette in front of me stopped at the gate and I got out to see what time the Dump opened. The guy in the Vette turned out to be the manager who was opening the gate for the day. Perfect timing. It reminded me of the following principle.

Good in, garbage out.

I see this principle everywhere.

In the picture above.  Clean, fresh, running water displaces stagnant water.

Take the body for example. It takes in clean, fresh, oxygen and breathes out waste- carbon dioxide.

Digestion. The body takes in fresh, healthy food and gets rid of the waste.

Relationships. We associate with healthy people and disassociate with toxic people.

Again, this is a principle easily seen throughout the world.

The rub is when we keep gathering good things and never get rid of them.

As simple as the principle of good in, garbage out is, we all have a tendency to hold onto unhealthy habits, relationships, attitudes, etc.

Tomorrow we think to ourselves. Next week. Next year. The next time my co-worker is offensive, I’m going to speak up. The next time I feel like binging, I won’t. I’ll throw out that thing that’s damaging my soul, tomorrow. I’ll end that relationship next week.

Paul wrote: “Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

Sometimes health means getting rid of the old and focusing on the new.

Things like self-limiting beliefs.

Traditions.

Habits.

Mindsets.

Routines.

Eating habits.

Social habits.

You can probably think of a few of your own.
I’m reminded of my grandmother who never got her license because her father criticized one move when she was learning to drive.

Remember, good in, garbage out.

Sometimes you may even find your self in a situation where you are just taking garbage in.

If that’s the case, there’s still time to change.

Maybe it’s things that are keeping you back. Always remember that people are more important than things. Yet it’s so easy to forget that and focus on what you have, need or want.

Eventually you get all you can, can all you get and sit on the can.

Then there’s the maintenance of all that you have. Jesus talked about this. He commanded us to store up treasures in heaven where there are no thieves to break in to destroy, moths to devour and rust to corrupt and tarnish.

If you’re not careful, you can get so caught up in materialism that it will suffocate you.

Mind you, I realize it’s a common disease in the West. I’m fully aware how crippling it can be and all-consuming.

Perhaps it’s time to whittle down some of your personal possessions. If you have two coats, give one away. Twenty pairs of shoes, donate ten.

Perhaps it’s just a matter of getting rid of some things that are no longer useful and are just taking up space.

Keep a piece of paper and a pen handy for a couple of days and every time you find yourself thinking about and worrying about physical things, write it down.

People. Is there someone in your life who is nothing more than a vampire? Why are you allowing them to suck the life out of you and your family or organization. Maybe it’s time to end the relationship. Some people, no matter how hard you try, are ever going to change.

Don’t go and unfriend someone just because they disagree with you. But if they are a troll, who is constantly cutting you down, do something about it. Have the uncomfortable conversation. Detach. Whatever you have to do to get rid of the garbage that’s filling up your life because of their unhealthiness.

Reading. One of the best ways to fill your mind with fresh thoughts are books. If you can’t afford them, there is always the local library. With a library card, you’ll have FREE access to unlimited supplies of magazines, books and DVDS.

Any book that gives you just one single revelation is easily worth it’s price. The person you’ll be five years from now will be the direct result of the the books you read and the people you spend the most time with.

Look for a book that addresses your major pressure points at this moment.

Remember, good in, garbage out.

Are you broke? Get a book on finances. Depressed? Get a book that will give you some strategies to feel good again. Overweight? Get a book on diet and exercise.
The first book you’ll want to read is the bible. There are tons of free versions online. You’ll find that there’s just something about it. It has a natural tendency to fill you with good and while displacing the garbage.

The trip to the dump was a success. I got rid of a bit of junk and now I’ll be able to create some safer, tidier areas in my personal living spaces, especially the garage. It only took a small amount of time and I’ll be enjoying the results for quite some time…months and maybe years.

So. If we’ll take a few minutes here and there, we can begin to take in some good and get rid of some garbage. We don’t have to go to extremes or buy the farm. Small, sound decisions over time have a snowball effect. Sometimes it means simply washing a dish or two or sweeping the floor.

One small, simple action, is sometimes all it takes to get the ball rolling and move in a healthier direction and go the distance.

Have you ever had a time when you felt like you were failing in every area? Maybe even in your lowest moments you’ve wished you were someone else, that you had the advantages they had by birth. Then you could be a billionaire real estate mogul or a rich and famous musician.

Me too. It’s so easy to get our eyes off what we have and focus on what we don’t have. The end result is pain.

When it comes to our geneologies, it’s not that some things are too painful to talk about. The fact is that it’s healthier to focus on some details and forget about others when it comes to making peace with our origin and destination.

There’s a phrase in the bible that sums this up pretty well. Moses wrote, “Honor your mother and father. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the LORD your God is giving you (Exodus 20:12)”.

I’m going to climb out on a limb and say that there are many people who are not at peace with their past. Or their parents. God knew that we would find blame with our parents and so he recorded these words.

If you were to trace these feelings back to their origin, it all boils down to this. “God, it’s all your fault that I have the parents I have.” If you were to say that, you’re right. However, if you feel shorted because of this fact, your real problem isn’t your parents, your real problem is with God. He’s not wise enough, or loving enough, or kind….

Here’s another trap. When we don’t know what God is really like, it’s easy for us to imagine he’s just like our earthly father. Not true. While your earthly father may have godly attributes, he is not God. The fact that we all have imperfect dad’s is evidence that we all need a perfect heavenly father.

The good news is that we can all have a perfect heavenly Father. In another place, God says, “I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin” (Exodus 34:7).

Does that mean that you earthly father was perfect and that you should just forgive him for all of his faults in the past. No. Does it mean that you can though if you choose to. (Gulp) Yes! That’s just my opinion. But here’s what I’ve found. When we let others off the hook, we let ourselves off the hook. Life is too short to have hangups keeping us back.

The fact is that our heavenly Father is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

When we start looking to have our needs met by anyone other than God, we look bad and so does God.

For example, when we complain on the job and brag about God at the same time, God isn’t glorified. All they hear is that our God is not big enough to satisfy us.

If you have children, you know what I mean. Does it make you look good when your child has a temper tantrum at the check out line in Walmart?

Some thoughts on being satisfied with God and glorifying him.

Passions.  What are they? In the words of Eric Liddel, “God made me fast and when I run I feel his pleasure.” What is it for you? Are you carving out time to do the things you enjoy or ‘grinding it out’ so that you can do what you want sometime in the future. For me, it’s being in the woods. When the pressures of daily living mount, that’s where I head to get alone with God and calm my mind, will and emotions.

Others. Last weekend my son and I went to our first Yankees game. Aaron Judge hit two homers. The next morning I watched a Youtube video to see what his response would be. When asked what he thought about hitting his longest homer of the season, he said, “Not much”. Then he went on to give his team the credit for playing so well. Something magical happens when we give others credit rather than ourselves. In contrast, have you ever been around anyone who blames everyone around them for their lack of success?

Joy. As a parent, you know that when your children are most satisfied with you, you are most satisfied with them. For example, they like a shirt you surprised them with. Or a phone that you bought them. Or a word of advice that you gave them. In contrast, when your children are miserable it makes you miserable….if you let it. As you get older you realize that your children are going to go through times and seasons of discontent. It can only bring YOU down if you let it.  I can imagine some of your hearts are aching right now because your relationship with your child.  God wants to use this season to strengthen you and grow you if you’ll allow him to.  God wants you to reach the point where your joy is found in him, and not relationships, circumstances and income.

Work. Many people I talk to as a pastor want to know what God’s will is for them. Some even wonder what God’s perfect will for their life is. They want to know how they should spend every moment of their existence. As if God is some kind of director and there is a script floating around out there somewhere and they’re supposed to learn it and act in unison moment by moment. If God has one for me, I haven’t figured it out yet. As a pastor, I feel like saying, “If you find out, let me know.” What if we substituted the word work for will? Will seems kind of intangible. To me, work is more tangible. The work that God has for us is laid out perfectly clear in the Great Commission. Like most of the bible. He’s given us the plan and left it up to us to figure out the implementation.

I used to work construction. Every foreman had their own form of leadership and way of doing things. However, at the end of the day, they were all successful in completing their projects. Admittedly, some of the finished products were better than others. However, when everything was said and done, people were able to pull up to the gas pumps we installed and fill their cars.

Your job isn’t to be perfect. Your job is to be the best version of yourself that is possible. However, if you keep blaming your past and your parents for the state you’re in today, you’re not glorifying God. Father’s Day is a reminder to all of us to be thankful for not just our Dad’s but our heavenly Father who makes all things possible.

So maybe you’re six weeks into something new and things are starting to gel.  Or, it’s been a year since you lost your spouse.  Now you’re beginning to wonder what is next.

I remember being newly single in college and not knowing what to do.  Everything changed in an instant.  I didn’t want to do much.  Mostly, I thought about diving into the Saranac River and seeing how long I could hold my breath.  In retrospect, I just wanted to be numb to what was going on.  Ever feel that way?

Wanting to feel better is a natural tendency, however it’s not the only option.  Pretty soon, your comfort zone gets uncomfortable.  Stay inside the box for too long and you’ll suffocate.

It’s counter intuitive, but life begins outside your comfort zone.  Be it a new job, circumstances, challenges…illness.  There’s just something about embracing a challenge that is rewarding.

Years ago I met a guy in his eighties who was still taking college classes.  “I’m a life-long learner,” he said.  We all should be.  In the words of Bob Dylan, “He who is not living is dying.”

Here are some things you can do if you’re stuck in a rut.

Start something new.  It’s called a sigmoid curve. Google it.  When you reach the top of the learning curve and start declining, it’s time to start climbing again.  Challenge yourself in a new way.  Rewrite your business plan.  Learn Greek or Hebrew.  Offer a new service.  Start a new business or stream of income.  But whatever you do, start something new!

Find a new way To travel to work.  To spend time with your mate.  To spend money.  To save.  To improve your diet.  To study the bible.  To meet people.  To earn a living.  To have fun.  To network.  To grow.  To challenge yourself.  To donate.  To learn.  To write.  You get the idea!

Meet new people. New people bring new perspectives.  They teach you new things and allow you to teach them.  It’s a give and take kind of thing.  What kind of people do you need to meet to accomplish your goals?  A guy I just met used to be a salesman.  He would go to shoe stores and buy shoes that had damaged boxes or minor blemishes and give them to potential clients.  He’d attach a note that said “I’ll do anything to get my foot in the door.”  I wouldn’t have learned that unless I took the time to meet and learn from him.  Meet new people It will change your life.

Develop a new mindset.  Negativity gets us nowhere.  Write down some affirmations and review them daily.  Stop letting the weather or circumstances dictate the quality of your life.  Decide to be content with today, not this Friday or next year when you have your dream job.  Those kinds of tomorrow’s never come.  Learn to be content no matter where you are, Paul was.  Capture your thoughts in a journal.  Meditate daily- it doesn’t have to be for hours.  Start out for a minute or ten a day.  During that time focus on shutting out all distractions.  Occasionally focus on a the excellent things in your life and world.

Of course these are only some ideas to get you started.  Be creative.  Years ago I decided to take a leave of absence from my steady job to work at a summer camp.  One of the best decisions I ever made.  Had two incredible summers!  Summer’s here.  So what are you going to do about it?

What if there was a simple way to guarantee you are growing? Strange question, right? But the fact you are reading this blog, tells me you think about this sort of thing. Wondering if you’re growing is part of what it means to grow.

Remember when you were younger and you wondered about this sort of thing. Maybe there was a door in your bedroom closet and you measured how tall you were every so often. At that time you wanted to measure your physical growth. Maybe you looked forward to the day when you were taller than your Mom or Dad or Sister or Brother. Chances are, you haven’t measured your height in a while. At some point you felt as though you’d reached your final height, so there was no longer any need to measure.

Have you ever wondered if the bible has anything to say about growth? The answer is yes. Plenty.  It even talks about how Jesus grew.  Luke 2:52 says, “Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.” Jesus grew physically, in stature; he also grew in his ability to apply the things he’d learned, in wisdom; and he grew spiritually and socially. That’s a lot of growing. However, none of this growth occurred over night!

Impatient people, on the other hand, are constantly checking to see if they have grown. They’re like the child who asks their parent to measure their height once a week.

Chances are, as an adult, you no longer measure your height. However, you are always measuring your growth in other areas, be it finances, leadership ability, or fitness, just to name a few. And when you do, you always end up feeling lousy because there is a perceived lack of growth. Let me state the obvious. Chances are you haven’t grown much in the last week or month because….well, that’s not the way growth happens.

Mature people realize growth takes time and they measure accordingly. What if rather than measuring every day or once a week, you began to measure monthly? Or annually? See the difference? It’s not that successful people don’t take the time to reflect on their growth, they do. The difference is, mature people realize growth takes time. So when they measure, they look back over longer periods of time while reflecting. They ask themselves, “How have I grown since this time a year ago?”

Growth takes time. It doesn’t matter if it’s physical fitness, spiritual maturity, social or intellectual growth. As a mature leader, part of your job is to realize this principle and to help your followers to understand it better. Encourage them to commit to the long haul before they bail out. Explain to them that growth takes time, but the results are worth it. Teach them to set small and large goals.  Challenge them to commit for six months to a year.  Emphasize the importance of journaling and records.  Both are great ways to record important information for later reflection.  Stop measuring their growth so frequently, that’s only a recipe for frustration.

Besides measuring too often, immature people compare their growth with that of others. When they want to feel good about themselves it’s easy to compare themselves to someone who is floundering. If they’re really delusional, they compare themselves to a star in their field. Big mistake. That’s a recipe for depression and heartache. Mature people take responsibility for their own growth or lack thereof. We’ll never reach our potential as long as we’re trying to measure up to others.

Mature people also measure themselves by God’s standards. They realize they’re responsible for how they live despite the actions and direction of their peers. They make it a point to seek God’s will for their lives and to follow his leading. When in Rome, they never do as the Romans do.

There was a man in the bible called Asaph who knew how to truly measure his own personal growth. In Psalm 73:24 he said this to God, “You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny!” The exclamation is mine. You see, it’s not that Asaph never got depressed. He did. Quite a bit, in fact.   However, whenever Asaph faced a set back and needed encouragement, he always reflected on God’s activity in the past. Why not take a few moments to stop reading and do that right now?

Feeling better? Good. When we stop to reflect, God’s goodness in the past reassures us of God’s goodness in the present and in the future!

So if you want a simple way to guarantee you are growing, don’t compare yourself to the person you were yesterday or last week. If you want a true estimation, compare yourself to the person you were six months or a year ago. When you do, you’ll be amazed! And while you’re at it, don’t compare yourself to others. That’s only a recipe for pride and/or depression.

I guarantee if you look back on the person you were a year ago, you’ll see that you’ve grown. Maybe not in every area, but probably in more areas than you realized.

He had hands the size of pie plates that were brown as the land he tilled, and now he’s dead.

It’s 5:53 in the morning. I’m sitting on my back porch drinking coffee and listening to the birds sing. The grass is so green you can smell it. It’s going to be an amazing day.

It wasn’t always that way. There used to be days when I dreaded putting the first foot on the floor. We could go all the way back to college or the teen age years before that. Ironically I used to have a paper route and had to get up with the birds. I remember doing all I could to load by bag and balance my bike. The first couple of deliveries were a balancing act.

As the route progressed, the bag got lighter and the world around me looked brighter. It’s funny the things you remember when you reflect. I just remember working really hard, seven days a week and being looked at as a total loser. I used to have zits (not acne) and was waiting for someone to like me and say I was such a good kid, but it never happened. Sometimes I thought about riding my bike into the local swamp. They wouldn’t find me, just the handlebars sticking out of the muck and the papers sprawled all over floating on top.

Before those days there was the farm. Great BIG amazing place! Life everywhere. It throbbed all around you. Used to wake up once in a blue moon and go down to the barn. It hummed. The milking machines clicked and the cows bellowed. We used to grab an utter and squirt a barn cat. My grandfather, the guy with big, brown hands, leaned his head against the cow flanks and maneuvered the milkers with one hand. Then he’d lean against the wall and we’d talk. Don’t remember now what we talked about, but it was amazing.

I’ve been thinking about him a lot lately. I REALLY REALLY miss him. When I tip toe around the house in the morning real early so as not to wake anyone else up, I envision him doing the same. There was dim flourescent light over the kitchen sink. You could hear the Coffee garble as he filled his cup and tip toed out the doors toward the barn. I used to feel sorry for him, but I don’t now that I do the same thing. He had mastered his circumstances in a way that took me 45 years to grasp. I’m still grasping. But I LOVE my day more than I ever have, especially the start.

Three more things about developing the early riser habit!

You look forward to seizing the day. When we were kids, we used to get up at the crack of dawn while the fields were still covered in fog and trudge our way for miles out across the highway in the distance to Fosse’s Pond. By the time we got there we were soaked with morning dew and steam was still rising off the waters. We soon learned fish like worms early in the morning. Occasionally one would surface and SLAP the water when it landed. Now that I’m a little older, every day is a trip to the pond. Getting up early has reawakened my sense of adventure. Every day now I fill the 5 gallon bucket with memories and carry it home, switching hands from time to time to easier carry the load.

Your lows get lower and your highs get higher. My grandfather’s been gone almost twenty-two years now. My Mom has been gone almost sixteen years. My Grandmother’s been gone almost eleven years. There’s a trend here people. The older you get the more you will experience difficult days. But you will also experience and appreciate all kinds of other days. The tendency is to pretend that nothing hard is happening in the world. We tell ourselves soldiers aren’t getting their limbs blown off on a daily basis, our friends aren’t walking around with their hearts ripped out after failed marriages, our children aren’t feeling the pressures of something that moves faster and faster every day! But they are. They really are. But in the midst of it, we can learn to trust. We can believe that behind it all. Behind the curtain there is a God. Someone who loves us and has our best interests in store and is in the process of making all things new! Just this week our circle received news that one of our mentors graduated from a long, painful battle with Cancer. You can’t ignore that. However you also can’t ignore the fact that he impacted many people and his legacy lives on. Embrace your highs and lows. Give up on the idea that life will never be painful. Nobody’s ever made it out alive except for Jesus and even he had to die first.

You’ll be ready. I remember getting up to do the things I enjoyed on Saturdays and days off and taking half the day to wake up. Not any more. Everyday is Saturday! Gazing up now, there’s more light. Still an overcast morning but the grass is a thousand shades of green brighter. The glass table on the back lawn looks like an Adirondack valley covered with small ponds and lakes. The Lilacs are budding and drops of dew are hanging on the furniture. I’ve been away for an hour and fifteen minutes. It’s going to be an amazing day. Did I mention the fact that it’s Friday? All week, I’ve been looking forward to the treat of driving my truck to work. The kids are moving about and starting their day inside the house. My wife has been seizure-free for just over two years! I’m ready for whatever life sends my way. I’m expectant. Anticipating untold miracles today. I don’t want to ride my bike into the swamp anymore. The zits are gone. People can hate me and voice there opinions about me and I’m good with it. I can love them in a way I couldn’t before. I can laugh. Smile. Encourage. Make someones day! And it all began with getting ready. With starting a new SIMPLE habit of getting up early like Grandpa. Whatever it is you’re looking forward to in life, start preparing now. One of my mottos has always been “If you don’t see it before you see it, you’ll never see it when you see it”. In the words of Steve Brown, “You think about that!”.

Your rest will be sweet. I sleep like a baby. No more lying in bed and thinking. In fact, I get in bed by a certain time. Whatever it is that is so important, can wait until the morning. That means the notifications and ringer get turned off. I’m not Super human. If my phone is a machine and it needs to recharge every night, God knows I need to rest. The quality of your rest at night determines the quality of the day that follows. It’s a myth to think you can work all day and night for days on end and not come apart at the seams. If you work hard, you need to play hard and rest hard.

You don’t have to be Superman or Super Woman twenty four hours a day, but you can be if you want to. And it all begins with carving out a routine that works best for you. The sooner you get sick and tired of being sick and tired, the sooner you’ll reap the results of a life that makes a difference. You’re mistaken if you think you can stay up night and day and not experience any collateral damage. At least that’s my experience. You aren’t a turbine that was designed to start and run forever. You’re human. Don’t forget that.

However, don’t get discouraged about this thing called life. Many people have gone through it and managed to enjoy it in the process. You don’t have to be like my grandfather who got up every day at the crack of dawn and worked ’till sunset and you don’t have to be like me. But I promise that beginning the habit of starting early will revolutionize your life and maximize your enjoyment everyday tenfold!

“It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.” Psalm 127:2