I hope & trust this post finds you all having a great day, and that you have had an awesome week - personally & professionally, as a brand new day begins to dawn on the Texas Gulf Coast! :)
Wednesday was "one of those days" for me. It was tough and I was in a tough spot. I was fighting for faith & hope. Ever have one of those?
I work on an island which, for an Arizona native, is a pretty amazing thing. Every morning, as I drive across the causeway, I try to be intentional about looking around and truly appreciating the blessings...the awe & wonder. The thing is, when you work on an island there is exactly one way in and one way out...unless you take a boat however that is not an option for me! :) Well, on Wednesday there was a horrific accident at the base of the causeway, on the way out, which meant nobody was going anywhere...for a long time. So, I have had a tough day, I stayed at work until nearly 7:00 p.m. - hoping the traffic would clear up a little bit, and now I am in bumper to bumper traffic, moving maybe 50 yards (former football coach, sorry...I think in yards and not feet!) in the past 30 minutes and I am behind "that person." You know the one. They are on their cell phone so when the traffic moves forward 10 yards they don't and a car passes in front of them. Hey, even in a turtle race the turtles still wanna race! :)
One thing I have learned as I have grown older is to choose my thoughts, to fight for my faith. I knew I was not in a good place so I tried singing along to some Christian music. My thoughts kept returning to negativity. I then chose to pull up a podcast on my cell phone. The one I chose to pull up was an interview Jon Gordon had with a gentleman named John O'Leary. I was familiar with John as I had shared a very inspiring video of him a couple of weeks ago on Facebook.
When John was 9-years old he was burned over 100% of his body with 3rd degree burns over 85%. A person that severely burned is not supposed to live let alone thrive as John has. I would strongly encourage you to look John up on the internet and watch some of his videos. You can also go to his website at johnolearyinspires.com. And finally, with Fathers Day on the horizon...I hope my Beautiful Bride reads this Happy Friday, you can perhaps get his book, "On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life."
So, I am listening to the podcast and John shares two critically important questions that I want to share with you this morning.
The first question he shared is, "What more can I do?" He shared it in the context of his boyhood hero, the late, great sportscaster Jack Buck. According to John, every night Jack would ask the question, "What more can I do?" This isn't the bemoaning, whining question of a man in despair but rather the Spirit seeking question of a man determined to live a life that makes a difference in others lives. In proper context the question is seeking God's guidance and looks something like this:
- What more can I do to grow closer to God?
- What more can I do to serve my wife?
- What more can I do to serve my kids?
- What more can I do to serve my friends?
- What more can I do to serve the lost? The hurting? The broken?
- What more can I do to serve?
You get the point. It is the honest cry of a heart that seeks to continually learn, grow and develop into all the Lord created one to be.
The second question he shared is, "Why me?" Little boy, burned over 100% of his body, fingers amputated...must mean "why did this happen to me?", right?! Yeah, you already know that is wrong, don't you? No, this is the beautiful perspective shift John offered.
- Why me? Why did God think so much of me that He thought the world needed me and so He created me?
- Why me? Why am I so blessed to have the wife I have?
- Why me? Why am I so blessed to have the kids I have?
- Why me? Why am I so blessed to have the calling & purpose on my life that I have?
- Why me? Why have I been so blessed to be called to serve where I serve?
You see, it is a heart of gratitude...a perspective shift for sure! Yes, the boy who was burned over 100% of his body is the man with a beautiful family, he is a highly sought after motivational speaker...he is indeed blessed. Friends, it is all in what we choose to see, or perhaps how we choose to see it. Do you see the burned boy, left without hope or do you see the blessed man? It starts with a heart that seeks to learn, grow & develop, to ask "Why me?" in the spirit of gratitude, seeking the Spirits leading.
There are tons of great thoughts/ideas in John's book - did I mention it is titled On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life and that it would make a great Fathers Day gift? Honey, are you listening?!?! :) - and I would like to share just a couple with you:
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." - Melody Beattie
"We choose to vibrantly go about life, soak it up, embrace it, and celebrate it, or we choose not to. No one else can make this decision for us." - John O'Leary
"The number on joy indicator, the one thing that will predict whether someone feels joy in their life or not, is the practice of gratitude." - John O'Leary
"you can't always choose the path that you walk in life, but you can always choose the manner in which you walk it." - John O'Leary
"Everything we do matters. Our lives are sacred. There are no small players. There are no small tasks." - John O'Leary
Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your families. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.
Kev
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