Inspired

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new opportunity prepares to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! :)

I am fired up! I have read, heard of, and thought of some things that have called out to the greatness that is within me to be drawn out. So this morning I am going to share excerpts from 3 different sources, regarding different topics. Basically, I am studying and I am inviting you to sit beside me and learn and grow as your spirit convicts you to do so. :)

The first thing I want to talk about is change, trying new things, and relentlessly pursuing the greatness that is within us. My work family and I have been talking about this a lot. As we have talked, I have often thought about some of the words from John O'Leary in his book, On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life. The excerpts I am going to share come from Chapter 5 which he titled, Can You Say Yes? Comfort is popular, but courage changes lives.

"...when we try to stay safe, when we strive to stay comfortable, we miss the great opportunities of life.

We all face moments when we would rather stay where we are. Whether we are too injured, or it's too late, or it's too scary, those excuses rise because we have been trained to keep our eyes down, on the rocky soil in front of us, trying to make sure we don't trip. We've got to stay safe, we think. Looking down is just practical. Don't want to look stupid. Don't want to fall.

But when we are staring down at where we are, we can't look ahead to where we want to go. We miss the beauty of what's possible. And we certainly can't see the path to get there."

"...stretching is never easy. It's unwanted. It's painful. It's hard on all parties involved and in all facets of life. It's not pleasant to be stretched and it's not pleasurable to stretch others. Yet the pain of today unveils the possibility of tomorrow.

Stretching leads to growth.

Growth is frequently painful.

But 'growth is the only evidence of life.'"

"Growth is the only evidence of life.

The opposite is true, too. Stagnation is the first step to your grave."

"The fifth choice that you must make to live a radically inspired life is this: refuse to become stagnant by purposefully growing and intentionally stretching in every area of life."

"...in choosing not to grow, we choose to die"

"Things that come easy are seldom worthy."

"Real growth is often unwanted, extremely painful, and ultimately completely worth it."

"When you say and live yes, greater possibilities open each day than you could have imagined."

"I've learned again and again in life that you can show courage or you can be comfortable. But you can't do both at the same time. While comfort might be popular, courage changes lives."

"Vision is worthless without the courage to risk and take action."

"Isn't it time to risk it all in order to build something, inspire another, and become someone great?

Isn't it time to stretch courageously toward the limitless possibility of your life?

Isn't it time to get moving, start dreaming, and begin growing?

Growth is the only evidence of life.

Choose growth."

The 2nd excerpt comes from the transcript of the Focus On The Family radio podcast that aired this past Wednesday, October 28, 2020. The guest was Dave Willis and the topic was Teaching Boys to Respect Women. There is a point where Dave talks about the standards the Bible gives men. The cry of my heart is that every boy and man, that I, would read, and live, these standards every day the rest of our lives. 

"...the Bible gives us some really good standards. No. 1 is to have the courage to fight for what's right, that we, as men - we've got to be willing to enter into the fight. It's not always a fight with our fists, but it's a fight with our hearts. It's a fight of selflessness, of being willing to do what's right. I love that verse where Nehemiah challenged people. Guys, fight for your families today. Fight for what's right. Um, No. 2 is seek responsibility instead of running from it. I think that our world celebrates, uh, a lot of boys and men in culture that tend to just run away from the responsibility of marriage and family and [not] thinking of anyone outside themselves. And we've got to be willing to say, "No. A true man of God is on that's going to seek responsibility to care for others and not - not just think of himself." And kind of one of those - big themes that linked to that is we, as husbands, have such a responsibility in modeling that by how we love our wives. And so, we can teach all the right lessons with our words, men, but listen. The most important lesson you can give your sons on how to respect women is in how you treat your wife. And my wife Ashley and I do marriage ministry. We talk about this all the time on our "Making Marriage" podcast. And every chance we get, we say, "Men, love your life well because by your example, you're teaching your sons how to treat women and you're teaching your daughters what they should expect from men. And by your example, you're either giving your kids a big head start with blessing or you're giving them some baggage that they're gonna have to overcome in years to come."

"Work hard. I think you've got to work hard at whatever you do. Uh, and I elaborate a lot more in the book on these, but just to kind of get through them quickly, work hard - No. 3. Show patience and restraint is No. 4. I think that sometimes, we celebrate guys who will fly off the handle and just lose their temper, but the Proverbs say it's better to control your temper than to take a city. You know, the true warriors of faith are the guys that - that have the ability to show restraint in the right moments instead of just letting their emotions rule them. And then the next one is - is respect your wife. Again, I just kind of touched on that a lot. We've gotta lead the way by that example in how we respect. No. 6 is keep your word and honor your commitments. The Bible says, "Keep your word even when it hurts," you know? Keep your commitments. And the final one is to trust God. We can't do this in our own strength, and we're always going to fall short. But if we can let our kids see that we're trusting in God's strength to guide the way, then we're always going to be headed in the right direction."

Finally, I want to share an excerpt from How To Win Friends & Influence People: The Only Book You Need to Lead You to Success by Dale Carnegie. I read this yesterday morning and it really caused me to pause and think. The excerpt comes from Chapter 8 which is titled A Formula That Will Work Wonders for You.

"REMEMBER THAT OTHER PEOPLE MAY BE TOTALLY WRONG. But they don't think so. Don't condemn them. Any fool can do that. Try to understand them. Only wise, tolerant, exceptional people even try to do that.

There is a reason why the other man thinks and acts as he does. Ferret out that reason - and you have the key to his actions, perhaps to his personality.

Try honestly to put yourself in his place.

If you say to yourself, "How would I feel, how would I react if I were in his shoes?" you will save yourself time and irritation, for "by becoming interested in the cause, we are less likely to dislike the effect." And, in addition, you will sharply increase your skill in human relationships.

"Stop a minute," says Kenneth M. Goode in his book How to Turn People Into Gold, "stop a minute to contrast your keen interest in your own affairs with your mild concern about anything else. Realize then, that everybody else in the world feels exactly the same way! Then, along with Lincoln and Roosevelt, you will have grasped the only solid foundation for interpersonal relationships; namely, that success in dealing with people depends on a sympathetic grasp of the other person's viewpoint."

It is my sincere hope that something in this message speaks to your heart. Most importantly, I hope that something inspires you to live the life you were created to live.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious families, and please, stay well.

Kev