There is Greatness Within You

Happy Friday, Friends!

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

“If only you could see the greatness in yourself, you wouldn’t envy the greatness in others.” – Suzy Kassem

Beautiful, isn’t it? This is my sincere hope and prayer for each one of us as this beautiful new opportunity is awakening before us…that we would see, perhaps for the first time or for the first time in a long time, the greatness in ourselves. What different lives we would live, how different our world would be, if we all understood our own greatness!

“Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone, and as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

– Marianne Williamson

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 😊

Which Is It?

Happy Friday, Friends!

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

Like much of the United States, Alabama got a deep freeze this week. We got light snow and a lot of sleet on Sunday night. This was followed by 5 – 7” of snow and then more sleet. For more than 3 days the temperature never got above freezing. And yes, I am mindful that people in North Dakota and the like are laughing at this “light storm” however to those of us in the South, this is a really big deal…shutting everything down. No school, no work, and the town is barely moving. Here is the question; what is it, a blessing or a curse? Good or bad? Something to enjoy or dread?

Let me share a real-life example that perfectly illustrates the two, drastically different, ways we tend to look at it. Late Monday morning, after a few inches of snow had fallen, and more was falling, I took my Chocolate Lab, Lexus, for a walk. She loved it. She wagged her tail the entire time and walked like a dog on a mission. Later in the day, Payton took her out in the back yard and played. He threw snow in her face, and she tried to catch it. She ran back and forth, over and over again, through the snow, having a blast. Any time anyone went near a door she wanted to go out and play. I ended up taking her on a 2^nd walk.

And then there is my sweet Beagle, Chloe. Chloe was so excited to go for her walk. She waited patiently as I put her harness on and then she excitedly pranced through the garage. As we exited the garage and her paws touched, and sank into the snow, she made it about 5’ and stopped. Complete halt, one front paw still up in the air, refusing to touch the snow again. I tried to encourage her to come on and she looked at me like I had lost my mind. She wanted no part of walking in the snow. Later, when Payton and Lexus were playing in the snow, she ventured out onto the back porch, quickly ran to Payton, and sat in his lap for about 30 seconds and then sprinted back into the house. To say Chloe is not a fan of the snow would be an understatement!

So, what is it? As with many things in life, I guess it all depends on how we choose to look at it. You and I can sit down and come up with a list of a lot of blessings, the good, and the joy that comes from a snowstorm. Likewise, we could come up with a list of the curses, the bad, and the things to dread. It is the epitome of what we choose to look for, the perspective we choose to take!

I chose to look for and embrace the blessings, the good, and the joy that this storm could bring. Perhaps it is because I am reading the John C. Maxwell 101 Collections that I told you all about last week and the section I am currently reading is about attitude. I decided to intentionally choose to embrace this “storm” and to wring every bit of goodness out of it that I could find. I want to share a few blessings that I have lived because of this intentional choice.

Last year I set a goal to ride a stationary bike a really long distance. This year I am still going to ride the bike however I also plan to walk a significant distance. As I stated in my “Happy Friday” titled “It Takes What It Takes,” our goals don’t care about things like snowstorms. I am going to have to walk a certain number of miles per day for the entire year if I am going to achieve my goal. So, I got bundled up and off I went. I wish I had the words to adequately describe to you all the beauty I experienced as I walked on Monday. I walked through the most beautiful snowstorm I have ever seen! There were snowflakes that must have been 2” wide. It was beautiful, majestic, and I fully realized at that moment how truly blessed I am.

For those of you who are blessed to have young children who still live at home, I want to encourage you to truly cherish every day. I know full well how challenging it can be sometimes and at the same time, I wish I could adequately communicate how quickly the time goes. Please cherish them…the days are long, but the years are short. Before you know it, there will be no more games or programs to run to, there will be no more homework, and there will be a time in your home when the silence is deafening…unless you are blessed to get a snowstorm! All the boys were at the house on Monday. They got the 4-wheeler, a rope, and a sled out. They wanted to know if I wanted to play…do I want to play?!?! We took turns pulling each other on the sled. We went fast, we went in circles, we wiped out, we laughed…I might not remember a lot of days as I grow older however I will not forget the time I got to play with my boys in the snow in 2024!

You know you are loved, that you are something special, when you bless someone simply by your presence. Over several days this past week, my life has been so richly blessed by my Beautiful Bride, my 3 Tender Warriors, and my soon to be Daughter-In-Love simply by their presence. You see, this snowstorm has shut down everything in our town. There has been no work, no school, and there is really no place to run off to. Everything has stopped, like God hit a pause button. We have shared more meals, played cards, talked, watched movies, and just spent quality time together than at any time in a really long time. You want to talk about blessing a dads heart…just by their presence! And here is the thing, I fully recognized and appreciated this great blessing as it was occurring. I wouldn’t change a thing, I just wanted to live fully present.

So, which is it? To me this storm was one of the greatest blessings I ever remember receiving. I will cherish the memories that have been created for a lifetime and I plan to be intentional to learn lessons from it. There will be other storms – both of nature and of life. Each time I will have to answer the question – which is it? With God’s guiding I pray I will choose to embrace each storm and that I will decide to intentionally choose to embrace the “storm” and wring every bit of goodness out of it that I can find. I am very mindful that whatever attitude I choose, the storms will come. I am equally mindful that it is the attitude I choose that will determine how I live through the storm, and the man that I become on the other side of it.

I want to close this Happy Friday with a quote that I came across earlier this week. I think it might be the most accurate quote about how I intend to live my life.

“The most “whole” thing I do every day is to take responsibility for my attitude, actions, and behaviors. And, no matter what challenges come my way, to view those challenges as opportunities to triumph. To be victorious. To show the love of God. To be grateful.” – Sandra C. Bibb

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 family, and please stay well! 😊

Kev

Change Your Attitude!

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! This gift will be a great one if only we will choose to seize it!

This morning I want to share a couple of thoughts/ideas that I found profound and then a couple of things for us to thoughtfully consider.

A few weeks ago, I was reading a book – I apologize, I no longer remember which book I was reading or who the author is…the challenge of reading several books at the same time!!! – and the author said something like, “The next time someone does something that offends you, instead of saying, ‘what is wrong with that person?’, say, ‘I wonder what happened to that person?’ Go ahead, say it to yourself; “I wonder what happened to that person?” If you are like me, your heart feels more compassionate, and it hits your Spirit a little differently. Are people’s attitudes poor? Do they speak rudely? Do they do inappropriate things? Yes, yes, and yes! So, what happened to them that they have a poor attitude, that they speak hurtful, hateful words, that they feel it is o.k. to do inappropriate things? I wonder what happened to that person.

Over the Christmas break I found a book that is like a leadership gold mine. It is The Complete 101 Collection: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John C. Maxwell. This book is intimidating!!! It is 611 pages long and it has no pictures! 😊 It is broken down into different sections and it addresses attitude, self-improvement, leadership, relationships, success, teamwork, equipping, and mentoring. I have a feeling y’all are going to be hearing a lot about this book!

Last weekend I was reading chapter 2 which was titled, How Does Attitude Impact An Individual? The chapter opens with this:

“What is attitude? How do you put your finger on it? Well, attitude is an inward feeling expressed by behavior.”

Attitude is an inward feeling expressed by behavior. What a person is feeling inside is expressed through their words and behaviors. As a dad my spirit convicts me. How many times as my Tender Warriors were growing up did I say, “Change your attitude!” or, if I was really serious, “Change your attitude or I will change it for you!” Ever heard that one? What would have been the more appropriate response? I would offer something like, “Hey Buddy, what is going on? What’s wrong?” Accepting this definition of attitude, I now understand why in the history of the world telling someone with a bad attitude to change it has worked exactly zero times. It is like yelling at an apple tree to produce oranges…not gonna happen! If we don’t take care of the root – the feeling and what is causing it – we stand zero chance of having a different fruit. A couple of scriptures are stirring in my heart right now and I feel I must quickly share them.

Proverbs 4:23

23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Luke 6:43-45

43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil [a]treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Right now, I am reminded that knowledge without application is simply knowledge. Knowledge with application is wisdom. My hope for all of us is that we have now seen attitudes and our approach to others in a way that we will not be able to unsee it. That, perhaps, for the first time our hearts, eyes, and ears have been opened in a way they have never before been opened. Let’s apply what we now know!

I want to challenge all of us, the next time someone says or does something that hurts, upsets, offends, etc. us, instead of angrily thinking or saying, “What is wrong with that person?” lets say, “I wonder what happened to that person?” Pure heartedly, with great empathy, lets set aside our offense and understand that their words/behaviors are not a reflection of us but of them. What we are seeing is really the outward expression of what is going on in their heart. We can choose to see this person in a different light. No, this action alone will not change how they speak or behave, however it will change our hearts and the way we speak and behave.

Attitudes – ours and others.

Ours

What are the things we are pouring into our Spirits, hearts, and minds? Are the things we are reading and listening to true, positive, and encouraging? Are they leading to feelings of adequacy or inadequacy? Are they leading to feelings of scarcity or abundance? Are they leading to feelings of faith or fear? We know that the things we read and listen to impact the way we feel which will then impact the way we think, speak, and act. Will we simply know this to be true or will we choose to live wisely? Wisdom would be for each one of us to be master gardeners of our Spirits, hearts, and minds. If our attitudes are bad, we would be wise to look at what we are feeding our Spirits, hearts, and minds.

Others

My perspective of a bad attitude is forever changed by this definition. My heart genuinely aches for the person with a bad attitude. The hurt, pain, anger, or whatever it is that is leading to the behavior they are exhibiting must be profound. I would never wish a person to live this way.

For those I know and have the privilege of being able to speak into their life, I will have a heart of great empathy. I will let them know that they are not alone, that I genuinely care about them, and that I will then help them any way I can. I will not force the issue however I will always let them know that I care, and I am available.

For those I don’t know, with genuine compassion, I will silently ask, ‘I wonder what happened to that person?’ I don’t need to give a dirty look, have a sharp tongue, or do anything to “put them in their place.” They are already struggling, why would I want to throw more gas on the fire? I can’t change them however I can change how I respond to them, and this will change everything.

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 family, and please stay well!

Kev

Steward It All Well

Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day on this glorious first Friday of 2024 in my Sweet Home Alabama! 😊

Merriam-Webster defines stewardship as, “2 : the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.” Most of us, when we think of stewardship, we think of money. This morning I want to challenge us to consider our stewardship in a couple of different areas.

O.K., I want to be fully transparent here…I find this fascinating! What is on my mind is time, talent, and treasure. I wanted to provide some context for you all, so I went searching for information about the origin of the phrase. Did you know that the phrase “time, talent, and treasure” is not in the Bible? I didn’t. According to one website I read, the phrase first appeared in print in 1845. Many attribute it to the parable of the Good Samaritan stating, “The expression Time, Talent and Treasure possibly derives from The Parable of the Good Samaritan. He gave his time to help the man, he used his talents to tend to the man's wounds and he gave his money (treasure) to pay for the man's lodging.” In more recent times, it is frequently used in reference to giving. Learningtogive.org states it this way: “Philanthropy is about generosity in all its many forms, commonly referred to as gifts of ‘time, talent, and treasure.’” So interesting!

In any event, getting back on track here, let’s talk about the stewardship – “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care” – of our time and talent.

Are we stewarding our time well? It is the most valuable of all our resources because we never get it back…we are literally exchanging our life for the thing(s) we spend time doing. If we were to really take inventory of how we are spending our time, would we be happy with what we found? Is how we are spending our time fostering better relationships with our family and friends? Is it leading us to our goals? Are we better people, spouses, parents, children, leaders, and friends because of how we spend our time? If the answer to any of these questions is no, perhaps we want to intentionally change how we are spending our life, uh, time!

How about this one, are we stewarding our talents well? Within each one of us is some talent…are we doing everything we can to develop it, to become all we are capable of becoming? If not, why not? Please, whatever your talent may be, develop it. I promise you; it will be used in profound ways to positively impact others if we allow it to do so. And keeping it real for a moment, good stewardship of a talent is not letting it sit dormant, undeveloped. We weren’t given the abilities we have been given to not use them!

Time, talent, and treasure…we have all been given some of each. I pray that we will all steward them well!

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 family, and please stay well! 😊

Kev