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Have you ever felt a huge need for something and prayed for it?

Have you ever had a pain that hurt constantly and prayed for it?

Have you ever had a sick family member and prayed for them to get well. Let’s make it a little more specific, maybe it wasn’t JUST a family member, let’s say it was a child or a parent. That might make you pray a little harder huh?

During these times, a large portion of  your time spent with God was probably telling God how much you needed, wanted relief, or really wanted your family member to get well.  Right?

There might be a hint of  guilt, feeling selfish, or lack of hope as we humbly, with all our might, pray for this situation to work out in our favor.  We ask our family members to pray.  Our friends to pray.  Our ministers to pray.  We do all that we can so that this issue gets “fixed”, but we want it in our favor.

That need that you were thinking of, after all the hard work you put into praying for it, did you get it?  If you didn’t, how did you feel?

How’s the pain?  If you’re still hurting, are you upset or maybe thinking you didn’t do something right?

This is the one that hurts; did the family member get well?  If that child or parent didn’t recover after all of your hard work trying to let God know your hopes, who did you get mad at or upset with?  Still hurts doesn’t it?  Some might still be questioning God and his decision to let this one pass.  You’re not alone.

In my opinion, if your heart was right, you did exactly as you should have.

A phrase struck me like a ton of bricks during my devotion with God this week.  It came from a man after God’s own heart.  I can’t get enough of reading about David.  All of his trials, his failures, his blatant sins and I still admire David.  I think even more so now.

A little bit of build up.  After David had committed his sin with Bathsheba, had her husband Uriah killed, and Nathan brought some sense back into David, it was time for him to receive his punishment. His punishment was not his death, but the death of the child that was born to him by Bathsheba.

After the child became ill, “David pleaded with God for the child.“  Here are some other things he did. Fasted, slept on the ground, and when the members of his house asked him to get up or to eat, David would have nothing to do with it.  For seven days he didn’t eat, slept on the ground, and he didn’t bathe.

Seventh day the child dies. We then see David moping around, wondering why this happened to him and Bathsheba.  He was more depressed and hurt than he was before, right?

NOPE!

He got up, washed, put on lotions, changed his clothes and then went to worship God.  Afterward he finally got him a bite to eat.  I gather from my reading that he totally confused the folks around him.  They were afraid to tell David that the boy had died because they were afraid “He may do something desperate.” As if.  Then they questioned him about why in the world was he acting the way he was now, and I want you to see David’s response:

²² He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ ²³ But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”-2 Samuel 12:22-23

David thought, “Who knows?” Almost see David rolling his eyes as he says “Who knows?”  He didn’t know, but he had hope, and though the hope was dashed he didn’t let that lead him away.

Don’t stop praying for whatever you want.  Don’t stop praying for the pain to go away.  Don’t stop praying when a family member is sick. Why?

Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to you and give you what you are asking.

If he don’t, then don’t let that cause you to lose your faith.  God still loves you and will do great things through you.

Because of HIM

SC

Image via Wikipedia

I’m still hanging on.  I’m still getting through this mess with my back.  I’ve got an appointment on Wednesday (May, 13th (which is also my son’s birthday)) to see a pain management Doctor.  It’s an exciting time, I think that’s the right term to use.  It’s also a bit frustrating because this sounds like putting a band aid on a broken arm.  It might cover it up, put it’s still broke.  I keep telling myself though that anything that can be done to keep me from taking this pain medicine will be a relief in and of itself.

Even through it all, how have I managed to keep my sanity about me?  Some may say, “Well, Scott, that’s debatable.” and I would tend to agree with you.  Maybe I’ve never had my sanity about me?  Maybe sanity is not the appropriate word, maybe the appropriate word is keep my Christianity about me.  My answer you already have determined, I’m sure, but just entertain me for a bit will ya?

Persevere

– to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly

It’s a word that I’ve heard so many times throughout my life, but haven’t really understood it to it’s fullest.  Also, over the last bit it’s been one of those hot topics that everyone that I’m around seems to be talking about.  You know how that is.  You hear a word one day then the next everyone is using it.  It’s been etched in my brain and I guess that’s part of the reason that I’m still on the right track through this.

I have been thinking of some examples that I can compare myself with. Compare, to see how they persevered through their rough times. Persevering is not just about getting over a painful situation though, which is what usually comes to mind when I hear that word. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know though.

A lot of times when I think of a person in the Bible who was a great example of perseverance, I think of Job.  Poor guy was just enjoying a meal with some family one day.  Then, with God’s permission, Satan started tearing Job’s world apart.  Just reading the first chapter of Job can usually make me feel better about what I’ve got.  But God knew the faith of Job and just as planned Job didn’t let him down.

Throughout the book Job deals with death, sickness, and friends trying to “talk some sense into him”, or so they thought.  But good ol’ Job persevered through it all and in the end, He was blessed with twice as much as he had before (Job 42:7-16). I invite you to read the entire book.  He really is a great example of perseverance.

The book of James, one of my favorite authors in the bible, tells us a lot about why one should persevere. Instead of repeating it, just go read it for yourself. I think it is a very inspirational book on perseverance.

Obviously the greatest example of perseverance is Jesus. He is the example that I hope I am being. I’m sure I’m failing a lot, but I’m trying.

Karen emailed this to me this week and I’ve just got to share it with you.

The Faith to Persevere

“Because you have kept My command to persevere ” (Revelation 3:10).

Perseverance means more than endurance—more than simply holding on until the end. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, but our Lord continues to stretch and strain, and every once in a while the saint says, “I can’t take any more.” Yet God pays no attention; He goes on stretching until His purpose is in sight, and then He lets the arrow fly. Entrust yourself to God’s hands. Is there something in your life for which you need perseverance right now? Maintain your intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the perseverance of faith. Proclaim as Job did, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).
–My Utmost for His Highest – Oswald Chambers

High Fives

I’m going to brag on someone here.  I’m going to give this person a pat on the back.  That person is myself.  Through the pain I can’t remember a time when I said “I can’t take any more.” I can’t recall a time when I’ve said “Why God? Why the pain?” I’ve never given up the ONE who will see me through this. I’ve persevered through just by hanging on to Him and all of my brothers and sisters. There have been times in my life where the complete opposite would be happening right now.  I see God working through each of my friends and it really is a blessing.

So now, I give you a pat on the back.  I’m going to brag on you.  If it wasn’t for you guys and gals helping me stay focused I really don’t know that I could have made it this far.

I know, don’t count your chickens before they hatch.  I’m still fighting the pain and it does appear to be getting worse.  But I’m persevering and I will persevere because “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him”

You too can persevere.  “Every successful person has to start somewhere” is a quote that I read sometime over the last week.  Every successful person has had to persevere. In what ways have you persevered?

Because of HIM

SC

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”-Larry Elder

Image by Express Monorail via Flickr

If only for tonight, these two words together, “I Wish”, I would like to remove from my vocabulary.  I guess that in and of itself is an “I wish” statement.  I’m not liking it right now.  It seems to be almost counter-productive to me.  

It’s as if I am giving myself and excuse to not achieve.  Giving myself an excuse to not even make an attempt to do something because it immediately becomes un-attainable when those words are spoken.  Because in my mind when I make a wish, the fairy dust is supposed to fall from the ceiling and *POOF* there it is.  Just like the fairy tale it came from, what is wished for too becomes a part of that fairy tale.

And when it’s not there, it brings forth a bit of sadness because I had already imagined what I would be doing with whatever I had just wished for.  I’ll admit though that there is a bit of excitement or fun that goes along with it because of where I go when it’s wished for.  I’m not sure, though, that it’s worth the sadness of the reality.

Why do I do that to myself?  Sure, some wishes turn into goals, but very rarely I think.  Most likely that is why I’m having such a difficult time not smoking.  I find myself “wishing” I could quit.  I find myself “wishing” I could become a counselor.  I find myself “wishing’ I were out of debt.  I find myself wishing for things that ARE attainable.  BUT my mind is so accustomed to dismissing those wishes that it doesn’t take me seriously.

“What spurred this on,” you ask?

I stopped myself from responding to a tweet with an “I wish I could do that.”  I don’t know if I really, truly, WISHED I could do what I was about to say.  To say I wish I could do it was just an excuse for me to try and make myself feel better.  So I didn’t. I faced reality.

I was tweeting with @SteveGarufi tonight and he made a statement about riding his bike 95miles from Buena Vista to Colorado Springs.   I asked if he had ridden that far before and he said that he had.  One day last year he rode 128miles, and he sent me a link.  He had taken some pictures on his journey.  It wasn’t long though until I learned that this was only 1 day out of the 45 that it took him to bike across America.  When I learned that, WOW!  How awesome that must have been!  I can’t imagine the feeling of accomplishment that he must have had.  I wanted that feeling.  

He sent me the link to his site where he has pictures up of each day that he rode along with a description of the pictures.  He sent me a link to the map of his bike ride.  (I invite you to check out his site bikeacrossamerica.org. I’m still reading it and am just in awe.) 

I almost blurted out in response to his links and info, “Man, I wish I could do that.”  It was my minds way of giving me that feeling temporarily.  I fought it.  Instead I faced reality.  I told him how awesome it sounded but I wear out walking from the bed to the couch.  Reality.  

So does that mean that I’m planning a bike ride across America?  

Yeah.  I Wish.

Am I gonna stop wishing?

Man, I wish.

Because of HIM,

SC

photo by me

The path of life leads upward for the wise to keep him from going down to the grave.

-Proverbs 15:24

A week or so ago I made a comment on a great post over at The Jungle of Life. The post was about believing in yourself. Taking on the knocks of life. Getting up after getting down. Since then I have thought a lot about this post and also (hope it doesn’t sound as if I’m bragging) my comment has made ME think about MYSELF.

I love it when that happens.  It seems the teacher always learns more than the students.

I would like to expound a little on my comment.  I’ll paraphrase a bit though.

KNOCKED DOWN? WELL GET YOURSELF UP!

First and foremost it is VERY important that you bounce back to your feet after life has dealt you a breathtaking blow.  A strong punch in the gut can bring you to your knees can keep you down for the count. The rocks of life will continue to pelt you as you lay there.  The roots of life will over take you, dragging you slowly into darkness.

Staying down will lead to nothing good.

A strong feeling of failure and fear awaits your future as you strive to meet your goals.

“I CAN’T DO IT!” will become one of the most used phrases in your vocabulary. You WILL become stuck in a vortex of nothingness and life will not get any better, only swirl slowly out of control.

THIS WAS ME

I remember back when alcohol was my control.  So many times I would sit in the darkness with only the glow of the TV for a light.  Crying to myself because I COULDN’T control this aspect of my worthless life.  Speaking to myself out loud, as I drew the alcohol to my lips, “Tomorrow!”, and then down the spout the demon would go.  Straight to my gut, straight to my brain, and I would wipe the tears away. I was so mad at myself.  How could this happen to ME!  This is THE last DAY this will happen.

The next day, alcohol depriving my brain of thoughts so clear, it would somehow trick me into forgetting that I was gonna stop visiting him today.  It would only remind me once I had purchased the bag-o-fun.  The same process would start over.  Crying.  “Tomorrow!”. Tears. Another punch in the gut. Another demon to take my legs away, landing me on my face over and over and over.

WHAT WENT WRONG

What I did after getting up is something I think we may all may practice. Maybe not.  Maybe it’s just me.  I strongly doubt it though. 

I was on my feet, however brief.  And you know what?  I was heading down the very same path I was on.  Starting over right where I fell. I didn’t have any regard for why I fell in the first place.  Soon, sometimes right after getting back up, I was back down on my face. Lower than I was previously. So excited to get to the end.

BUT DON’T FORGET

So, I’ve came to the conclusion that by all means, if life knocks you down YES. GET UP! Jump up if you want.  But, please, don’t forget to shake off the dust from your last fall.  Look back and determine what made you fall.  Why did you not see the rock, the stump, the limb, or the demon in your path?  Why in the world did you fall in the first place?

Once you’ve got that figured out, your much less likely to fall.  At least fall over the same thing.

I used to picture the path of life as a smooth, soft surface. Skipping on this path would be nothing but easy.  How far from the truth.  The path of life is bumpy, lumpy and stumpy.  If your traveling that path looking at the stars, your gonna end up on your face.

Most importantly.  Take God with you.  He knows the best way around the path.

SC

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?”

-James 2:14 (NIV)

photo by stamina

 
HEY, WHERE YOU GOING? READ ON, Please.

I’ve put my goals on a temporary hold.  ”Why?” you ask.  

Well, it all began way back som…….

Preface

Nightly, daily, every time I pray, I always ask God to “use me as he will.”  I’m now a servant of His.  Since I started including this in my prayers, A couple of things have happened, without me doing anything but asking (which really causes me to have chills when I think about it, I mean, hair literally raising).

• I’ve began teaching a class at church to college age students.  This is truly a blessing for me.  And I was approached by one of my deacons to teach this class.  
• The Ever-Changing Thought was given to me/us by God.  Again, another blessing that I thank him for daily.

God said to me,”Ok…here ya go.  Try these for a while, make sure your comfortable.”

I feel both of these areas in my life improving, maturing, daily.  I hope you agree.  I couldn’t do them on my own, so again, all the glory goes to God.

Even with these added to my plate, I have continued to ask, beg, plead with God to “use me more.” Yet, nothing else has been given to me, sort of.

Get Off Your Duff and Do Something

A couple of things happened again yesterday.

After hearing a couple of sermons on being a serving member, I got the point.  God has given me a lot by letting me teach the class and share my thoughts with you, now it was my turn to “do” something.  God basically said, “Get off your duff and do something.” So, last night, I approached my minister and asked him what I needed to do at/for the church. Where could I help?  He is contemplating that and I’m sure we will talk about it more in the near future.

The other thing that happened is where I think I…er…”We” want you to get involved.  I went to Walmart last night to pick up some odds and ends for around the house (and around the litter boxes).  On my way out I was pulled to the book section.  I was needing something else to read.  Not really knowing what.

After browsing around a bit, I moved a book that was laying on it’s side, over to where it went in the shelf. There it was, behind that book.  ”A Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren was staring me in the face, God said ‘Here.’  My shopping was done.

The Thought is for YOU

Well, I read the preface and the first chapter last night. It’s a 40 day journey where 1 chapter per day is read and applied in your life.  In the preface Rick “strongly urge”s the reader to get one or more friends to join in the study as “A journey is always better when it is shared.”

So, now my question that I want to ask you is, would YOU like to join US on this journey?  With Twitter and all the social networking tools available to us, I think this could be done, it could be fun, and I think we could all get a better idea of our Purpose in this life.  I’ve only thought about it today so the plan is still in the works.  I’ve not read the entire book, so it would be a first time through for me.

At any rate, I’m ready to pursue it myself.  I need to know what my purpose is on this earth.  I have contacted another friend and we are going to do this, so don’t feel like you have to.  I’m just offering it to you, for you, not for me It is a God centered book, as we all should be.

My plans are to create another page on this blog called APDL (A Purpose Driven Life), which we can use sort of as a forum for us.  I won’t do that until I see if YOU are wanting to journey with me.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.  Are you in?  Got some suggestions? Think I’m biting off a big part of an apple that I won’t be able to chew?  Whatever is on your mind is fine.

If you want to, but can’t this time, I may do it again sometime next year, depending on how this one goes (if it goes).  I’ll quit rambling. Thanks for your time!

Oh, once I figure out my purpose, my goals may change. That’s why I felt it necessary to put them on hold.

SC
 

Doing nothing is very hard to do – you never know when you’re finished.
- Leslie Nielsen

 

photo by eye of einstein

Let me see…how can I describe my day?  Um, EXCITING!. No.  EVENTFULL! No.  How about motivationallessness?  Ahh, yes. That’s it. 

Motivationallessness – Having the quality of being less than motivated and a complete lack of desire to motivate others. 

It’s my word, my definition. I googled.  

When my feet hit the floor, it was obvious.  Every ounce of me did not want to get out from under the warmth and comfort of my bed.  Not a drop of adrenaline did I have. 

I asked myself, “Did I sleep ok?”  I think so.  Except for around 1:30AM when out of no where there was a loud thumping on my ear.  You know that sound that is heard when someone taps on a microphone?  Yeah, that’s what I was hearing at 1:30am.  No, I wasn’t at a club, or a concert.  I was wrapped up in my dreams, sawing logs, sleeping is what I’m trying to say.  

TAP TAP TAP TAP

“Chloe?” I thought to myself, not really awake but just sort of there.  ”How is my cat making that thump on my ear?”  I was sleepily perplexed.

TAP TAP TAP

Ok, alright.  I rolled over ready to push the cat off the bed, and there was Austin, my son.  

“Hey Buddy.  What are you doing?” I croaked and groaned sleepishly, as I looked past his silhouette, peering at the clock. 

“hmphr hhafgp lojlhkll hj hsh”, he said.  We were both still asleep. I had no idea what he just said.

After much filtering and “huh?? What???”ing, it turns out, he had a nightmare and didn’t want to go back to bed.  

“I think I ate too much before I went to bed,” I heard him say.  Though I knew he hadn’t.  

Anyway, he was back in bed by 1:35 or so.  I don’t think that would have been the cause my motivationallessness.  

I think….I think it was just one of those days where I didn’t need nor want to do anything.  I needed a day to recharge, even after being off all weekend.  I did have something to do every day this weekend.  Didn’t get my normal recharge time in I suppose.  

I did go to work.  I did manage to force myself to write a few hundred words in my “novel” that I am writing for nanowrimo.  But it wasn’t because I was really motivated.  I felt bad not writing actually.  I’m already behind by a half a day on the number of words that need to be written.

Even as bad as this day seems, it was still much better, like a million times better, than my best day when I was drinking.  I must thank God for that.  I take this day as a “Hey, Scott!! Your Still Real!!” day.  And you know, I’m ok with that.  

Thanks for stopping by and putting your ears on.  Tell me something great about your day why don’t you?  I would really love to hear it!

I think the Austin episode was probably the greatest point of my day.  It’s been a while since he has woken me up with an issue.  I’m just glad I wasn’t drunk!  I would have missed that opportunity too.

SC

“There is only one success – to spend your life in your own way.” 
- Christopher Morley 

Photo by rightee(cc)

Hey there!  I’m glad you came by.  I was kinda hoping there would be someone around so that I could bounce a few things off of.  Maybe just get them off my chest, not sure at this point.  

What Keeps You Going 

I know, this is already sounding like some thing out of Terms of Endearment, or some horribly depressing chick flick…no..no..wait! Don’t leave.  I’m not bashing chick flicks, just horribly depressing ones.  

Whew, thanks. Take your hand off the mouse.  There we go. Thanks. I mean, who doesn’t like Ghost, right?

Anyway..I’ve kind of had an off day today.  Not overly emotional or anything, though I did almost have a bit of a set back, but, it turned out ok.  And maybe “off” is not the right word I should be using.  The thought that’s been playing hide and seek with me today is where is my motivation?  More specifically, where does it come from?  It has really kind of bugged me a bit.  I think I know where mine comes from, but do I really?

Natural Motivation

Today, during one of my 5 minute stop and listen sessions, I took a second and asked myself, “Scott…”, (you’ve noticed by now I talk a lot to myself huh?) “Scott, what keeps you going?”

I soon began to notice the birds,  I could hear the tiniest bugs, and I wondered about “natural” motivation.  You know, the kind that is just built in to nature.  The kind that birds of the air and beasts of the land have. 

Do we mere humans make this life out to be way more difficult than it really should be?  Is it really as easy as just surviving?  Isn’t that all the birds, dogs, cats, fleas, cockroaches, butterflies, isn’t that their only motivation?  Well, that and mating, but that’s not for this post.  

“Ok..OK..bring it on home Scott…Puhleeaaasss”

I don’t have THE final answer, nor will I probably ever.  I’m not even going to pretend to, but my initial thought was yes.  It should be that easy.  Don’t you think?

I know, I know, animals and rodents live in a tough world of their own.  Having to fight the next bird that comes by for a moth, and those birds issue now seems a bit minor when you compare it to the one the moth is currently undergoing.  And whose to say, that the birds won’t be in the same situation after they’ve eaten the moth, and Mr. Tommy Cat sees Mr Bird?  

Like the animals, we live in a dog eat dog…er….human eat human world.  Yet, how much lack of motivation is brought upon ourselves?  I think our “natural motivation” is just to do what makes us happy.  We are naturally motivated to do the things we want to do.  I am anyway.  Washing dishes…not motivated.  Cleaning the house…not a chance.  Writing this blog?  You better believe it. Couldn’t wait to start.  

No, don’t run out and quit your job.  No, don’t go punch your neighbor because his dog just dumped in your yard.  Both of those would probably make you happy, for a moment.  But is it in our minds that “washing dishes” can’t be fun?  Is it drilled into us that we have to work 1000 hours a week, to be happy?  Is that our motivation?  What is yours?  Where did that come from? 

I’ll probably be pondering this for quite sometime, unless YOU have the answer I’m looking for.

SC

That single word that causes toes to curl, heads to hurt, and body parts to just go numb, at even the thought of the word, much less reading about it. Stress.  One of the finer mysteries of life that I have recently been forced to acknowledge.  Not because this is me taking part in the What I Learned From project over at Middle Zone Musings, but because I’ve never had to “deal” with it in the past.  I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface on this word stress.  I can share a little about the subject though.

It Can’t Be Ignored

What I’ve learned most about stress is that there is no way it can be ignored.  Doesn’t matter how hard a person tries to drown it out, stress is going to be the one coming up breathing.  

It took me a while to realize this.  I only learned about stress, I mean really learned about it, recently as I have been growing/recovering.  You see, stress is most likely the biggest reason that alcohol took control of my life.  Granted, I am an alcoholic, and as stated in a previous post, looking back I knew at 16 or 17 (subconsciously I think) how I was going to deal with stress for the next 17 or 18 years.  My focus though is not on the disease for this article, but on the stresses of the disease.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that over time, ignoring stress was only going to prolong the inevitable.  Drinking to cause stress to go away only added more stress, more fuel to the fire, more alcohol to take away the fuel.  It was a vicious cycle.  And you know, stress never did “go away.”  Funny thing is, it’s still around today and I don’t have to alcohol to take it away!  What’s an alcoholic to do?!?

Learn How to Deal

Uh, yeah, OK.  I did deal. I drank right? I mean that was “Dealing.” No? 

No no my friend.  That got me no where.  The way that I deal now though is still a work in progress, and some of the dealings have only hit me over the last couple of weeks.  As of right now, I’ve only got 3 ways that I am able to deal with stress.  Remember, I am a work in progress (at 35..jeez.)

• Awareness
• Meditation
• Motivation

Awareness – It is my opinion that awareness of stress, obviously, must happen first in order to be able to start “dealing” with it.  I have become so aware of it recently that I can tell you which days of the week are going to be my most stressful. I am also aware of the generic “why” these days are most stressful, but I have yet been able to say “Oh, that’s why I’m so stressed.”   Again, the blog that I posted yesterday on this site has a little more detail on my personal journey with stress.  Once I became more aware, I could then use a tool that I had used in the past, just use it in a different way.

Meditation – I’m a firm believer in the many uses of meditation.  Not the least of these is releasing some of the stresses of the day. In fact, just today, meditating on one particular item of stress in my life has generated a resolution, or should I say built me up to be able to perform the resolution.  I won’t go into the problem here.  Again, my opinion, but if you practice it enough, meditation can be one of your greatest tools that you will use on your journey through life.

Motivation – Now that I am able to be aware of stress, and have a tool to manage it, I often use these as motivation to look for more stress.  I know that just sounds weird, but the more stress I can pull out and “fix” the better my life is going to be.  It also motivates me to tell stories of my wanderings and share them here, on tecthought, with you.

Finally

I’ll say it again, this stress thing seems kinda new to me.  I’m now in the process (motivation) to find other tools to manage stress.  How do you deal with your stress?  I’m curious.  Feed me.

Let me help you help yourself!
SC

I have had an issue that has been bothering me lately.  Yeah, I know what your saying..”What is it Scott (big sigh)?”  Just chill.  I’ll tell you in a second.  I really don’t have the answer to my main problem yet, but after reading a couple of articles I found another issue that I have to work on.  I think, if I can get them together, the issues will “fix themselves.”

First the Articles

It only took me these two articles to have the A-HA moment that I needed. I hope you enjoy them and chew on them as much as I have.

The first article I read was by Eric Hamm of Motivate Thyself (guest blogging on zenhabits).  The title of the article, Re-Centering: Finding Your Way Back to the Life You Meant to Live, pretty much sums up the article. I’ll let you read it for yourself without me giving you my two cents worth.

The ideas I received from The Only Two Secrets to Motivating Yourself You’ll Ever Need  by Leo Babauta of zenhabits, I hope to use to motivate myself to achieve the goals that I will have set from reading the first article..make sense?  It does to me, but due to my lack of planning for this post, I’m not able to make you see it.

The Issues

I have lots and lots of issues, don’t get me wrong.  This week though, or the last couple actually, the following have been really bothering me.  I’ve had a hard time thinking about anything but the first one actually.  The second I’ve thought about in the past, but never paid that much attention to it’s true worth.  But after reading the articles, I must address it as well.  So, without further ado, my “Issues of the Week” are:

• Emotions
• Goals

Yep. That’s them up there.

Emotions

From an alcoholics standpoint, the whole reason I was drinking was to drown my sorrows (emotions.)  That saying, “Drinking to Drown Your Sorrows” is true you know.  I didn’t want to deal with them.  I’ve never been good at dealing with them.  When I was 16 or so though, I found the way that was going to help me deal with them in the future. I guess I just didn’t realize at the time just how dangerous the road I was on was going to be, obviously.

Now, I must deal with them the way a normal person would.  I don’t know how to do that.  I’ve never done it. I don’t express my emotions. I just store them up and let them build until the pressure is just too great.

From what I can tell, the pressure is being released on Mondays and Thursdays.  The rest of the time in between is being spent storing up those emotions.  On those two days though, look out.  It’s getting to the point of I’m going to have to start issuing Severe Emotion Warnings to the folks around me.  Well, point is, that has to stop and I have got to learn how to deal with my emotions. Which brings me to…

Goals

I’ve read another article, and I wish I could find it to share it with you, that talked about setting goals and the reasons we fail at achieving them.  Maybe someone reading can post it in the comments.  The section in the article that stuck out to me was We set our goals to high.  The example that was used was a father/son setting where the father said “Go clean your room,” and the son’s goal became cleaning his room, but that was such a big goal for him that he whined and cried and did those things that kids do when you tell them to “Go clean your room.”  The article stated to instead, have the child first go pick up his clothes.  Then give him a goal to go pick up his toys, then another, then another and eventually his room will be clean.  He would have met his ultimate goal.  

I’m going to go against the article for now, because I want to use the Positive Public Pressure from Leo’s article to get me headed toward my ultimate goal, which is I’m going to figure out how to correctly deal with my emotions.  That’s generic, I know.  Just bear with me.  By me telling you my goal, it keeps me accountable.  So, from time to time, If I haven’t posted my progress, tell me.  I will also break this down over the next couple of days and share the steps that I plan on taking to reach that goal.  

For You

Maybe you would like to join me on this adventure and set your own goal.  If so, leave a comment, and a link, and I’ll hold you accountable too.  We can do this together.  Things are always more fun when done with someone else.  

If you have any suggestions please comment.  I value opinions and direction. 

Let me help you help yourself!

SC

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Update – Personal Goal – Managing Emotions Correctly – Update #1
Update 2 – Personal Goal – Managing Emotions – Update #2