“Winning is a habit and so is losing.”
Vince Lombardi
Occasionally winners lose but continue figuring out how to win, losers win on occasion but somehow screw it up and are determined to not change. Will Rogers said, “Even if you’re on the rite track you are gonna get run over if you just sit there.” James 2:17 states Faith by itself if not accompanied by action is dead. The purpose of life isn’t just to believe in something but also to do something. I once read that if more husbands were self starters, fewer wives would be cranks. All of us fall into ruts and routines. Kind of like watching television, the show isn’t that good but we are too lazy to change the channel. It’s not just when we see the light that makes us move, it’s the heat from the light that makes us move. We have to get desperate to make a change. In the story of The Progigal Son, he had to hit rock bottom before turning it around. Sometimes that is exactly what it takes. Some won’t go to the dentist until the pain is unbearable. Proverbs 20:30 says, Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our way. Most don’t know what it takes to get an eaglet to fly. Some think the mother just pushes the baby out of the nest when she thinks they are ready and poof…well…not true. In most cases after the eaglet is hatched and it just lays in the comfortable nest for a long time with its mouth open hollering feed me, feed me (Pray for me, Pray for me) And the mother does just that, stuffs food down the eaglets throat. There has to come a moment when the momma makes them self-sufficient in order to survive. They need to fly and defend themselves and feed themselves. So how does she do it? She afflicts pain to her children. She destroys their comfort zone. She makes the nest a painful experience. How? Well, she pulls all their feathers out. She goes berserk. She tears the down fur out of them and rips the nest apart. It’s too prickly and uncomfortable to lie on. The eaglets have no idea what’s happening. Mothers insane they think, she is gonna hurt us. Then she kicks them to get them flying. Until your misery factor exceeds your fear factor, you won’t change. It is not that God inflicts the pain, but He will use it to get you moving. It may take the well drying up for you to get working. Sometimes people want what others don’t appreciate and those people will take better care of you. (I am glad I can be the Halloween joke though…stings a little but whatever, I am infamous) So maybe pain that was inflicted on you turned out to be a great thing. Otherwise we might still be a comfortable and routine bleh…or as you say, flour.
Step 1-Assume responsibility for your own life
There are 3 kinds of people. Accusers; often heard saying it is not my fault. It is always someone else’s fault… Adam took it like a man and blamed his wife Eve. I have been married 3 times, divorced 3 times and the guys were always to blame. Of the 3 different guys she was with…well…she was the one thing in common with all of them. “If you believe you are a victim you are too dumb for help.” That is what Dr. Phil said.
Excusers, I didn’t marry the right person, if I just had her looks, my momma didn’t hold me enough, or worse, momma held me under the water for too long. George Washington Carver said, “99 percent of the failure comes from a bad habit of making excuses.” Now, of course there are those who are beat and assaulted. They are absolutely victims. I feel so much sorrow for them. As hard as it is, you have to move on. But when you stay and go through it over and over you can only accept fault. Accept personal responsibility.
And then there are Choosers who accept responsibility and admit mistakes. Proverbs 28:13, A man who refuses to admit mistakes can never be successful. Take responsibility, God gives grace. Admit the area(s) you were wrong in and you may get another chance.
It is not his responsibility to make you unhappy, you can be hurt by him but not be made unhappy. God works all things for good to all who love Him and that are called according to his purpose…even bad things.
Step 2-You have to believe you can change your circumstances
Yes, I know it sounds stupid but there are lots of people who don’t believe they can change. That is why they stay in the abuse for instance. What can I do on my own? Who am I without him? I can not survive by myself. Stop saying I can’t, start saying I can through Christ. Attitude determines ability AND THAT takes reprogramming your mind.
Romans 12:2 reads, Let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of mind. Success starts in your mind. A good attitude is paramount if you are on a team or coach a team. When I become an employer, if you have a bad attitude, you are gone. You choose your attitude, there is nothing worse than a bad attitude, bad things happen but you better have a good attitude. And parents, please don’t let your kids develop a bad attitude mentality. This is one of the hardest things I think to change. God came to Moses, what did Moses say? I stutter, I am the wrong guy, I have murdered. God went to Gideon; he said I’m the youngest kid here from the poorest family in the smallest tribe in the nation of Israel. Talk about an inferiority complex. God comes to Jeremiah he HeardI’m just a teenager. So when God wants to use anybody, it’s typical we put up excuses…I can’t, I’m not able, I’m the wrong one, I can’t do it…and he had to build faith in all of them. Mark 9:23, Everything is possible to him who believes. You have to believe your situation can change or you need to get out of Christianity and find another faith, try radical Islam since you are suicidal anyway. He gives you a new identity. What would you like to change about your life? If you won’t change it because you can’t believe it can change then stop complaining about it. If you are gonna keep it, don’t complain about it…at least do us that favor. Hush up. But, if you hate it and want to change let’s come together and be a force to do so.
Step 3-Clarify what you really want
(Wow this sounds like I am writing a Succeed in Network Marketing Book) Famous psychiatrists say after years of practice and experience in the field that the most important thing they could do to help get patients’ life in order and happy again is to help them establish personal goals.
James 1:8, A double minded man is unstable in all that he does. There are lots of people who can’t make up their mind and don’t know what they want. They are either half in or half out. I could be a real nasty ugly person without Jesus. Most people have no idea the anger and hatred I have inside. I can choose to love or hate. God can change your heart…you can’t live hating her and want to hold her…make up your mind. Clarify what you want and move towards it. But don’t sit there and bitch about him all the time and go home and cuddle. You look like a fool. God says you are unstable and let not that man think he shall receive anything from the Lord. So you have to decide for yourself basically. Offers come, opportunities come, enticement, seduction comes. You are in trouble if you have to make a choice on that day about the offer if you haven’t already made the choice of what you want. I know, trust me. Because I know what I want doesn’t seduce me, never doubt it. Now in business and hobbies, things may be fun. You may have your goal set on something but get distracted easily by other “ventures” without knowing what you want you will never achieve anything. If you had to make a choice on any day, at any time about what you want, you will have to know what must be expendable if it doesn’t assist in the progress of your decision for what you want. And one last note on this section, the only way to change other people is by changing yourself.
Step 4- DON’T WAIT FOR IDEAL CIRCUMSTANCES!
You can’t wait for things to be perfect. If you wait for the wind and weather to be just right, you won’t plant anything and never harvest anything. Whatever you are decide to do, you will have to do it in less than perfect circumstances most of the time. It is never convenient to borrow money, buy a home, take that risk, volunteer, start a business or whatever. I’m gonna get married when it’s the rite one. You have to risk to say I do, you will never know even after you are married. It is something that unfolds over time. It is a calculated risk with faith you must take. It is never a convenient time to have kids. The thing is did Jesus say do it? Did the word of God say do it? Did He say come? Then you can walk on the circumstances. Interest rates will always go up and down; the President is going to change every 8 years. So why is waiting for the perfect circumstances dangerous?
1. Perfection makes us procrastinate. There is a great poem I use,
Procrastination is my sin. It only brings me sorrow,
I know I outta change my ways, in fact I will, tomorrow.
I’ll be generous when I make just a little bit more money. No you won’t, liar. Just decide to do your best now.
2. Perfection paralyzes your potential, if I can’t do it perfectly I am not gonna do it. Then what is the point of practice?
Step 5-Exercise your body
1 Timothy 4:8 says Exercise your body. Physical exercise has its value. Most people are too tired to change. It is not that they don’t know what to do; it is that they are too tired to do it. Most of what is done in the world is by people who didn’t feel like doing it. God made our bodies for movement and for activity. Fatigue is a major cause of procrastination. We live in a culture were we are either over committed or sit and do nothing and either way we vegetate and die. Ever notice now when you go to a hospital how quickly they make you walk after surgery or having a baby? As soon as you get that baby out they say next, kick you out and change the sheets. They want you walking. Back in the day you used to be in bed for 3 days. Now it’s off you go, surgery, stitch you up and get you moving because the quickest way to get healing is to get moving. Are you in a rut? Get moving! Something happening makes something happen. You feel better, look better, and live longer. Take care of your body. You need energy to change that and the only way to get energy is to expend energy. Most people suffering clinical depression are advised by psychologist to start walking. When you feel better you generally act better, but when you don’t feel well man it can be negative. It helps your attitude, creativity, makes you think, enhances your mental state, and your endurance. Acts 9:34 says, Get up and make your bed. So if you’re tired expend a little energy and get a lot, remember give and it shall be given to you, good measure, press down, shaken together and running over. It’s not only applied to money people. Go exercise and you come back home with a great new feeling, positive energy.
Step 6-Do it now!
3 words to that will change your life forever. When are you going to commit to Christ? When are you going to give up the hidden addiction before it becomes scandalous? When are you going become a better person? When are you going to be generous? Do it now!
Proverbs 27:1, Never boast about tomorrow. You never know what’ll happen between now and then, Luke 9:62, No procrastination, no backward looks. You can’t put the kingdom off until tomorrow, seize the day. You won’t find God saying, you know that’s a good idea…do it tomorrow. God says NOW is God’s time, stop aiming and pull trigger. Don’t presume on future, I don’t know the next hour much less the next day. Make that call, write that letter, and make that decision. None of us are guaranteed another day. Ever been around that person that says “I’m gonna do it one of these days.”? There is a good saying, thus say it the lord means none of these days. One of these days is none of these days. Stop praying about it, if it’s rite, do it. I think people and all this praying is messing folks up. You’ve prayed enough about it. It took 17 words to rain fire from brimstone. Stop waiting on something to sneak up on you. James Albry wanted to be a writer. When he died he had this on his tombstone, “He slept beneath the moon, he baked beneath the sun, he lived a life with going to do and died with nothing done.” Greatest tragedy in life is to waste your life. Everybody has dreams but dreams are a dime a dozen. It’s the person who takes action. Again, faith without action is worthless. What will it take to get you moving? Pain? Get moving! If you wait ‘till you feel like it you’ll never do anything. Motivation follows action. What will it take? Successful people are self-starters.
So, are you blaming anyone? What excuses are you giving for not growing and accepting responsibility? Have you decided to make your life count? Have you let the enemies whisper creep in saying, “I’ll never change; I like me just the way I am”? Let God transform your mind, clarify what u want. When time is rite? No! Don’t wait. What do you need to start doing it today?
