Life Is Happening....Disconnect!

3 out of 5 people admitted they spend more time on their cell phones than with their significant others. Do you really need to be on your phone while with them, too? If you haven’t turned off your phone and spent time with your significant other for awhile, pledge to go electronics-free for a night. Your relationship will thank you.

I was at dinner with my husband the other night, we chose to leave our phones in the car. I glanced around the restaurant and 9 out of 10 people were on their phones, playing games, checking FB, tweeting. All had either their significant other, friend, or child with them. Very few looked away from their phones. Very few had real conversations. Only a handful put their phones down long enough to order. Real relationships matter. Real conversations matter! Choose to put your phones away and invest in face to face real conversations.

Life Is A Gift

Achieving Success

Success comes when we overcome the fear of failure, push forward to get past the obstacles in our path, say I CAN DO IT, and keep going!

Which Is Your Priority?

What do you think of this quote? 


What are your priorities?

The Dash, Your Legacy

I recently attended a funeral.  I did not know the lady.  I was there to help with some of the tech side. As I said, I did not know the lady.  By the time the funeral was over, however, I felt I did know her.  I was shedding tears with the large crowd that assembled to 'say see you later' to their mom, wife, grandma, sister, daughter, friend.

I learned that this gal first and foremost loved Jesus and lived life for Him.  I learned she loved her family, deeply.  I learned she was a quiet woman, but her relationships ran deep and true.  She was intentional about making those in her life feel loved, valued, and important.  She lived out each moment with joy.  She laughed.  She took time to make precious memories with everyone who was important to her.  She lived life with purpose and passion and enjoyed the gift of life.  She didn't waste time, she lived life.  She took great enjoyment in experiencing God's creation. She lived out her dash well.  She touched a lot of people, and showed them the love of Christ through the way she lived.  

Ever since I walked out of our church, I have been thinking about my dash, how I am living out my time from birth, to death.  What will I be remembered for, what do I need to change, and how can I live more purposely and passionately?

What about you?  What will people remember about your 'dash.'  Will they say you were loving, caring, kind, or will they remember you for being argumentative, angry, harsh, for what you were against, not for how you loved?  How do people describe you now?  Those words give you a clue as to the legacy you are leaving here on earth.  What needs to change?  Are your words kind or condemning?  Do you speak words that lift up or tear down?  Are you task oriented, or do people come first?  Do you laugh, and enjoy life, or are you too busy or too uptight?  Do you spend more time on social networks/online than you do having real, face to face relationships?  Does a perfect house matter more than time with your kids, your spouse?  Do you spew ugly words at anything that is against you, or do you try to let it go and and not get consumed with being right?  Does your family know you love them, deeply?  What about your faith?  If you aren't a follower of Christ, living a life like He lived, have you taken time to really consider and examine the life of Christ, NOT a life of religion, but a life of love and giving, centered on Christ's teaching?  It is the most important decision you will ever make.  

Is the life you are living, the life you want to be remembered for?  What are your values?  What's important to you?  How do you live?  What will be said about you at the end of your life?  If you are reading this, you are still breathing, so start making the changes you want to make TODAY.   Make wise use of the dash in your life.  

Live.  Love.  Laugh.  Hope.  Faith.  

What is your legacy? 

Live Every Moment

Live every moment. 

Enjoy life. 

Forgive. 

Be kind. 

Build memories. 

Laugh. 

Hug. 

Give. 

Be known for the beauty that comes from within, because your character is what is truly important. 

Share life with others. 

Try something new. 

Live without regrets because life is very short, and it is a sweet, precious gift.

What's Your Focal Point?

If God answered all your prayers, would the world look different, or would just your life look different? 

We change the world a little at a time by taking the focus off ourselves, and caring for and helping others.

Be Thankful and Take Nothing For Granted

Give thanks and take absolutely nothing for granted!

Dealing With Depression or Anxiety?

Feeling down or depressed? Need to overcome your depression, sadness, overwhelming anxiety?  A few simple steps are guaranteed to ease those feelings.  

Unplug. 

Take a break from Facebook, Twitter, the news, social interactions and discussions, people who cause much unneeded drama in your life.  Instead, take time to focus on good things in life, the things that bring you joy.  Go outside.  Read a book.  Go for a walk.  Have a true face to face conversation.  Enjoy a hands on hobby.  Go for a drive and enjoy the beauty of nature.  It will change your mood and your outlook on life.  

One Step At A Time

One step at a time, 

          one choice at a time, 

               one day at a time. 

You can achieve your goals, 

overcome your fears, 

         and quiet your doubts.

Work For It

It is a choice, but are you willing to work for it?  

Change Starts Here

If you truly want to make a difference 

in the world, 

you must be different from the world. 

Decide today to make a difference, 

stand out, 

and stand up.

Speak Life

Do your words speak life or death? 

Do you encourage or discourage, lift up or put down?  

Words cut, hurt, destroy OR words inspire, help, build up.  

Choose 

words

with care, 

use wisdom, 

and speak in love.  

To others.  

To yourself. 

Strength to Overcome

Are you willing to step into the uncomfortable & unfamiliar, and overcome?

Keep Going

Don't lose heart. 

Don't lose hope. 

Don't lose faith. 

Don't lose patience. 

Keep asking. 

Keep seeking. 

Keep knocking. 

~Mark Batterson

Improve Your Life By Identifying Your Core Values

Do you know what your core values in life are?  Do you live by those values?  Are your decisions guided by those values?  Do your relationships reflect those values?

Core values help us to know what is important in life, what drives us.  If our actions do not line up with our value system, we can experience stress, lack of focus, confusion, and miss out on our purpose in life. 

Have you identified your top core values?  You can't live by your core values if you have not identified them.  Start by identifying your top 10 values.  Write that list down, then set it aside for a couple days.  Pay close attention over a week time frame as to what really is important to you.  Revisit your list and see if the top 10 values you chose are truly your how you live your life.  If your list needs a realignment, then make it.  Once you do that, then narrow it down to your top 5.  These should be the things that shape your decisions and how you live your life.  

One question you can ask yourself to focus on if you are aligned with your values is this: Do my actions, my schedule, and where my money is spent reflect the values I say are most important to me?

Here is a list to begin with.  There are many other values that could be added to this, but this is a start:

Appreciation   Accountability   Artistic    Authenticity    Accomplishment   Achievement   Adventure  Belonging   Beauty   Building    Being in Control   Bold    Caution   Career    Changing the World    Compassion   Creativity    Calm   Community   Creation  Competence   Collaboration    Communicating     Competitive   Consistency    Cherish  Cleanliness   Considerate   Confident   Challenge  Cheerful   Clear-minded    Diversity    Diligence    Dedication    Devotion   Determined   Dynamic   Excitement   Education   Efficiency    Encouragement     Excellence   Ethical   Enjoyment  Enthusiasm  Explore  Expertise    Family      Faithfulness   Fun    Freedom    Forgiveness      Faith    Financial    Forward Thinking     Frugal       Fulfillment      Fair    Fitness   Flexible   Gentleness   Gain   Giving   Genuineness    Goodness   Growth    God   Generous   Gracious   Honesty    Hard Working    Humility     Humor    Health   Happy    Help     Integrity    Impact Others   Influence   Inspiring   Independent   Intelligence   Joy   Kindness   Love     Loyal    Love of Learning   Life   Leadership   Marriage      Mentoring    Make a Difference  Nurturing      Obedience     Orderliness     Optimistic   Patience    Peace   Perfection    Performance-Driven    Persistence   Power     Physical     Productive    Purity   Passionate     Positive    Quality   Quiet    Respect    Risk Taking       Relationships    Recognition   Relaxation   Respect for Others     Resourceful   Security      Self-esteem      Self-expression   Sensitivity    Servanthood     Service     Silence   Sincere    Solitude     Self-control   Spiritual    Stability     Success    Safety    Serenity  Simplicity  Spontaneous   Structure   Support     Strength   Temperance         Tolerance     Tranquility   Trust     Truth      Trustworthy   Timely     Thoughtful    Teamwork    Uniqueness    Useful     Vitality    Vision  Winning     Worship      Wisdom 

Ask this as you work to narrow the list to five....do I appreciate this value?  Does this value truly reflect my character?  Do I enjoy this more than other things?  

Once you identify your top 5 values, what are some key action steps you can take to make very clear boundaries around your values?   How will those boundaries impact the life you live and how you treat others?  

It's Not What You Say, It's How You Live

"The greatest lessons are taught by those who do twice as much living as they do talking." - Darlene Schacht

Ever been around people who love to hear themselves talk?  Whille they ramble on talking a lot, but about very little, you think of all the life you are missing out on, all the things you could be doing instead of wasting your time listening to someone talk in circles about little or nothing.  

Think of the life lessons you have learned.  Think of the ones that really stuck with you.  Why did they stick with you?  More than likely, it was because someone invested in you, cared about you, showed you, taught you, didn't just talk your ear off to prove a point.  

What type of lesson are you teaching those around you?  Live your life as an example.  Your words are important, but what you do is what really shows others who you are at your core.  

100 Days To A Better You, Stop Making Excuses

Continuing on with ideas on improving you...

Are you a person of excuses, 

or a person of 

progress

action

 and 

follow through?

100 Days To A Better You, Get Creative

Most of us have a creative side of some kind.  Yours will not look like mine, and mine will not look like yours, but we all have an area we enjoy being creative.  Mine is through photography, gardening, writing, designing paper crafts, and some techie things.  What are yours?  

I don't know about you, but if I don't take time to nurture my creative side, it affects my mood, and I feel stuck.  We were made to be creative!

Schedule at least two hours a week to indulge in your creative side.  It will help you to become a better you!

100 Days To A Better You

To improve yourself, put aside mind numbing activities such as too much time on the computer, social networking, and watching TV, and do something to improve your mind:

read a book

take a free class

learn to do something you have always wanted to do

 play a board game with your family

go for a walk

Use your mind, don't waste it.