” Passion “

• Not The Only One!
• Post # 114
• 04 Jan 24       
•                       ” PASSION”
• Howdy,
• Happy  New Year  to one and all. There is nothing  quite like a new year. It’s fresh,   new, and full of hope.  Every  year, millions of  people  make  new years resolutions, which  are usually  dead, crushed, or severely amended by the end of January☺️, or mid February ☺️. History  shows  that most new year’s  resolutions  last about  six weeks  on average.  I  know  that  sounds negative, but it’s just  the facts.  I’m not exactly  sure what it is about  a new year that makes us to decide  to loose weight, eat better,  to start exercising, or to quit smoking.  Those are the heavy  hitters, but there are others  as well.  I’ve made references  before  about  my undiagnosed ADD, but again  it  is  something that  I’m  not alone in. Truth  be told there is a huge percentage of  us, who may be much  better  at starting  things than  we are at seeing  them  through ☺️☺️. I feel  like  I want to make a  bad joke about  my failed marriages ☺️☺️, but I  digress.  In just  one  simple  day we make hundreds of  decisions, many  without  much  thought  given  to  them, such as switching  lanes in traffic, or whether  I need the light  on or off when  I  step  into a  room. We mostly make  these choices  subconsciously, and thank God for that, because  there are still  so many  other  things  in the course of a day that we have  to ponder. Pondering,   may  be  what to have for  dinner or just  that indecisiveness  about  which  one of the  four outfits you have  laying  across  the bed, is going to  make the cut☺️☺️. Now, if you are of the male persuasion and you are having  that last problem, just  go ahead  and  cut your  man card up into a  bunch  of  little pieces or set it on fire☺️☺️.
• A few days ago we went  from  whatever  our New Year’s eve  celebration  was, whether a party  counting down the hour, minutes and seconds, or perhaps  a quiet evening  with  someone special, and of course  some have to  ring in the new year working,  and  thank God for police, firemen and  health care  workers, and yes, I  know  that  there are  others, but regardless  of  how your old year ended and the new one began, many  of  us  woke up with  trendy ideas of how this  year  is  going  to  be  different.  Many  of  us  went from  party  mode to  wanting  to  make major  life changes,  and  if you don’t  think  that quitting  smoking is  a  major  life change, then  you  are sadly  mistaken ☺️☺️.  I think  that  self improvement and better  self awareness are some of the best gifts that we can  give to ourselves.  The choice  to be better  is usually  always a  good thing.  It often  requires ,  or  causes,  or means that  we need to  introduce  or implement that dirty D word into  our  lives, and that would  be  discipline. We can  dress it up and call it other  things such as will power, self motivation or just refusing to  be the couch potato, that characterized much of the  previous  year☺️☺️. We should  make  better  self awareness a continual process  in our  lives and  at intervals other  than  just once a year and at the beginning of the year.  I mean  that would  be  great  or ideal, most us could  use some kind  of pause or reset from the business of day to day  life. Truth be told, most of us have so many things  swirling in  our noggin, that often  it can  cause us to question whether  we are coming or  going ☺️☺️. I believe that  it  was  Socrates that said” an unexamined  life is not worth  living”, and I  believe that there is some  truth  to  that. Most of us have  the tendency  to  reflect back  over the previous  year and  make  various  assessments on how we did. Depending  on  what is important to  us, will determine  the  areas that  we will  review and  tend to make  adjustments to.  Some of us , it’s about  our finances, others  it may be health which  catches  our eye. Careers and  goals are usually  at the top of the list for some, and unless  you  live on a deserted island all by your lonesome, we should  be  giving  considerable thoughts to the relationships  In our lives. If your life was represented by  a mouth and  we were to stick a thermometer into  it, how  would  it say that we  are doing?  Relationships  require  a  lot of work and  the amount  of  time and effort  we assert, will  usually tell  the story about how  they are doing and  if they are  healthy or  not. Many times  we  have  relationships  in  our lives that are not that healthy.  They  maybe  dysfunctional  for one reason  or the other, and all to often  they  are  with  the  people  who  are closest to us, or well  at least they  should be.  I say this with the utmost  care, but I  also  believe  that  there is a time and place  for  certain  relationships  in our lives to die. I  have been  on the record  many  times  about  being  a bridge builder, opposed  to  a bridge burner, but sometimes  we  allow toxic  people  into  our lives, or someone  will make  life  choices that we can’t  come along  side of.  I’m not necessarily talking about  a life style, but it could be.  I’m  talking  about  people  who  may  engage in risky or destructive behaviors and decision making.  They  may   just  be  a party animal or  it could  be  the friend or  family  member, where things  only  flow in one direction and  we may refer  to  them  as  the ” users”. They  use people for what they can get  out of  them , at best they  may be  a  fair weather friend.  People  who are constantly  needy, and who can  never  see how their  choices  get  them in certain  situations, may require  an intervention, and if no resolution achieved, then  possibly you may have  to  move on from them. 
• It’s a  new year and I  want  to  offer  a  slightly  different  approach or perspective.  Instead of  us revving up for a  year much  more  busy than  the  previous one, how about  we  intentionally move to a lower gear. I  think that  for a lot of us we are the jack of  all trades and  the  master  of none.☺️ We do a bunch of  things  for the sake of saying  that  we did them  , but never really  fully  enjoy  any of them  because  of  the speed  in which we do life. The question  begs, could  I be a better  dad, mother, husband or wife, if I  didn’t  have  so many  other  things  seeking  my attention?  We get  onto some social  media  platform and  feel  as  if we have  to have  an opinion about  everything….and we don’t! It’s OK to not have  an opinion  about  everything  , and its ok to give  yourself  a break  from feeling free  as if you  have  to engage  in it all. What is  crazy today, will still  be  crazy tomorrow  or the next day, and maybe  just  slightly more ☺️☺️. We try to do  everything  , because  the world  tells  us  that  we can  do it all….and that’s a lie ! Maybe we should try to simplify our lives  instead  of  trying  to  super size them☺️☺️.  What if you  imagined that you  were given  one of those horrible  diagnosis from  your  doctor ? What would you  choose to  focus  your  remaining time on? And what if we lived every  day  like that? How would  those few choice questions  change  and  define  you and your remaining time? Would  you  be the exception to the  rule , and be  the person that wished they  had spent more time at work? Probably  not so much!  We are always  in the mode of trying  harder, more is not always  necessarily  better . How about if we  try softer, and focus on  the  things that are truly  important in life.  I  can’t  tell you  what  those things are  , because  we are all at different  points  in our  journey, but I  would  suspect that  family would  be  a  universal one.
• How about  we  spend  more time  encouraging and  building up  one another, instead  of  arguing over the things that  separate us and  the things that really  don’t  carry  any  real  meaning  or significance in  life.   It’s like we live in a world where  everyone is  doing  their  own  thing, but at the same time or at some point we want  everyone  to think like we do, do things  that  we  would or how we  think  they  should be  done and  to  agree with  all of our persuasions,….just not going to happen☺️.  We put so much  pressure on  other  people  with  all of our often  unspoken  expectations.  I was  just  torn  apart  by all of  the  pressure that  I heard was placed on  one young  mom. I’m like  so much  pressure about  whether  to have  a natural  child  birth, or the epidural, to breast feed or not , to immunize or not. If that  wasn’t  enough , then  the craziness goes into  overdrive with  choices of  sugar free, dairy free, gluten free, pesticide free, nut free, grass fed, organic, low fat, low carb, GMO, BPA, MSG….it just exhausting.  When  did life become  so complicated? Ok, yeah life can be, but do we just  have to pile on, like we are gang tackling a football  player☺️☺️. How about  we stop pretending that we  can  do everything and just  pick out one or two things and pursue  them  with  all that we are. I  mean  to be really  passionate  about it , and deciding that we are going to  be the best version  possible  of that one thing. We short  change  both others  and  ourselves when  we  aren’t  fully present to a moment in  time. I’m not  pointing a finger  here, because I’m constantly aware of  and engage in the  bug of multitasking.  It’s like  we draw some level  of  contentment from crossing  things off of that all so important  to  do list. ☺️ We can’t  do  everything  and we can’t  be  everywhere, we aren’t  God, but we often  treat  life  that way, and we micromanage  every  little thing that we  possibly can.  When  do we count the cost of being  mediocre ?
• It’s a new year and  how about  we  find something that we can  truly  be passionate about, something  of quality, something  that  is  life giving and not life draining.  I’m going to  step  on some  toes here and just  say that  if your passion  is  all wrapped up  in  who will  occupy the oval office  next term,  or who is going to  win dancing with the  Stars, or even  if your hot button is climate change, I guarantee you that  all of those things  will  continue  on long after you are   gone , and all of your anxiety about  them  is  not going  to  change  the landscape  one iota. What I can  promise you  and ensure of , is that they  will  decrease  your  happiness , increase  your  blood pressure  and  maybe, just  maybe  shave a few years off of your  life, just  like  if you smoke  a pack a day.☺️☺️  Sure !, you could  try and make the argument that  I’m over simplifying, or underestimating the severity of the environment, or the political  turmoil of the times, but there is truly  nothing  new under  the  sun. If you  look at the history  of the  world, you will  see that technology has  changed and  improved, but that was the case when  we  stopped  traveling  by horse a buggy, and it will be true of the next previously  unseen  technological  advancement.  We will  scoff in wonderment  just long enough for  the  next thing to  come along.  Again  I’m not saying that  those things  shouldn’t  garner some level  of  concern, but probably  not to  the level  that  some of us take it to, and again when  you  get to the  end, you aren’t  going to  be  wishing  that you could  have  just  marched in one more protest  about  this or that, no knock against  a pole with a  sign on it☺️☺️.
• If we going to  be  more passionate, and for some of us, we will  have to  find that, because  it’s been  missing  from  our lives for so long, but if we are going to  be, then that means  that  we  are going to  have  to set priorities and  cut away  some of the clutter  from  our lives. I  believe that  hobbies are  important and  that we all need  things to  help  us  unwind  or decompress, but they  shouldn’t  be  our obsession or escape  from  life.  Priorities means that  we get  things  into  order and  we  determine what should  be  at the top, and what comes after that. Most of  us  know  who are parents  are, or who served that role In our lives.  We knew  who to call  mom, or who to call  dad, and we were pretty  confident about that.  My question is  who or what is God in  your life? Do you call upon and have  that  same  confidence as when  you  called  out mommy or daddy?  Zest  or Zeal for life should  start  there, but I  don’t  believe  that is the case for the  majority of us.  Nothing  is  new under  the  sun and that goes for us as human  beings as well.  We are  still  dust composites made in the image of  God, with a sin component that God doesn’t have.  . I  want  us to consider as we are trying  softer, while  trimming  away the clutter, while  setting  priorities, and evaluating  what  is truly  important in  life , and most importantly, cultivating good  relationships  In our lives, where does God fit in for you? We all  practice a religion, every  single  last one of us and  all we have  to  do is  look at what we  set as priorities in  our lives. Wherever  you  invest  your  time, your resources and  brings  you  some satisfaction of happiness….that is your God, and that is the thing  that  you  worship and give admiration  towards.  It could  be  your family, scary right?☺️☺️. It may be your  job, some other  relationship in your life, or perhaps  it’s something that  really  requires  us to put the blinders on, such as  a boat or a  golf course.  I  know it may  sound  ludicrous, but it is that simple.  The things  that we  give ourselves  to become  idles and  take over that number one  spot. God is  not demanding or requiring  all of your time and  He never will, but He is offering you a place at the table with  Himself, and I  know that  there are things  that  only  He can  offer and  no one  else, or anything  else can. Maybe  I’m wrong, but I’ve  never  heard of a boat, a golf course  or anything  else being  able to  offer  eternal  life, but perhaps I’m wrong ☺️☺️. If you have  encountered  such a thing, then  let me know and we both  can  become  very  rich and  famous ☺️☺️ All joking a side, you are going  to  do  life in 2024, and you can  do that with God, or without  God, it’s your call. I  think that  one of saddest things  would  be  for You to  walk through  life without  God and  next year have such  lament over the year, and to just  wonder, how much  differently, how much  better, how much  more peaceful it could have  been  with  God taking the  lead.
• God loves  people  who  passionately  seek  Him and want  to  spend  time with  Him, not as I  have  to, but because of I want  to , and that’s  where the real  joy is in life. Passion  in life  can  be  a  powerful  thing when  cultivated  in the right ways, seek Him and  find out  first hand for yourself.
• Till Next Time ✌️ Peace!
• Sandy The  Southerner

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