Be yourself, everyone else is taken
At church this past weekend, we were reminded by our Pastor of James 1:19, which says,
“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.”
It’s a simple quote from a long time ago that has never had more relevance.
Too often we are desperate to be heard.
We think that our opinion is more important than others.
We need motivation.
It’s important to have relevant, compelling goals.
The emotion attached to them is powerful and gets us moving in the right direction.
But alas, motivation rarely lasts.
In those times, we need discipline.
Today, we took the kids to a theme park.
It had water slides, go-karts, toboggans, a big wave pool and a range of other fun attractions.
Madison and Hayden were excited from the moment they woke up this morning and took full advantage of the day’s allurements as soon as they walked through the gate.
I was feeling old and past it.
I’m not quite at the point of wearing bifocals yet, but I’m getting there.
I’m sure that one day I’ll need assistance with seeing what’s up close and what’s in the distance.
But for today, I’ll make do with encouraging us all to have a bifocal perspective.
The ability to see what’s important in the moment, today.
To focus on what we’re doing now.
I have a friend who is an amazing runner.
He has run 5km in under 17 minutes. A time that I can only dream of.
I found out today that he has an injury that has held him back from running for about 6 months.
I have another friend who constantly battles with her fitness and running.
Her best time over 5km is just under 37 minutes, but more often she struggles to get to 45.
Both of these wonderful people are inspirations to me.
You may not have done it yet.
You may feel as though you’ve still got a long way to go.
You may have lost all belief in yourself.
But we still believe in you.
Reading one book won’t necessarily change your life.
But reading lots of books over a long period of time will.
Going to the gym once won’t make much difference to your health.
But maintaining a disciplined, daily regimen of exercise over many years will.
One act of love won’t transform your marriage forever.
It’s easy to let fear win.
To let it rob you of your future.
To let it trick you into thinking that you’ll never make it.
To let it encourage you to look suspiciously at the person who looks and sounds different.
To let it make you think small.
To let it make it seem as though the obstacles in your path are much larger than they really are.
To let it deceive you into thinking that this is as good as it gets and there’s no use in trying to make it better.
Some people have a real “look at me, look at me” mentality.
They’ll do anything to get attention, to grab the spotlight, to be noticed.
Some people don’t want anyone to notice them at all.
Give them a compliment and they’ll shrug it off with an embarrassed look.
They want to be invisible, anonymous, hidden from view.
I recently read this quote,
You want to know the difference between a master and a beginner?
The master has failed more times than the beginner has ever tried.
Excellence is not about perfection, it’s about persistence.
It’s not about faultless performance, it’s about learning from the experience.
It’s not about waiting for the right opportunity, it’s about making opportunities.
