The Last Lecture: From One Who Has Hardly Begun

     I would like to invite you to journey with me.  I am not so far along the path; we can travel together.  Beginning is the hardest part, but quickly passed.  Take my hand and come along.  There are others farther up the path.  We can learn the way by following them and by wearing the trail a little wider, a bit smoother, we will help those who come next. Set aside fear of your inexperience and see there is no specific finish line or just one winner.  

     The first step isn’t far.  It is inside of you. Determine what you are and what you want to be.  This step can hurt as you learn to recognize areas in which you need improvement or attitudes which need to be left behind.  Quickly accept these things, drop them, or prepare to fix them.  Develop a plan for strengthening your weaknesses and follow it.  

     Be careful not to get stuck here.  Don’t let your doubts get hold of you.  Focus your path toward those places where you are strong.  Recognizing strength can be different from being prideful.  Pride is misplaced confidence, but confidence well placed gives you power to accomplish great things.  Believe in yourself.  Believe in your strength. 

   

     Look at your cheering section!  They see the strength in you.  They understand your need to grow.  They understand because they are on their own journey, discovering who they are and making themselves stronger too.  See how they cheer, not only for you, but for each other?  Join your voice to theirs and encourage others on their own path. 

 

     Keep in mind those who can’t or refuse to cheer.  They have their own power, but it is dangerous.  Theirs is the power to hold you down and keep you from accomplishing your goals.  While we cannot always avoid them, we can keep them from holding on to us.  Treating them with kindness is the only way to move beyond them.  Often, those stuck in fear don’t recognize what is happening to them.  Simple kindnesses can open their eyes and then they can begin to get themselves out.  Cheer for them and watch them grow.    

     Keep your eyes wide open.  There are many pitfalls and obstacles in this journey.  No success along this path is worth the price of your integrity.  Remember the first step of looking into yourself.  Remember who you are and who you want to be.  Remember those who are counting on you.  Remember the truth of eternity. 

     Come with me on this journey.  Let’s explore together.  I have heard there is much success and joy to be found.  It will be up to us to find it.  Let’s get our traveling shoes on and hit the road.  I am excited to see what is up ahead and happy to share the experience with you.

The Gratitude Journal

I tried a little experiment over the last couple of months.  I have kept a gratitude journal.  It is just a small book I keep with my lesson materials, and each day I write three things for which I am grateful.  I haven’t been perfect at it, but it has been a great experience and I will continue to do.

Some of the things I have written are things most people feel gratitude for and really aren’t very interesting to go back and read.  What I have found interesting is the little things I noticed.  There are a few days that the first thing on the list is sunshine.  It has been an early spring, and it has boosted my spirits immensely.  Also, I had found something which I had lost.  That was a great surprise as well.

The things I most love are the little acts of service my family has given to me.  None of these things took much time, less than 10 seconds probably, but they made my day!  It has made me pay attention to the little things I am doing for them. If I feel better through their service, then I can make the day brighter for them as well.  I don’t need grand gestures from them to feel loved. They need only the this from me; to know I thought of them throughout the day and loved them enough to do something simple for their behalf. 

There is even a comment about something a stranger had done for me.  I hope I can do small things for others.  Perhaps it is just the boost they need!

That All May Succeed

I watched an amazing speech by Robert C. Gay called “Entrepreneurship and Consecration.” 

 

  find it here  

“The war world of modern capitalism is not the model you want to embrace as

 you launch into your business lives.  On the surface the standard model of business

 appears logical and good, but appearances are not always what they seem to be.  

 The world’s business model would have you believe that the critical factor for you is to create businesses that maximize and build wealth for shareholders and that as you achieve this, you will be a success and a net contributor to those around you.  

I believe that what the Lord would call success is quite different from

 what the Lord would call success.”

He says there are only two purposes to business. 

 1. To provide for basic needs and

 2. To rescue others.

He isn’t talking about government hand-outs, but providing opportunities for others to advance their own lives.  He is referring to being dedicated to sharing resources which give work and advancement to others.  At the end of our lives, a mass of money will not make us happy, but having helped others through service and assistance for their own progress will bring us joy. 

This week I have been pondering his term “The War World.”  I had never called it this before, but I see it this way often enough.  It seems that in today’s world, in order for some to feel success, they must keep others from being successful too.  It is in the news and it is close by in my own life.  

I remember a few years ago teaching a group of teenage girls.  This group was filled with remarkable young women who were successful and beautiful.  Some of them were also very disappointing.  One particular incident occurred as we were beginning our class and discussing the things that had happened in their lives during the week. One young woman stated how excited she was that she had received and A on a particular project. Another girl spoke up saying she had gotten the same grade and gave congratulations to the first on her efforts.  The first girl then stated something along the lines of, “Oh.  If you got that grade too then it must not have been that great of an accomplishment.” 

Her success was no longer a thing to be excited about simply because another had also succeeded.

 

I don’t understand how the success of someone else could detract from your own success. I think the success of those around us only makes our own success bigger.  When did the joy in the life of another become a bad thing? Let us be different from the world of war, the world of having to be only one to succeed.  Express genuine joy in behalf of another and joy will grow within you.  Let us grow together, succeed together and celebrate together.