American culture is bathed in two words–easy and instant. Technology gives us faster speeds and greater impatience. In addition, it has to be “user-friendly.” We want to use things not learn to use them.
You can earn $10,000 a week working out of your home for 5 hours a week. A pill will shed the pounds, tighten the muscles, and turn heads.
Dave Ramsey, the financial consultant and radio personality, noticed this trend and penned what he calls “the momentum theorem.”
Focused intensity over time,
multiplied by God,
creates unstoppable momentum.
Spiritual strength stands on three pillars.
Focus. Jesus said, “seek first…and all these other things will be added.” When your heart is welded to an idea, it drives a life like a jet engine. Do you want to live for Jesus more than anything else?
Time. Living for the Master doesn’t take time–it takes a lifetime. Through the hills and valleys the faithful follow. We enjoy the mountaintop experiences of life but endure through the shadow of the valley experiences as well. The Master counseled, “be faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life.” Christianity is not instant oatmeal.
God. Benjamin Disraeli observed, “He is a self-made man, very much in love with his creator.” People with great talent fall as carrion on eternity’s highway. Yet , when you let God work, it does more than you can do. Remember “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” .
While Ramsey conceived the theorem, Jesus created the reality.
Too many people are waiting for “one day” when their life will take off. Daily living in the presence of God changes “one day” to “the day.”
Every person has antagonists in their life. They seem to stand as a roadblock to progress. Some seem mean-spirited. Others are just object able. Still others just don’t “mesh” with us, either due to personality, outlook, or background.
Most of the time, we avoid our antagonists. After all, who wants to spend time with people they really cannot stand!. But life throws you together. (Understand, I don’t enjoy the encounter either!)
Someone once observed, “I can learn something from everyone I meet.” What could you learn from your antagonist? The lessons are many.
You can learn from their bad example.
Many times you watch the eruption and say, “not me.” Bad behavior, as well as good behavior, is a great model. Do you act like your nemesis acts? Do you shout? Scream? Accuse? Whatever revolts you, banish it from your life.
You can learn from their complaints.
The problem with critics is they hide the nugget truth in a heap of garbage. Sometimes, the critic is right. They point out flaws we don’t see. The pointed barb shoved in the heart makes us stand up and see what we have avoided seeing. Some of the best lessons of life I have had to clean out an emotional sewer to discover.
How do you get the lesson?
Pay careful attention. When attacked, we all tend to either withdraw or explode. Neither lets the mind sift each statement. Get quiet. Think carefully. Slow responses so the heat dissipates.
Stay objective. Suppose you put yourself in the corner of the room and witness the event. What would you see? What would you hear? This is the only way to sift the wheat from the chaff and find what may be true.
Try to step into their perspective. What’s bugging this person. I heard once “hurting people hurt people.” Cut some slack. Figure out a way to make excuses for the person. If you can, you will be the better person in the confrontation.
People who enjoy conflict are either sick or less than truthful. Those who endure it, however, can come out wiser if they learn from the encounter.
broken window.... Français : Vitre brisée (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
James Q. Wilson died this past week, but you probably have never heard of him. Yet, his “broken window theory” was adopted by police departments all over America to reduce crime.
For years people believed more police officers made safer neighborhoods. Wilson noticed something else.
Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it’s unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside. Or consider a sidewalk. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter accumulates. Eventually, people even start leaving bags of trash from take-out restaurants there or breaking into cars.
Crime starts with a simple broken window. When cities started cleaning up the “broken windows” of neighborhoods, crime dropped dramatically.
Do you have broken windows in your life? Do you tolerate “white lies” you tell? Is gossip just a way to pass the time? Is it easier to roll over on Sunday morning than get to worship?
Those “broken windows” signal a willingness to let a little more sin in your life. An unsightly Christian life becomes an ugly spiritual slum in no time.
Notice the broken windows of your life. Repair them now. Rein in your tongue. Sweeten your words to others. Open your heart as you open your Bible each morning. When the broken windows are repair, it speaks to the world you want a better life.
It’s time to take inventory. What are your broken windows?
Eyes of the Hopeless
Recently, Grace McIntyre, Judy Kyker, and I touched down in Dallas to end our annual medical mission trip to Nicaragua. The trip went well but we are glad to be home.
In Nicaragua, you see things you hope you will never see. I saw:
- Four children (the oldest was eleven) who had been abandoned to the streets by their parents.
- A 12 year old girl who will deliver a baby before spring.
- A 14 year old girl teetering on high heels trying to look grown up while she was holding her 18 month ol baby.
- A man who was holding his 23 year old son stricken with cerebral palsy who had no other medical care than Christian doctors at a medical
- clinic held once a year.
- A multitude of children afflicted with Type 2 diabetes from a poor diet.
- Dozens of people whose eyes betrayed they had no hope.
But with the problems come opportunities. Our breakfast program does make a difference. Our support for the clinic at Rene Polonco at least provides a step up from nothing. Out of these contacts, some are baptized. The glasses and toothbrushes in addition to the thousands of dollars contributed by members of the Waterview Church of Christ touch real people with real needs.
When I return, I have but two thoughts.
There but for the grace of God go I.
There, because of the grace of God, I go.
The bane of technological existence is the password. I understand the need, but the frustration remains. With every website visited comes the need to setup a password. After about three, the brain begins the dog paddle and by the fifth request it is going down for the third time.
How do you remember passwords? The answer is “you don’t.” You store passwords. But the question is how to best store them.
Some write them down but forget where they wrote them. From my experience, you have three basic choices.
Paper based
This option requires some form of notebook to store passwords you have established. Some have small Moleskine notebooks full of username/password combinations listed. Others buy the humble spiral notebook.
The drawbacks of the paper system are portability and ability to search.
If you always access the internet from a single computer, the notebook is always available. But if you move from coffee shop to office to home to airport, etc., you have to carry it with you.
The ability to search is also a problem. How do you find log-in information quickly? You can begin well, but with a few changes and a few editions, you are reduced to scanning lists looking for information.
However, paper does work, especially if you keep passwords pretty standard and simple. (Many websites do not cooperate!)
Cloud-based
As technology marches forward, it provides a ubiquitous solution. Store everything in the “cloud.” (The “cloud” refers to material stored on a remote site accessed through the internet.)
One excellent answer to the cloud dilemma is to use a system that stores both globally and locally. Many programs and websites that allow notes are available. My program of choice is Evernote. It works with all platforms and with most mobile devices. Evernote is free (to a point) and has its own program that is loaded onto a local computer (if that be your choice).
In Evernote, you could set up a notebook and then have all the various sites visited as separate notes. I prefer to have a single note with all my passwords. Then, you simply put the website in the search box and Evernote finds it within seconds.
Evernote goes everywhere with me so I can check it from another computer that is not my own. It’s a terrific product with superior features.
(If you want the note to be on paper, it is simple to print it.)
Program-based
A final solution is also available. A program can be installed on your computer that will keep all your log-in information in one place.
On the Windows side is a program called Keepass. I have used it but find it rather clumsy. However, it can store passwords and usernames for almost anything–bank accounts, websites, email, etc., in a secure way.
My preference is 1Password for Mac (although it does have a Windows program I have not used extensively). The advantage of 1Password is its volume. It does capture log-in information. But it also allows you to store software license information (which is a headache with the 24 character license keys). With the program I can also keep track of sensitive information such as bank account information, passport data, and other details I need to remember but don’t want to be accessed by others.
1Password also has modules for IPhone, iPad and Android which allows for portability and search ability of password information.
Any of these three methods are an improvement on memory. It is said that Einstein could not remember his phone number. The reason is there were more important things to remember. The same holds true for passwords.
Nothing is more frustrating than having to slow down when you want to go faster.
You drive down the freeway going the speed limit. Suddenly you see the red glow of brake lights cascading through the traffic in front of you. You slow to a crawl. Sometimes the slow-down is a wreck and sometimes it is construction. It does something to your forward momentum.
A computer is a tool used to do things with more efficiency and less drag. You sit down, peck along at the keyboard, and churn out documents. But then you come to a bottleneck.
For technology, the primary bottleneck is the user. He has to stop, open programs and click on a mouse. Each of these is the same effect as the flash of the brake lights on the highway.
How do you eliminate the bottlenecks in your computing life?
Learn to touch type. No matter how fast your computer, unless you can touch-type you are the one that slows it down. Of all the school courses which have paid dividends many times over it was a 10th grade typing class. Little did I realize at the age of 15 it would become my primary daily tool fifty years later. Google “typing program” and see what you get. It is worth investing time learning to type faster.
Utilize keyboard shortcuts. All programs have keyboard shortcuts. In Windows they are the control key plus another key. For instance,
- Control+O opens a document.
- Control+C copies text.
- Control+V pastes text.
- Control+P prints a document.
- Control+X closes a document.
- Control+Z undoes the last action. (This is my favorite).
In Mac, use the command key rather than control. Gmail has its own set. By keeping your hands on the keyboard, you are so much more efficient than shifting to a mouse.
Let programs type for you. With my Mac, I utilize two programs that help speed up my work. One is Alfred which allows me to have a speed key to open up programs with little effort. By pressing the option-spacebar and typing the first letter, I can open up any application on my computer. The same setup works through Windows. (Right click on the desktop icon, choose properties, and click on shortcut key.)
The second program is TextExpander. By setting up snippets, I can enter complete sections of text with one or two keystrokes. I can insert my name, address, or even insert routine email text. It has been a tremendous help. In Windows, programs like PhraseExpress are available that do the same thing.
For some this sounds like an obsession. However, things which make you more effective are always valuable. Try speeding up when you feel things slow down.
With the simple click of the hands of a mechanical clock, the world magically transforms. That single click brings in a new year.
We arbitrarily mark time with bread crumbs along the trail. We have birthdays and anniversaries. But few are as laden with meaning as New Year’s Day.
With New Year’s comes the “New Years Resolution.” These general statements are more wishes than plans. Most die before sunset on day one. For a lucky few they last a week or two. Most resolutions fall into the category of “undoing damage.” Gyms and diet clinics bulge with new clients because the holidays have left flabby bellies and guilty consciences. Christmas buying has drained bank accounts. Tension in family pitches require mended relations. A house cluttered with new things demands order. Such is the “stuff” of resolutions.
One person stated, “my resolution is not to make resolutions.” Instead of resolutions determine directions. Take some time to review the year gone by–objectively.
- What went right? (Something always does.)
- What surprised you?
- What bothers you and why?
Don’t work on remediation and correction. Take single steps in a direction which you enjoy. If you don’t like going to the gym, don’t join one. But if you enjoy playing with your kids, do so. You will get more exercise. Do what thrills your soul instead of what enslaves the spirit. (People tend to do what they like, not what they hate.)If you had to take a single physical, visible action in the next hour which would make you better, what is that one thing? It might be write a letter, make a phone call, pay a bill, take a walk or even drink a cup of coffee. Take one step. Then take a second. The Chinese proverb counsels, “the journey of a million miles starts with a single step.”
Whatever you do in 2012, have a good time. Life is too short and too valuable not to enjoy.
Happy New Year!
One question you should ask yourself regularly is “what gives me joy?” We get caught in the “oughts, shoulds, and musts” that few of us get to the “wants.” About 18 months ago, I found something which has given me incredible joy.
I started listening to books on CD.
Reading has been a lifetime love of mine. But with age, eyes don’t always cooperate, lighting became a problem, and time pressures pushed it into the background.
However, I spend a significant enough time in traffic. I bought a new car and slurged for a CD changer. Those two factors came together about 18 months ago. I started getting books on CDs and listening to them. Since that time, I’ve listened to over 20 titles.
I am blessed with a local library with a tremendous stock of books on CD. I have ridden the path from Boston to New York with John Adams. I spent the winter with Washington in Trenton. I felt the blows to Louie Zamperini in a Japanese POW camp. I have found profound insights into life and myself through the words of Mitch Albom and Malcolm Gladewell. I’ve walked the Brooklyn Bridge and sailed the Panama Canal.
I have found that listening to a book on CD gives a new experience. It affects not only my mind but my emotions and heart. With each conclusion, I feel like I am losing an old friend.
Few things in life give us true joy and inspire us. For me, this simple act has transformed my life.
For many, Thanksgiving is about a “list.” With the song Count Your Many Blessings in hand, we go about inventorying our lives for what we own and put “I’m thankful for…” before that item.
In a wealthy society, we list things we enjoy that we’ve never had to live without. We thank God for color HD TVs, the internet, computers, cars, houses, ad infinitum.
But do we really “give thanks” with that kind of list?
- Sit with people who live in a sheet tin hut put on bare earth and you find gratitude in a messy house.
- Shed tears with a mother at the grave of her child. When you go home to the chaos of your kids, you discover gratitude.
- Make a call to a friend who is about to have surgery for a cancer that will kill him. The simple aches of morning awakening provide the gratitude.
- Watch a soldier coming home to children who have missed him for a year. Your 50-hour a week job becomes filled with gratitude.
Gratitude does not flow from what affluence allows us to have. Its seeds are planted in the fertile loam of God’s grace and love. The sprouts in our lives are things taht we neither deserve that, without God, we cannot have.
When you realize what little you can do and how much God has done, your list gets transformed into gratitude.
Let us give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
In the internet age bandwidth refers to how much information can move online.
But every person has a personal bandwidth.
In life, three things determine what you can do at anytime.
Time–if a task takes 1 hour and you have 10 minutes, you can’t do it.
Opportunity–if you need to pickup a medical prescription and you’re in the office, you can’t do it.
But there’s one more area–energy. Just as the internet slows to a crawl when bandwidth gets squeezed, personal energy can slow work or play to a crawl.
I know. Recently, my week with meetings, interruptions, and ever-burgeoning project lists. Compounding the situation were three straight nights of meetings to midnight. My bandwidth was shot.
My mind was slugglish. My movements slowed to a crawl. Interruptions took on a new sense of irritation. Fuzz replaced focus. But work had to continue.
When energy is down to the last drop, I’ve discovered some things that help.
Go shorter. An hour of concentration may be as remote as the moon. Work for 30 minutes (or less) and then break for 15 minutes. Your body needs recovery and pushing forward does not help.
Go easier. I keep a pile of things that take little or no mental energy. One pile is things to shred. When I cannot do anything else, I can at least feed the shredder and move something off my plate. Defer the more mentally-challenging activities until capacity returns.
Go dark. Unplug from email. Turn off the phone. Go to a cafe to work. All are ways to keep the mind from facing the overstimulation of things tugging on your attention.
Go wet. Drink plenty of fluid (preferably not coffee). When tired, the body will also feel dehydration. Simple hydration will keep what little energy is left alive.
Go down. Find a soft chair and quiet place at lunch and nap for 30 minutes. It won’t substitute for a night’s sleep, but it will jump start you until you can get a good night’s sleep. (Even if you can’t nap somewhere, close your door and put your head down for 5 minutes–it makes a difference).
The good news is a full night’s sleep makes a tremendous difference. But you can still make progress, even with bleary eyes and a fuzzy brain.
