It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s housi

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s housing, …real estate market recovery? http://ow.ly/5wgEL

A Tale of Two Notes

Warning….this is a gut level post.   What follows may have typos and proofreading errors…it’s the spirit of the thing …People.  Read in that context.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to interact with two friends in response to notes they wrote.

Note 1>  My daughter’s preschool director wrote a note in which she praised me for my Christian service and said how she was looking forward to next year when my son would attend.    My response to her,  “like attracts like.”

Note2> A friend posted what a terrible time she was having with someone.  Aggressive, distasteful behavior was being directed to her…she declared, “no weapon formed against her would prosper.”  I wrote in essence, there could be no success in their attempts to humiliate, trouble her if she was an innocent victim.  She could stand on that truth.

It struck me on my run this morning that each of situations, positive and negative, requires an internal and external response.

Note 1> External response:  wrote a note thanking her and praising her for the gift she was to me.  Internal response:  gratitude for the opportunity to serve and be understood.

Note2> External response:  question the intention of the person troubling you.  Internal Response:  question one’s commitment to empowering a foe or enemy to bring negativity into one’s life.

Who is that naked woman?

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.  Yet as humans we tend to veer for what is shiny and new.  Tosh Jenkins is a life purpose, enthusiasm and time transformation coach who has lived and mastered what she teaches.  As a Christianpreneur, wife, mother and friend, Tosh understands competing priorities.  Tosh shares the secrets of congruency through speaking, teaching, coaching, and writing.  What if your life was enviable?  What if you were purposely fulfilled.  Talk 2 Tosh!

Running@TheSpeedofLife: Our Free Virtual Couch to 5K Training Group starts Sunday with Tosh Jenkins

Running@TheSpeedofLife

Running@TheSpeedofLife: Our Free Virtual Couch to 5K Training Group starts Sunday with Tosh Jenkins

by Latosha Ann Jenkins on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 8:36am

Yippee our free Couch to 5K Program starts Sunday: Call in to our Sunday 30 minute chat to check-in and get fueled up for the week ahead.   Call in number information: Conference dial-in number: (712) 432-0900 Participant access code: 733413

 

Congrats on your decision to take on our Couch to 5K program.   We believe that running and fitness are a metaphor of a biblical life; Hebrews 12:1-3 instructs us:

Hebrews 12:1-3

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Hebrews 12

Jesus, the Example

1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also (A)lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us (B)run with(C)endurance the race that is set before us, 2 [a]fixing our eyes on Jesus, the [b](D)author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him (E)endured the cross, (F)despising the shame, and has (G)sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 For (H)consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary [c](I)and lose heart.

Footnotes:

1. Hebrews 12:2 Lit looking to
2. Hebrews 12:2 Or leader
3. Hebrews 12:3 Lit fainting in your souls

Cross references:

1. Hebrews 12:1 : Rom 13:12; Eph 4:22
2. Hebrews 12:1 : 1 Cor 9:24; Gal 2:2
3. Hebrews 12:1 : Heb 10:36

D.  Hebrews 12:2 : Heb 2:10

1. Hebrews 12:2 : Phil 2:8f; Heb 2:9
2. Hebrews 12:2 : 1 Cor 1:18, 23; Heb 13:13

G.  Hebrews 12:2 : Heb 1:3

H.  Hebrews 12:3 : Rev 2:3

1. Hebrews 12:3 : Gal 6:9; Heb 12:5

 

 

There are 10 commitments for success on this 6 week Couch to 5k Program.

1. Make a decision Running@TheSpeedofLife Couch to 5K program matters to you now and is a priority.
2. Follow a Couch to 5K training program.  We have included a recommended program from Marathon Training Academy.    See http://marathontrainingacademy.com/5k
3. Call in to our Sunday 30 minute chat to check-in and get fueled up for the week ahead.   Call in number information:

Conference dial-in number: (712) 432-0900     Participant access code: 7334133.

 

4.  Commit to develop one new healthy habit a week.

5.  Drink half your body weight in ounces in water each day; for example 140 lb person would drink 70 ounces of water a day.

6. Eat a power breakfast:  Mine is oatmeal with at least 4 grams of fiber and an apple.

7.  Find supporters and talk about your goal:  we are that support system for you.

8.  Imagine yourself as if you are already at your goal.  You ran the 5k already.  Now you are just reliving the experience.

9.  Post positive notes to yourself throughout your home, work environment and in your car.  I love this poem:

 

Promise yourself to be strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only the best, to work only for the best and expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

Author: Christian D. Larson

 

10. Press pause on negative thoughts, people, and other nay-saying sources.

 

 

Free+for+All Friday

Free+for+All Friday: Ask me your questions related to all things stewardship.  All answers come based on biblical prospective.  Be it real estate, life purpose, making a dollar out of 15 cents, dropping lbs; ask away!

You can email or direct message your questions to maintain your confidentiality.  Ask away it’s Free+for+All Friday!

Crappy Copy no more…Real Authentic Change

Understand·Me:  Before we can change in any area, we have to know ourselves and what works for us.  Jay Z said, A huge lesson for me was that if I was gonna be successful, I had to be successful as myself—I couldn’t be successful doing what other people were doing. I had to do what I believed in and what felt real to me and felt true to me, because the worst thing to be is successful as someone else. 

Rather than emulate others, discover your authentic self and master that.  Am I saying you should never change?  No, I am saying you should never settle on becoming a cheap copy of someone else or a badly damaged version of yourself.  You should master you!   In 2009, I faced many challenges: financial, marital, parental, mental, spiritual, and physical.  I had to ask myself why I was again facing the same challenges I had the done the work to overcome before many times.  It was revealed to me that I had not resolved them in a way that was authentic to me…therefore, when I was not focused on correcting, controlling them I returned to being damaged me.  Instead, I had to understand the challenges and their relationship(s) to me.  It was there my change began.  It is a matter of acceptance and rejection.  For example, I accepted I needed to lose the extra weight.  I rejected, the concept it had to be done overnight.  Instead, I gave myself three years to lose the physical weight and everything else that was burdening me.  I am discovering myself in the process, not conforming to a weight standard.  There is a difference.  Life is about discovering the authentic difference and running our own race (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Faithful Action

Faithful Action

Quote·Me:  Pray like it all depends on God, then when you are done, go work like it all depends on you.   Martin Luther

Learn·Me:  The life of faith is a life of the diligent not the wistful.  We wrestle with the concepts of God as our enabler and our provider.  Rather than always simply doing for us; He radically equips us.  Yet for what purpose does He equip us…to supply our needs or the needs of others.  This great conundrum is a battle of the practical, natural man.   

Understand·Me:  From a faith prospective, the mission of our work is to discover the proper weight to give to glorifying God, taking care of our needs and wants, and the needs and wants of others.   May we grow and run the race set before us (Hebrews 12:1-2).

7 Points to Ponder for Getting Unstuck

In the face of friction and inertia, you have to get moving towards your goals.  Yes, where you are and weight of your situation may seem too much to bear (inertia).  Yet you have survived it.  When you make the decision to move in spite of the inertia it will be difficult moving from here to there (friction).  Below are 7 points to ponder for getting unstuck.

                7.)  Set your focus beyond the problem.  Mother Teresa was once invited to an anti-war rally… she said she was not available. She only attended PEACE rallies. During my weight loss journey people ask me what my goal is…I say, “I want to be athletic.” They often laugh…not so much at me, but their expectation was a number on a scale.

          6.) Don’t wait. Act now.  Napoleon Hill said there will never be a perfect time….he learned that from interviewing the wealthiest people of his day and writing, Think and Grow Rich.

          5.) Tell the truth to yourself.  “I hate where I am, but I am not quite ready to change.” It’s okay to change when you are ready because it will take energy and action to get where you want to be…rest if you must for the journey ahead but tell yourself the truth.

          4.) Rejection signals you are off to a great start. The Help was rejected 65 times over a multi-year period. Each time author received a rejection letter she took the constructive action to enhance The Help.  She made a decision to limit who she shared her dreams w/ as even the most well-meaning person can encourage us to quit 3 inches from the invisible finish line.

          3.) Give freely. Freely receive. You reap what you sow and you sow what you reap.

          2.) Separate personal goals from vain ambition. The latter will get you the acclaim of man but leave you exhausted. The former will fulfill your life purpose and energize you for eternity.

1.)  There will always be something fighting for your attention, but when will there be time for your intention?

Don’t be Erica Kaned

I watched an interview with Susan Lucci earlier this year where she talked about her passion for Erica Kane.  It was clear Erica Kane was more than a character, but rather had become a part of Susan…an internal character if you will. 

Though it may have been long since time to end the run as Erica Kane or even “All my Children” in it’s entirety…there were so many reasons–rational reasons– why not to end it all.  People would lose their jobs…what would the show be without her…what would she do without this alter-ego, outlet to express herself.  But ultimately even the most rational reasons for continuing anything are often surpassed by the emotional.

Which brings me to my point.  If we don’t allow parts of us to pass on our own terms, but rather wait to be “cancelled” by an external force.  What additional work must now be done to reconcile our new reality?  Whether the decision is done by others or us, work must be done….yet if we act first, we choose the timing and work according to our own needs rather than an external force that now represents power over our will, due to our failing to act.

Why is your “yes, but” not a “so what”?

The power of the “yes, but” is that it recognizes a truth but it negates the truth with –false– rationalization. 

•  Yes it would be great to lose weight, but I don’t have childcare, money for the gym, time to workout, energy to workout, etc. 
• Yes it would be great to start my business, but I don’t have the money to start it, time to start it, youth to start something new, etc. 
• Yes it would be great to change careers, but I don’t want to risk it, lose my health benefits, go back to school, start at the bottom. etc.

What if you said “so what” and scaled your goal to your faith to act.  Perhaps you are not prepared to tackle the 50 lbs…but you are able to tackle 5 lbs.  Perhaps you can’t open the office with the italian leather conference chairs, but you can meet clients at the local Panera  or Starbucks.  Perhaps you can’t quit your job now, but you could trade three hours of television watching for a college course or to start your business at night. 

Say “so what!” 

You will be amazed at the personal growth and movement toward your goals when you stop showing your “but(t)” and start “what”ing all over the place.