Change and Challenge

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Whenever we start to tune in; whenever we start to act on the purpose, passions and priorities we’ve identified inside ourselves, we step into the streams of change. In big ways or small, life becomes different.

Many people don’t like change. They’re happy to live within normality. They may even be afraid of change. They want to stay out conflict and storm. But, to believe that you can evade or avoid change is a fantasy. The one thing constant in life is change and you can either change with it or get left behind.

I hope that you are not reluctant to change and that you don’t fear it. If you look back at your life, you’ll see that you have changed over and over again. If you’re not where you want to be in life, that doesn’t mean that changing has failed you – in fact, it probably means that you haven’t changed enough.

Hopefully, these three P’s – purpose, passions and priorities – have given you a thirst for change, or at least a willingness to drink from that cup. But, I also want you to realize that change will test you – more than that, it will proof you. Proof is a wonderful word. In addition to the usual meaning of evidence concerning something, it can also mean “to test for strength or durability.” Change will do that to you. Proof also means “to treat or coat for the purpose of rendering resistant to damage or deterioration.” Change will do that too – in resisting the opposition, you will build up your muscles.

“If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain”.

We all face storms in our life, and we need to learn to weather them. There are three ways. Some storms you walk through. You stay steadfast and remain patient in the face of the challenge. Some storms you calm, with the help of God’s peace. And some storms you walk over. You do something you never thought you could do before. You take a job you didn’t think you could do. You “jump the facts.” You ignore what everyone says and what’s been done before and you take up the challenge. You walk on water; you jump the facts. When I was nineteen I couldn’t get into the university I wanted, but by my early twenties, I was teaching there.

Never let yesterday use up too much of today. If something bad happens one day, learn from it and move forward, because you can be sure that something new will happen today. Life can be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.

An excerpt from my book, “Utmost Living”

To get a copy for you or a friend CLICK HERE

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Steve Jobs Didn’t Settle

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Ever since Steve Jobs‘ passing, we have seen inspirational pictures and quotes all over our facebook walls. Steve Jobs was given up for adoption when he was born…because his mother wanted a girl. Later he attended college, but decided to drop out because it was too expensive. Remembering his time there, he said, ”I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple.”

In 1976, he and a friend started a computer company in their garage. He sold his VW van to help with money. Of course the company was called Apple and is, as of September 2011, the largest publicly traded company in the world by market capitalization and the largest technology company in the world by revenue and profit.

What made Jobs different? Here some advice he shared before his passing on October 5, 2011:

“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.

And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma-which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

The interesting thing about Jobs is that he fought for his dreams no matter what obstacle came his way…even being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer later in his life. What dreams have you put on the shelf because you have allowed other’s doubts and fears to sideline them? Are you living a safe and mediocre life or are you committed to leaving a dent in the universe? I don’t know about you, but I’m committed to living in such a way that change and progress is inevitable…living in way that is nothing short of the life I was created to live.

You’ve heard me say this a million times, but it’s so true, “when you have setback, don’t take step back…get ready for your comeback.”

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