Jan 14 Do a Cannonball With Your Life. It’s OK to Get a Little Wet.

Affirmation: Asking for help is a gift to myself and others.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7,8

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Wholehearted Guidepost from Brené Brown

DIG Deep

At the end of each lesson, Brené guides you to wholeheartedness and puts the lesson into practice by helping you to DIG Deep. Reflect on how to apply this lesson to your life using thought-provoking questions to help you Get Deliberate, Get Inspired and Get Going. Write your answers in your journal, talk them over with friends or family, and spark a discussion.

GET DELIBERATE

If there's one thing that was crystal clear in the research, it's the need to practice gratitude. This is a powerful time to start your practice. Maybe you want to start a gratitude journal or decorate a Mason jar and fill that jar with "gratitudes" that you write on small pieces of paper. You could include it in your tuck-in routine with your kids or pick one time a day that you say what you're grateful for aloud.

GET INSPIRED

I find the best inspiration in giving and reaching out. Send an email or a handwritten note to someone that simply says, "Thank you for ____________________ (please be specific)," and tell that person why it meant so much to you. (I even start meetings this way sometimes.)

GET GOING

Several years ago, at the end of a very difficult day, I thought to myself, "I don't feel grateful at all!" My son was sick, one of my parents had just been diagnosed with cancer, and I was completely overwhelmed with work. I literally said this aloud standing alone in my kitchen: "Screw feeling grateful." The second it passed over my lips, I recognized my mistake. The research participants didn't talk about "feeling grateful"; they all "practiced gratitude." There's a big difference between feeling and practicing. Sometimes when we're wading through tough (and very real) challenges, we don't feel grateful. But that shouldn't stop us from practicing gratitude. I stopped right that minute, drew a deep breath and said, "I'm grateful that I'm home and that the pizza place delivers." It didn't cure my son or make the cancer go away, but it did remind me that there is always a spark of light even in the darkest of places. Sometimes, we just have to fan it a little to make it grow, and the best way to do that is with a little gratitude

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Mastering the 7 Decisions from Andy Andrews 

The Compassionate Decision 

6. I WILL GREET THIS DAY WITH A FORGIVING SPIRIT.

By the act of forgiving, I am no longer consumed by unproductive thoughts. I will forgive those who have criticized me unjustly.

I now understand that forgiveness has value only when it is given away. I forgive their lack of vision, and I forge ahead.

I now know that criticism is part of the price paid for leaping past mediocrity. I will forgive those who do not ask for forgiveness. From this day forward, my history will cease to control my destiny. I have forgiven myself. My life has just begun.

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4:32‬ ‭NIV‬‬

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Reading for Today

Walk in Grace. Live in Love. by Bob Goff

Jan. 14

DO A CANNONBALL WITH YOUR LIFE. IT'S OKAY TO GET A LITTLE WET. 

When [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."

LUKE 5:4 

 

When we play Monopoly at my house, everyone races to land on Boardwalk first. If you've played the game, you know Boardwalk is the most valuable property on the board. It can win you the game, but you have to take on some risk to buy it and build there. In Monopoly, you can't earn big money without risking a lot. If you only put a little on the line, you won't see much of a return. Sometimes you've got to go big to achieve your goals.

 

The same is true about us and the character we want to develop in our lives. Maybe we're skimping on our relationships, playing it safe and staying on the sidelines. Maybe we're coasting in a job because it pays the bills even though it bores us to tears. What if you were to flip it around? What would it look like to go all in with your life? Don't put your toe in the water; grab your knees and do a cannonball. Push all the chips to the center of the table. I know you'll be scared. Do it anyway. It's where the good stuff happens.

 

Forget buying Boardwalk. What would it look like to say yes to vulnera­bility in big ways? Tell someone you trust what's really going on inside of you, not what you wish were going on. If it's fear you need to move past, blow past it like it's not even there. Are you willing to risk failure, hoping you might be surprised by success? If it's learning to love a group of people you don't under­stand, what if you left the comfort of your easy relationships to build a couple of new ones with people you know might be a little more difficult but would stretch you?

 

There's no shortcut to big change; it always comes with big risk. Are you willing to take yours today? Don't make a list; make a call. You just might be surprised by the life you find on the other side of what's holding you back.

 

What vulnerable step do you need to take next?