We’re so focused on what we’ll become that we often forget to develop fully first what we are. You cannot build a big, busy building upon a weak foundation. It will ultimately crumble from the weight of itself. Without a foundation based in integrity, without doing things the right way, any edifice built might look good from the outside, but the innermost facets will fall into weakness, decay, and then ultimately ruination.

You cannot live exclusively for the sake of your flesh ignoring your inner structure of soul and spirit, for like the building erected without proper foundational support, you will falter, grow weak, and further erode until you collapse. You must build your life’s foundation first, and then work on building the rest from that! What makes a great foundation for each of us personally? Well that varies by choice, be degree & by our history. But the common components of foundational strength are those of character – integrity, ethics, respect, honesty, confidence, kindness & responsibility, to name a few – which are the constant ingredients to a solid foundation upon which to build a successful, strong & busy life!

We are empowered to live and to grow as well through our connection to God, having faith and a desire to honor Him in our endeavors. As Aristotle mused, “We are what we repeatedly do!” If we make it our goal to build up our foundation as we endeavor to build our lives by repetitive practice, we will then be compelled to seek those things which foster our growth, fuel our success and enhance the possibility of achieving our goals. The nature of a life based on such superficial matters as our flesh and what feeds and fosters it, with no purposeful desire to grow, to mature or to develop fully the spirit and soul, is always one which is more limited.

With integrity and other solid character components in place as a part of our foundation, we make all our choices and take all our steps in accordance to the barriers and parameters we’ve established accordingly. Integrity prevents us from going beyond our own preset limits in behavior, thought and in our speech. Integrity compels us to act with discipline. We censor ourselves and self-discipline because maintaining our integrity is tantamount to our venturing beyond those limits.

The focus of our life is often skewed towards that which brings the most instantaneous satisfaction – that being on things which serve our flesh and its needs first. But the life built on a solid foundation, which nurtures the growth, maturity and the development of our body as well as our spirit and soul, will prove to be the key to a longer-lasting and more-rewarding life over all!