Category Archives: Maturity

Cleanup, Maintenance and Restoration . .

30 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Attitude, Choices, Contentment, Discipline, Joy, Maturity

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A little rain, a lot of rumbling . . after last week’s monsoon, the one last night seemed a wee bit gentler and efficient. It was just progressively darkening skies, which promised rain and finally delivered with thunderous claps; there were no huge dust storms carried in by disturbing wind gusts. No more tree branches came down and not much debris was scattered.  I hope it washed away some of the remaining mess from the last storm last week, which just blew a lot of stuff into new places!  article-2011713-0CE2031700000578-751_964x626

Earlier yesterday afternoon I had warned my friend Joe, while he cleaned my pool, that there were storms hovering nearby. He looked all around the sky for proof, not really all that convinced. In jest he told me that once he cleans all the pools for that particular day in Summertime, during our monsoon season, he goes home and shuts the windows and shades in his house to effectively shut out the fact that a storm might come and eradicate all that day’s hard work out in the heat and humidity! It would have been hard to silence last night’s storms in that way, booming with such resonance! I hope he was successful though. I’m sure that it is frustrating to have cleaned all those pools yesterday, only to have a storm roll through and mess them up anew.  1394793942827

But isn’t that life’s real conundrum for us all in some way . . our real lack of control as mere mortal human beings in setting circumstances and keeping them just as we want them, neatly, tidily and ideally?? Each day we take what comes, giving everything our best for that day in hopeful planning, reaction and response. We must loosen or release our hold and our sense of control on most everything but our emotions; and faithfully, we must learn to wait to see what comes next in life. Rarely do things go entirely as we had planned or envisioned in our minds eye. Clean up, maintenance and restoration is not just left to those who clean pools in Phoenix during monsoon season. It’s just a part of life we must all come to expect and to tolerate! Most of the time, because we can only control what comes from within us . . . we must learn how to adapt, to alter and to amend our plans when life doesn’t play out as we planned. If we want to enjoy our lives overall, we must not let the unexpected and unplanned stuff which happens that is out of our control overwhelm us or impact us for too long. We must resolve ourselves to cleanup, maintenance and restoration each new day.  Signature02

Be True to You!

31 Sunday May 2015

Posted by in Attitude, Character, Confidence, Integrity, Maturity, Self-Control, Self-Respect

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When I was little, my mother told me that it was much more important to be myself than to seek the acceptance or permission of others, altering my behavior and beliefs accordingly. She assured me that I would always be alright and loved as long as I first maintained my own integrity by being genuine, self-accepting and self-loving. And so it is with life, (another “Mom” point I have had to give her), we are supposed to develop who we are from within; assessing our thoughts, words and actions in accordance with what we know, learn and process.authentic-quote

We’re meant to determine for ourselves what it is that we believe and live within the confines of those beliefs. We’re supposed to discover our own talents and abilities based on what it is we can do, regardless what others have as gifts and natural talents. We’re meant to learn and to develop our minds, our bodies and our spirits as we’re able to, as we’re all unique and individual. We aren’t meant to listen to the prevailing dialogue, or be swayed by the winds of the times as though what we know or believe has no weight. We are not all supposed to think alike, dress alike, walk alike or talk alike! We might change our beliefs and adapt our skills according to our experiences and by what we’ve learned over time. We might even have significant shifts in what we hold to be true based on just growing up or having lived through certain life-changing moments.  But we’re to be true to ourselves, regardless the influences of others or the pressure they can exert. If we aren’t true to ourselves, not only will others find us unappealing, but we won’t even have the comfort of liking ourselves!


235e090f944bf5d41d6d3981e555aef7 So the surest way to be in life is 100% okay with who we are as people. If we act in ways that we cannot accept or which compromise our integrity, we’ll note within a sense of unbalance or ill-rhythm. It is inevitable, as my mother promised . . we must first develop the core of who and what we are from within; building a solid foundation on which to create our lives. Then we are to live our life in the manner in which we’ve set our beliefs, established our boundaries and determined our abilities. Let no one dictate to you their moral sense or lack thereof. Let no other person make you feel bad for having a varied set of beliefs or for making mistakes.  Accept the responsibility for choosing to live in accordance with your own values, beliefs and abilities; as well as the consequences for faulty choices in the process. Let no one tell you how to live your life! It is yours to live, even with mistakes, chances and mishaps. Own it all and live it with a determined will to be faithful to who and what you are!


Sonya-Parker-300x300 Many these days are involved in censoring and even condemning others for values, beliefs and lifestyles which differ from their own; yet in their censorship or condemnation, they still cannot take on the weight of the responsibility for success, failures or consequences outside of their own. Learning to live with confidence and self-assurance, as well as self-acceptance, enables us to better mind our own business; as our security with our own life choices makes us better able to give others the same level of respect in theirs!  Signature02

Living A Whole Life, With Integrity . .

27 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by in Character, Choices, Contentment, Discipline, Integrity, Maturity, Wisdom

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Think about all the ways we compartmentalize our lives, easily and willfully. We can often even seem to be different people in various places and with certain others. It is surely a source of difficulty for us when we develop the habit of being one person in one situation and another for others. How can we learn to be authentic, to know our true worth and to respect who we are if we’re always morphing the “who” for the sake of the where, when or why? To be the most authentic, self-aware and self-fulfilled soul, we must learn to develop a foundation of beliefs, values and character traits which affirm our essence from the inside out. We might evolve through those aspects, beliefs and values as we mature; but we stay firmly tethered to all of that as a means of not losing our way in life.   20130407-021605

 

When we compartmentalize our beliefs, values or alter our character to suit the situation or to fit in with others, we erode our own sense of assuredness in who we are! That is our integrity, the truth we know about ourselves. And that is a terribly high price to pay for wanting to fit in or for wishing we were cool! Staying true to ourselves is the one parameter we must never cease in upholding; for when we do, we also cross an infinite continuum of others! If we lie to ourselves, if we will compromise our own virtue, if we will cede our own respect and if we will not love ourselves enough to protect our being, then we surely won’t do that for others or feel the need to give them the same manner of respect! So the importance of holding firmly with discipline and self-control into a set of parameters whereby our lives by action, word, thought and deed affirm what we’ve stated or postured about our beliefs, values and character is imperative to our health, well-being and overall survival. People say, “But it’s just this once!” or “I don’t think it will matter in the long run!”, or “what difference does it make what I do?” But what those people don’t imagine is the price paid each and every time they erode from within the measures by which self-esteem, self-respect and self- assurance maintain integrity! When integrity is lost, all is lost!

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So no matter what we might think of small diversions from our true selves, they are long-lasting, impactful and often detrimental to our long-term peace of mind and inner contentment! Guilt, shame, self-abasement and all sorts of consequences come upon a soul burdened by a lifetime of baggage which was brought on one’s self. With wisdom comes the manner by which we learn to be unified in character and purpose through all areas of our life, we learn that we cannot be one thing in this area and another over here. We must be authentic and committed to being exactly what we believe, think and know we are, in every situation and in every aspect of our lives!  Signature02

It’s a Hard-Knock Life . . Making Mistakes

21 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by in Attitude, Character, Choices, Confidence, Growing, Lessons, Maturity

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The problem with some mistakes – we keep making them! That is until we learn what we need to from them, in order that we recognize the situations leading us to make the same choices; as well as the necessity and reasons for us to no longer do the same things or think the same way! Mistakes aren’t inherently bad for us, IF we do take the lessons we’re presented through each one by which we learn, we make changes, we develop and grow beyond. But many of us only accept the mistakes repeatedly by making the same types of choices, often complaining that things don’t go our way, aren’t right for us or offering us much in life. images goals 3

We just haven’t learned the process of viewing everything which happens to us in life, including mistakes, hard lessons and painful episodes, as the impetus for our own personal development. We stay in a rut comforting ourselves with our lack of confidence, our low sense of self-worth, our agony over life’s seeming unfairness, our hurt feelings, our wounded pride, our insecurity, our anger over the way things are, our fear of change, our stubborn refusal to let it all go and/or our continual self-pity party. Perhaps we’ve learned that we get more attention wearing the negative circumstances of our lives like badges of survival and courage; rather than viewing them as minor steps in the process of our personal development which lead us to the real badges of honor, those of having successfully managed and maneuvered through this thing called life!  imageschange

Only when we realize that we could do better, we should do more as we’re responsible for our own lives, so we might want to make changes because we have loftier expectations for ourselves, do we begin to see situations with the light of our own honest appraisal and recognition. It is only when we value our own life enough to not settle, to not accept less, to be fully responsible for all the goals we’ve made and met,  and to accept every outcome and circumstance as part of the process of life’s continual school of learning and self-development that we truly become our own life’s manager. All circumstances of our life are then viewed as potential lessons intrinsic to our development and growth through the process of choice, adaptation, learning and correction so that we become more – even with each mistake we make!  Signature02

40 Days . . The Meaning of Lent

19 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by in Attitude, Choices, Christianity, Faithfulness, Maturity, Strength

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Here we are in the season of Lent, which for Christians is the forty days prior to Easter meant to remind us of Christ’s forty days of wandering alone in the desert. During that time, Jesus was obedient to God through fasting, sacrifice and prayer; he fought off all manner of temptation from Satan and he endured with obedience battles of will knowing the remainder of his days were not going to be simple. Why is this period of Lent significant to us, the faithful? We endeavor to sacrifice, to fast, to pray and to endure with willful obedience for an equal time some manner of daily temptation. We know Jesus suffered greatly for us; culminating at the Cross, where he died for our sake – though he was truly innocent, sinless and unworthy such a death. Yet he endured it all with obedience, even the horrible death by crucifixion, bearing all the weight and burden of our sin and every human sin ever committed.

5021963816_bee340a0e1_z When I imagine such a love as to want to take from me the weight and burden of my sin and a God who loves me so much as to want to save me from such condemnation and hell for an eternity, even though I am unable to be perfect in my humanity like Christ, I am overwhelmed! It evokes my ability through discipline and obedience to make such minor sacrifices as giving up meat, wine, coffee, sweets, etc., or fasting for a time each season of Lent as just a small measure of my recognition and gratitude for Christ’s sacrifices for me! It reminds me of God’s many faithful promises to us, His faithfulness in keeping them all; and also how all the prophesies and instruction in God’s Word remind us of our secure place within His embrace of grace regardless the world! 

imagesTT5PI3PH Jesus first told the Apostles while gathering them as such that they should throw down their fishing nets to become instead fishers of men. Then upon rising from the tomb in which he was sealed after his death upon the Cross, Jesus prophesied to them by instruction that they would go out and spread the good news of the Gospel to all the corners of the world, being persecuted and martyred for it; and though they each were persecuted and martyred for it – even put to death or exiled, think of how true this prophesy is today?! That great news of the Gospel is known all around the world still; it lives and breathes hope and light into the lives of billions and billions of people far and wide! Sadly, many are still being persecuted and martyred for their belief in Christ. But think about it . . a handful of men (the Apostles) set out in a time when there were no cell phones, no computers, no cars or jets, no ease or speed of transportation or communication, and plenty of hostile unbelievers all around them. They set about to convey to the entire world the glory of Jesus’ life and his purpose as the Messiah, his meaningful birth, the miraculous things which they had witnessed being at his side, the lessons he had taught them, his rather significant death by crucifixion, and the salvation promised at the foot of that Cross because they had witnessed him as risen. They did just as Jesus instructed them to do in His prophetic instruction, having been endowed with that same will and power of the Holy Spirit within them.  And even though persecuted and martyred for conveying such wonderful and glorious news to the world, they managed to keep this message of love not only living, but thriving to this very day! 

imagesWUGIPFRS So when I think of how hard Satan persists each new day by way of those who do his work to silence and destroy the message of the Gospel, how he endeavors to negate the meaning which Christ brings to each of our lives by way of redemption, salvation and love . . or how he attempts to destroy the hope we have in living our lives each day for God’s glory, it doesn’t take me long to quiet my mind in peace again! For in my faithful assurance, I know God will have His triumph through His loving grace, his promises made and kept as well as His faithfulness to us, demonstrated each new day in infinite ways. Jesus Christ will always have the victory over death, things of this fallen, sinful earth and the ways of the enemy. The prophesies foretold centuries and millennia ago throughout God’s Word in the Bible have played out and proven to be true, assuring us as our living, breathing evidence. And they will continue to play out until the end times. God is good, He keeps His promises, though we’re surely not worth it; by His grace and through Jesus Christ we have redemption, salvation and victory over all of that as well!  Signature02

Lighting Up The World . .

15 Sunday Feb 2015

Posted by in Attitude, Choices, Christianity, Faith, God, Maturity

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Think about how much light we each can shine in this world. If it seems somewhat dimmer and less hopeful now than in years past, perhaps we’re just not doing enough personally and collectively to reflect light back into life, onto everything and through us all. Life makes it easier for us to glow with light because of all the brokenness , cracks and flaws we experience and “wear” like badges of honor just by living through hardship, grief, pain and suffering. So if life seems dimmer to us, perhaps we’re not focused on how we might use what we have, what we are, what we’ve endured and what has happened to us for the sake of the making everything around us brighter. As written in Matthew 5: 13 – 16:  13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 767885e385183ae75f391b7b7da0ae8b

We who are Christians are to be reflections of God’s light in this world emulating the example of Jesus Christ during his time here on Earth; His love should be so discernible and obvious through us by the way we live that all might know us by it. But many are hiding their light under their egos, many don’t realize how brightly they can shine in spite of what they’ve endured, and many are fatigued in spirit by the fallen nature of this world. As it says in Hebrews 12,  ” . . let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross . . ” And as it reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:  4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.   images bold faith

Surely, the challenge of life is to live according to the will and purpose of God; as Christians, to mature in Christ, becoming the embodiment of His human example so that others will want what we have and to be like us! We’re all at different stages of our maturation in that regard. Only by focusing on the goal of spiritual maturity do we become walking, talking, living, breathing, bright lights of Christian examples for the world! We cannot do that being fearful, disempowered, disobedient, defeated, beaten-down or apathetic. We are losing the world while we let our lights grow dim, whether by choice or by circumstance. Now is not the time to let the light fade; it is now the time to live by example a life of bold faith, courage, conviction, obedience, contentment and peace! We are called to be the faithful, we shouldn’t be so faith-less!   Signature02