My Riffs

Something interesting about laziness… it’s tiring. The lazier you are the more tired and unable you are. You want more energy? Expend some energy. Doing nothing gets exhausting too, so may as well use your energy on building things. That way you come by your tiredness honestly. 

Without perseverance you won't make your dreams come true. Because any dream larger than ourselves won't come uncontested. And perseverance is what will get us through contested dreams.

Wow! Have you ever tried to really focus these days? How long were you successful for? If you focused for any period of time into hours, I applaud you. Focus is down to the seconds for most of us.  The thing is, focus shifting every few seconds is incredibly ineffective in producing quality.  Focus is something that takes increasing effort.  Things have to be scheduled and everything else silenced. The noise is overwhelming. Focus is harder than ever, but more needed than ever. It's needed to produce quality results and to be ever present in a distracted world.

We need to love what we do. But we better be doing a whole lot of things we don't necessarily love. Being self disciplined may not be something we love, but we need to do a whole lot of it. Pushing ourselves past our limits often doesn't feel like doing something we love. But growth doesn't occur in our comfort zones. If you don't choose to do hard things, life will be harder. Willingly choosing hard things makes the hard loads of life easier. The hardest burdens to carry are the ones from laziness and neglect.

Limits aren't really just physical limits. Limits aren't really even imposed by others. Most limits we impose on ourselves mentally. The mind hold the keys to unlocking most barriers. The barrier is a thing that will help us figure out the best way forward. The barrier is in fact the key to overcoming the barrier. You just have to figure out what to do about it. That doesn't mean every barrier can be tore down. But it does mean that you have the power to not let the barrier stop you.

Sometimes when you don’t feel like doing something., you just do it to stick with the process.  The process is there for a reason. It gets you through the gruelling work. It takes you to a better place.  So stick with the process, that’s why it’s there, to guide when you don’t feel like doing more. 

If it’s worth your time doing, it’s worth doing well.  If you can’t do it well, maybe let someone else do it.  Or learn so you can do it better next time. Maybe get help. 

Some tend to be a lone wolf.  But you can’t go far without others.  Thinking you can do it all on your own in itself is a huge limitation. 

Having a bad day? Don’t give up! Dig in instead of drop out.  Attacking the day or whatever the challenge is, is the best way to not give up. Get after it, don’t sulk. Don’t overthink. Take a break if needed, but get up and at it after a short break. Don’t give up!

Discouragement can undo us. There’s so many reasons people feel discouraged today too. Mental toughness is what it takes to keep ourselves focused and encouraged. Mental strength can be built. It just takes right decision after right decision to build it. Taking inventory of our thoughts and discarding negativity helps build a more reliant mind and can help us fend off discouragement.  If we can learn that things we see as impediments are actually usable to solve the problem, we can spin apparent negatives into positives. 

What we allow will affect us. From food, to books and music, whatever we intake will form who we are.  We need to filter out junk or we will become less.  Practice discipline in what you consume because what you consume may end up consuming you. 

Here’s a great life hack. We’re pressured to do more. Work more, save more, rest more, make more connections.  What if we did less? Did less work so we could work better.  Spent less so we could save more.  Worked less so we could rest more.  Connected with people better so we didn’t spread ourselves thin.  Maybe life is about refining and cutting out the unnecessary as much or more than doing more. 

Self driven cars are all the talk these days.  What we really could use is more self driven people.  If you find your why (your purpose) that can become what drives you.  Self driven people can accomplish more, for longer than people who require a push can.  Find what drives you and let it propel you forward. 

 Do right. Don't overthink the outcomes. Just do right. The best possible outcome will happen you can be assured. Doing right produces the best possible outcome.

We can stay down too long when we make a mistake.  Get back up again, right away.  Wallowing does nothing.  Mistakes are opportunities learn, reset and get better. 

Overthinking is like getting stuck in a rut. It’s hard to get out of overthinking. And it doesn’t allow you to go many places. So think but don’t overthink. Be a person of action. 

I think we quit too early too often. Sure there comes a time to cut our losses. But we give up too soon in general. Many things require perseverance. And that only comes by not giving up when we feel like it. It’s one thing to keep doing the same thing over and over again with the same results. But a wise person keeps doing the right things over and over again until they get a breakthrough. 

Don’t deny your emotions. They’re there for a reason. Identify them and investigate why you’re feeling them, but control them. Emotions can be good informers but terrible directors. Control them. 

Got challenges? Don’t be discouraged. Those challenges are exactly what you need. Are they pleasant? Most likely not. But the challenges are what will propel you forward. They’re what will make you better. They’re what will refine you. So take on those challenges and don’t be discouraged by them. 

If you drive through Houston, you may see it said “Be Something”.  Don’t drift through life aimless; Be Something! Be something good, strong and helpful!

Things probably haven't gone how you hoped. There may have even been some shipwreck along the way. It's easy to get caught up in dwelling on the past. The past needs to be dealt with, so some order of mourning and grief is important. But ruminating makes us weaker. Gather yourself and put your energy and focus into strengthening what remains. You can rebuild and thrive again, just start with what you have remaining.

When it’s hard to tell the truth, that’s when it’s more important and needed. It needs to be spoken in love, but it needs to be said and done.  Not saying the truth is as wrong as lying. 

What’s the best healing balm? Love, applied liberally.   Love is a power of a higher level that we can tap into. Love liberally. 

A hurt person will find offence in everything. A healthy person will find peace. Clear your mind and work for health. A clear mind is worth the work. 

Praying for people in and around Kerville, Texas today. 

Try things. Gain experience. Experience is the best teacher. 

The birthday of America.  Some things are worth celebrating. To both acknowledge their past importance and encourage a good future. 

The things calling the loudest for your attention just may be distractions.  Just cause it’s loud doesn’t mean it’s important.  Sometimes the quietest things are the most important. 

The younger you are the more you think about the future and what you wanna be and do. Then you get to middle life and you're bogged down in the here and now, it's hard to look back and thinking ahead can be challenging too. I presume once you get older and life slows down you can tend to live in the past. But all three have one thing in common, you only have the present. No matter what you're dwelling on, you only have the present. We should be continually asking ourselves if we're making the most of the present.

It’s a new month today. It’s a reminder that things change. The season your in can change. That goes both ways. So be prepared and remain hopeful no matter what.