It took decades for the real me to expose myself fully. Not even understanding that the real me was in disguise. I felt like I lived by the “Golden Rule” and genuinely attempted to do the right thing under all conditions. There were times I was wrong or off path, quickly adjusting to get back on track. I was a good person trying to live life with compassion. That life was interrupted and turned upside down. For most of my life, I was a leader. Someone who took charge when necessary but stayed in the periphery by nature. My predictable…
If you want to become closer to Jesus, it is simple. Not always easy, but very simple. It starts with love. Difficult things are going to happen, issues are going to arise, problems will need to be solved. Those are all things that happen in our daily lives. The difference is how we approach what comes at us each day. What is our perspective? Are we able, under all circumstances, to keep focused on love? Problems come to all of us in different ways at different times, and often they are only visible to us who endure them. Rarely do…
Have you ever been part of the periphery of a gathering, club, sport, job, culture, etc.? If you have, you know the feeling that starts to creep through your body as you fully understand that you aren’t within the circle of influence. That you are on the edge looking in by choice, because of fear, due to finances, ethnicity, or because you are new to the circle. There is some reason you are not part of the influential group. I have lived most of my life on the periphery. Much of that is by choice. But some of it…
It is difficult to keep out of the world of comparison. Around every corner, there’s another opportunity to explore what others are doing. It doesn’t matter how those opportunities arise, the view many of us see is the snapshot on social media. No matter how great or terrible the opportunity, it is the photo that people see. Viewing all the opportunities for comparison from the perspective of love helps us be happy for everyone’s moments of joy. In between the snapshots, there is a whole story that is not told. The story doesn’t need to…