Personal Meditation no. 214

“Hurt people hurt people.”

Be the Change.

Today is all about change. Today my oldest daughter graduates from high school. And a mere thirty years ago I did the exact same thing. That is how quick things change. Does it feel like thirty years? Does it feel like eighteen years since she was born? Does it?

Of course not. There is a lot of change out there that gets you emotional. I can sit here full of emotion about today. And I get to choose whether that emotion is loss or hope. I get to choose to be positive about the change or negative about the change. BUT what I don’t get to do is stop the change.

Change can really hurt people. Folks get really committed to their life being one way and then life throws them a change. Their health might change, their status might change, their income might change, their family might change, and rather than embrace the change and incorporate the change into your life, folks will fight the change. Because sometimes change really hurts badly.

Folks can see change as unfair and unjust. They ask, “Why is this change happening to me?” They question God for the change. They turn their back on God because they feel that this unfairness and injustice is too painful, too much. BUT they are not looking for justice. Folks are looking for vengeance. This world is a ball of emotion wanting vengeance and their pound of flesh. Justice is God’s realm and vengeance is the realm of sin and death.

Broken people are out there choosing violence every day. They are out there looking for revenge for the wrongs they feel. They are tied down to the temporal and the fleeting time of life. Thirty years ago I was walking across that stage with a plan. And thirty years later I will watch my daughter walk across a stage with a plan as well. And she, very much like me thirty years ago, thinks that plan is going to all fall into place. And that is the comedy or the tragedy of life to embrace. And that is the choice we all get to make.

Taking our plan too seriously, putting too much faith in ourselves, and failing to enjoy the beauty of this time here are some of our greatest obstacles to joy. These things lead folks to feeling hurt and being broken. When they can be healed and whole.

That is a choice we all get to make when life changes. Sometimes the changes are large and sometimes the changes are small BUT we get to choose whether we let them hurt or if we let them heal.

Bless your heart. Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #BeTheChange

Personal Meditation no. 213

“You can’t change the people around you BUT you can change the people around you.”

Be the Change.

We are living in a broken world. And when you talk to older folks, the world keeps getting worse. I am unsure whether that is an actual fact or just a subjective opinion about the world today from the world twenty, forty, or a hundred years ago. I do see a more willingness to flaunt brokenness and even worship brokenness in society. The rise of the victim mindset and the division among folks just seems more polarizing and weaponized today than I can remember just thirty years ago when I graduated from high school.

When you are young, your friends are really vital and you can never imagine a world without them there by your side. Here I am thirty years down the road and I speak to one of those good friends and not very often. Life changes. Life gets messy. The world gets around you and gets busy and things continue despite your plans and dreams and wishes. Maybe you don’t consciously decide to change the people around you BUT the people around you change. And that is what it is. There is no changing the change of life. Amor fati.

The conscious choice of those around us is extremely important for our journey. There are many folks holding on to broken people and broken relationships. And those people and relationships can break you as well. With whom we surround ourselves and with whom we interact shape our perceptions and our relationships. If you want to be successful, then you should hang out with successful people. If you want to smoke pot, then you should hang out with the folks smoking pot. If you want to be mediocre, then you hang out with mediocre folks. If you want peace and abundance, then you hang out with the peaceful and abundant. You get to choose with whom you associate. And no more than in this digital age. I have met so many influential people in my life from this screen. And I have removed many broken relationships and people from my life from this screen.

So, think about whether the company you keep is the company you need. We can’t get better if we are holding onto broken and less than habits. And we can’t have those habits reinforced by broken and less than relationships. You can pray and hope and desire for others to heal, BUT you can only change you. You can only get yourself healed. Live the life that you want to live. Live that life with others that are taking the walk you want to take. Fix yourself and the company you keep. I know we hear it from youth that the people we are hanging around are reflections of who we are. Your friends say a lot about who you are. What are your relationships saying about you?

Bless your heart. Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #BeTheChange