Time

Today I want to talk to you about time.  How many hours are their in a day?  Come on, this isn't a trick question.  Yup, there are 24 hours.  Now let me ask a couple more questions.  If you found a homeless guy living under a bridge in Fort Worth, how many hours a day does he have?  Yup, the answer is still 24.  OK, how about President Obama or Bill Gates?  We still get the same answer - 24 hours.

Do you see my point.  The difference in successful people and those who haven't achieved all they would like normally centers around how they use their time.

Some people spend a lot of their time complaining or watching TV or playing video games.  Now before anyone gets mad, let me say that I do not think there is anything wrong with watching TV or playing video games.  I like to play NCAA football on my X-Box occasionally myself.  I was a child of the first video game generation and we started playing Pac-Man and Space Invaders.  So there is nothing wrong with them if they are played in moderation.  But there is something missing these days that concerns me.  When we spend all of our time being babysat by TV or video games, we miss out on so much life.  Guess what adults, we can be babysat just as much as our kids by the TV.  Sometimes I hear people tell me all about what is happening on this TV show or that one and it really irritates me.  Because it makes me wonder how much time they invest in themselves or their families.

Parents, I heard about a survey that was done of small children.  They were asked what would they want more - new toys, trips to Putt-Putt or Main Event type places, going out to eat, or spending time with their parents.  Do you know what the overwhelming number of children said?  Yup, you guessed it.  They wanted their parents time.  Parents, we can learn a lesson from this.  We need to spend more time with our kids and less time with American Idol.  Do you want your kids to actually want to come around you when they are older?  Do you want them to respect your advice and come to you for counsel?  Then spend time with them today.  When you invest in their lives now, it will pay great rewards later.

Kids, did you know that there aren't very many people who make tons of money playing video games?  Like I said, it's OK to play them but what are you doing to expand your imagination?  As I sit writing this, my children are outside my house playing in a field behind it that has a pond.  I am not sure exactly what they are playing but they are learning to use their imagination.  Plus, they are doing physical activity which is very good for them.

OK, for all of us parents and kids alike, let me ask when was the last time you spend any of your time investing in your own life?  For kids, you are probably going to school which is investing in your life.  For adults, when was the last time you learned something new?  I think we are all familiar with the concept of atrophy.  When we don't use a muscle it shrinks.  That's called atrophy.  I think our brains work the same way.  If we don't exercise it regularly, it will grow stagnant.  All of the sudden, we accept the very things in life we want to change most.  That's a bad place.  We should always work to make ourselves better.  I am dating a remarkable woman.  She tells me all the time how good I am to her.  Now I don't mean this to brag but that is true.  I do treat her well.  But let me tell you this.  If right now is the best she ever gets from me, it will be a sad thing.  I need to invest some of my time in making me a better me.  That takes a lot of work but the rewards are well worth it.

So I want to leave you with this.  How do you spend your time.  When you look back two weeks from now will you be happy with the way you spent this week?  It's too late to change yesterday but it's the perfect time to change tomorrow.  Take a look at how you spend your time and use it wisely.

That's another Opinion of the Minion

The Minion Has a Dream

OK, my last post was all about day dreams or thoughts and how we need to be careful where we allow our mind to focus.  For many thoughts, I said that we need to keep them from running our mind.  So now it may sound like I am contradicting myself but I want to talk about allowing certain day dreams or thoughts that we want to run around in our mind until they do take root and cause us to change.

In my previous blog, I discussed thoughts that would lead to bad situations.  I have heard of people who want desperately to be married to each other.  The only problem is that they are both married to different people right now.  They begin to think so much about being with each other that eventually they do something that causes terrible pain in not only their own lives but the lives of others.  These situations start with a thought.
So let's spend a few minutes talking about thoughts that we should continue to think and mediate.  Let me give you an example of one..  I have said before that at one time I weighed 350 pounds.  That's pretty big right.  I was round almost.  I was 67" tall and 58" around.  That's not a good place.  Well several years before I lost any weight, I started seeing myself healthy.  I started seeing myself wearing slim clothes.  I could see myself water skiing and doing many other things.  I could see myself actually outside playing with my kids.  I even thought about what it would be like to be able to stand up, look straight down, and see my shoes. 

That sounds kind of crazy right?  Well I couldn't see my feet at that weight.  Here is a big one - I could see myself sitting on an airplane and not needing a seat belt extender.  I actually went as far as to start saying that I weigh 205 pounds.  Think about it.  That's totally ridiculous.  Now I didn't say this to other people.  I just said this to myself.  Did you know that is exactly what Abram did.  God changed his name from Abram to Abraham.  He was 90 years old and his wife was too.  They had no children and he started walking around saying I am the father of many nations.  Well guess what?  When you start lining your words and thoughts up with Gods, miracles happen.

Now, when I first started day dreaming about this stuff, nothing happened.  As a matter of fact, for several years everything stayed the same.  I didn't lose weight and I didn't exercise.  But one day, that vision became so big inside me that it started to change my actions.  I ultimately took this problem to the Lord and he delivered me from my addiction to carbohydrates.

Now this isn't some type of magic formula.  I didn't lose weight because I saw myself losing weight.  I lost it because God delivered me from carbohydrates and then I started eating right and exercising.  Remember, the only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary.  But what this did do for me was it gave me motivation.  I still had to do the work.  However as that vision of being skinny began to develop on the inside of me, gradually I wanted it more than I wanted pizza. 

What are your goals in life?  Those are things you should think about.  See yourself passing the chemistry test.  See yourself getting out of debt.  See yourself healed and whole.  When you start putting the right images in front of you, you will gravitate toward them.  Just like with the negative images, you will start to make your dreams a reality.

So if you aren't happy with some part of your life, maybe it's time to start getting a vision for where you want to go and what you want to be.  I know for me, I can get lost in the day-to-day grind of daily life and lose sight of what is really important.  I think I need to spend a little time working on my vision for my life today.

Thats' another Opinion of the Minion