John Harrell's Blog, page 70

Fakes

Be yourself. Always. Live your life with humility, wonder and awe. Fake people are a disappointment no matter how hard they try to impress others.

Show the world who you are, who you really are…

Daily Disciplines

Do you have things you do daily that improve your life? I call these daily disciplines. Discipline means training. You get better at whatever you are learning.

I read, exercise and write every day. These have helped me build strength, knowledge and wisdom over the years. I see the changes and I’m encouraged to keep going.

It’s never too late to learn something new…

Interview with Author Patricia Simon

On this episode of The Determined People Podcast Author Patricia Simon joins me in Studio to discuss her bestselling book, “My Fight Club Within.” In this episode you will join Patricia as she details how she overcame her identity crisis and found out who she really is. And you will learn Patricia’s superpower !

Unforgivable

People struggle with forgiveness. They allow past hurts to fester and grow, almost taking a life of their own. But forgiveness is vital to the human spirit. Otherwise bitterness and resentment set in. Those will shorten your life, or at least they can prevent you from living fully.

If you are struggling with forgiveness, I encourage you to actively practice gratitude. You will begin to see things through a new lens. And you might find forgiveness in your heart…

Plans

We make plans but they sometimes go awry. What do we do then?

We adjust. We adapt. Just because our best-laid plans don’t work out the way we planned is not a reason to wallow in disappointment and self pity. We are better than that.

Do your best to plan your day, your weekend and your vacation. But if they go haywire you know how to handle it…

Make Room

What occupies your time and energy? Whatever you are focusing on will answer this simple question. We make room in our lives for the things we value.

Another question to consider is whether the people you allow into your life are edifying and enriching to your life. Sometimes we must eliminate distractions to make room for who and what matters most.

It’s decision time…

Blame Game

When things go wrong, or even when things go right, aren’t we looking for someone to blame? Things go wrong and we blame others or circumstances. Things go right and we are ready to glorify ourselves.

The truth is, the way our lives turn out begins with us. We must accept responsibility for the decisions we make. We are the only ones who get to make decisions for ourselves.

Accepting responsibility is a giant step forward. Keep growing…

Acceptable

Universally we crave acceptance. We want to be loved and accepted for who we are. Yet, people will change themselves to try to “fit in” with the crowd they are in.

There is great freedom in knowing yourself, faults and all, and accepting yourself. This doesn’t mean you stop working on improving yourself. That’s a process that will not stop until you die.

Fitting in might work temporarily, but you will eventually be discovered. You will feel better if you remain true to yourself, and are not concerned with whether the crowd accepts you or not. Focus on making yourself acceptable to God. After all, Gods opinion is the only one that matters…

Hope

Through the myriad of challenges life throws at us, one thing remains: hope. Hope keeps us going when everything else is falling apart. Hope is the calm in the storm we are searching for. Hope gives us light when everything is dark. We remain hopeful even when our situation remains uncertain.

Have you lost hope in your life? If so, turn your focus to God’s power and promises. He is faithful to us even when we doubt Him.

Remember this: God did not create us and then forget about us…

Stormy Times

Everyone experiences pain. You can’t escape it on this side of eternity. But what you do with your pain makes all the difference in the world.

Pain will either stifle you, shut you down, or pain can be used as fuel to achieve a higher purpose. It’s your choice always.

Fuel burns white hot. Let your painful experiences be ignited inside. Use your pain for the greater good…