Bryan Parady's Blog, page 21

Stop the Excuses

People have lots of excuses.  Christians like to use the one that says “it’s not right timing” and “God hasn’t opened the door”.

   Parents tend to use the excuse “I have kids and don’t have time”.

    There are a million others “I don’t have the money”.  “Now’s not good timing”. “I will next year”, “I will someday”.  “If I was younger”.

   Everyone has a plausible excuse in their own mind.   But that’s all it is, a very lame excuse.

    It amazed me the things people use as excuses just to put something off.  I know because I’ve been there myself.  But I realized excuses are just lies we believe and time wasters.

  You are never going to be at a perfect place, never going to have the perfect amount of money.  You can’t go back or forward in time.  And God isn’t waiting to “open a door”.  He’s waiting for you to bust down the door.

     The world needs action not excuses. Your kids need examples of what it means to go out and conquer fears and dreams.

    You want a different life?  The only way you will get it is by working hard and making decisions that bring risk and fear.  But that’s a good thing. Overcome, bust down the door and rock it.

Stay With It

  I really believe one of the biggest things that separates those who have big accomplishments from average is the ability to stick with something.

   There are tons of people in the world with awesome ideas, they start off all excited about their idea then lose steam, and give up. Maybe they just got tired of the work, or maybe they think they now have a better idea.

    I’m not saying you shouldn’t quit things at certain points and try new things but if you find yourself going no where because you can’t stick with something then you may need to come to the realization that you are lacking some follow through and discipline.

  Everyone wants that dream job, that million in the bank, that ability to really make something of their lives and of others, but not many have the perseverance and grit that it takes to keep going even when you are knocked on your face.

   So don’t give up so easily.  Keep pounding, keep at it.  It will pay off.

Beat Fear

So yesterday my wife suprised  me for my 30th birthday and got me a skydiving appointment. (She’s pretty much the greatest) I was excited and nervous.

     Skydiving is something I’ve wanted to do for some time but also something I was terrified of.  I’m not a huge fan of heights.   Adventure absolutely, but heights. Not so much.

   I felt super excited as the plane climbed to 13,000 feet.  Once the door opened it was a different story. Not gonna lie, I was pretty terrified.

    But I did it. I felt great afterwards.  It was way more than just jumping out of a plane for me. It was the start of my 30’s. A brand new decade that I know will be filled with my most adventurous years yet.  I’m excited for what’s to come and a lot of change is coming at that.

    I’ve got one life to live and I want to live a jam packed crazy busy life. The best is yet to come.  Don’t give up on your dreams, don’t give in to complacency and don’t let fear win.

It’s Never Too Late

What is it you want in life? What is it you want to do? What have you had a huge longing to do? Are you working towards it? If not why not?

We all start out with huge dreams, with great things we want to do. Unfortunately, we tend to lose those dreams, we lose sight of the goal. We get older, have more responsibilities, and little by little stop believing that we can obtain the goals. We lose our passion, lose our purpose, lose what we used to feel so confident that we would one day achieve.

But it’s never too late to chase it.

In two days I will be leaving my 20’s behind, (a scary thought). I’m just now getting involved and beginning to do the things that I want to do with my life. Do I wish I had started sooner? Absolutely, but that’s not enough reason not to do it now that I can.

You may feel it’s too late, you may feel you’ve missed the bus, missed your one shot. But there’s no such thing as one shot. There’s now, and there’s the opportunity to go after what you want now.

Don’t ever give up on your dream, don’t let people or circumstances take it from you, and don’t try to convince yourself it doesn’t matter. It does, and you were made to accomplish it. So go after it.

Work For It

If you have a dream in life you have to go out and get it.  It’s not gonna fall in your lap.  It’s not going to magically show up in front of you as you drive to work.  You won’t be walking down the road and door won’t drop in front of you.   A voice isn’t gonna thunder from the sky and tell you exactly what to do.

You have to dream it, climb it, build it, and work for it. You have to sweat, you have to go through pain, go through hurt, and go through trials.

You have to work to achieve greatness, you have to work to achieve your dream.  Nothing in life ever comes without hard work.  Do your part and don’t give up at the first sight of trouble.  You weren’t meant to live an average life, you weren’t meant to sit and do nothing.  You weren’t meant to drown yourself in worthless fads, but to live fully and change the things around you.

Go for it.

It’s Not As Bad As It Seems

Sometimes things seem bad. Life has a way of turning sour sometimes.  It’s not always pleasant, not always easy.   But no one said it would be easy.  No one said it would be a cake walk.

Life goes at a very ferocious and high speed, it leaves no time for second guessing, no time for you to catch your breath, no time for you to plan everything perfect, no time for you to put it on pause.  Life charges on every second of every day.

How we respond to life is what makes or breaks us, what defines us from mediocrity.

The many changes of life, the many ups and downs, and our reaction and response to them is what shapes up the course of our lives.  It’s sometimes the quick decisions we have to make in moments of trial that alter our course so drastically.

So be as ready as you can be, but realize that you have to make the best decisions each day that you can where you are at with what you have.  Don’t expect to have everything perfect before you decide, and don’t expect to not meet challenges.   But realize the challenges will change you for the better if you let them.

You Want Different?

You want to make a difference?  You won’t do it by sitting on your couch and dreaming about it.  You want to be different?  You won’t do it by binge watching your tv shows all weekend long.

You want to look different?  You won”t do it by eating donuts, and sleeping all day.

You want to win that girl or that guy?  You won’t do it by trying half-heartedly while flirting with everyone else.

You want that career dream job?  You won’t do it by just taking trips to the mall and wasting time at coffee shops.

You want to make a difference?  Start doing.

Do go to the gym, do take college classes online while working, do go all in trying to win his/her heart.  Do work.  That’s it.  Work hard. Harder than anyone else and you will achieve more than you ever dreamed.

Work

What do you want in life?  It’s an age old question, one which may ask and don’t the answer, or maybe don’t want the answer.

If we take some time to really think about what we want and focus on what we love, we could very easily answer the question of what we want. The problem is we get comfortable where we are at and choose not to push ourselves to more. We choose not to keep going harder and stronger.

But we can.  We can work our butts off and get so far.  It takes leaps of faith, it takes risk, and it takes hard work.

You want to land that dream job?  It takes sacrifice, night classes at your community college and working hard.

You want to get that body you’ve wanted?  It takes discipline, day after day hitting the gym whether you feel like it or not, saying no to junk food even when you want it.

You want that girl/guy?  Go all out, lay down your life, and don’t give up so easily.  Work hard.

Everything worth having takes work.  So work your butt off and get there.  No more excuses.

Simple Things

I’ve been away from home for over 6 months now. I miss them. I miss home. One thing I’ve really come to appreciate during this time of separation is the small things. It’s those little things that constantly fill my mind with memories. Those little things I get to hear and see that make it all worth it.

6 months ago my wife and prepared for this long temporary time apart. It was very hard saying goodbye, but we knew we’d be back together in 8 months. At the time it seemed incredibly long and now here we are with less than 2 to go. There’s been times when it’s not been easy, but it’s been worth it. We know it’s bringing us to a place that we want for our futures, and we will soon be reunited, and it will make that time together all the more sweeter.

It’s definitely given me a different perspective on a lot of things. It’s given me a much larger respect for those whose jobs take them away from their loved ones, much more respect for those who chase after their dreams, because it takes work.

You read about how people struggle to get through things, but you don’t really understand the struggle, you just focus on the outcome. The outcome is worth the fight. It’s worth the journey. But the journey does take work. It does take sacrifice, and it does take having some ugly days. That’s just part of the process. But those days will pass. They won’t last forever.

I say this as much to myself as to anyone reading this, because it’s something I have to remember. I know without a doubt it will be worth it. So whatever you are striving for, keep going and don’t stop. You will be glad you kept going.

Stepping Back

Sometimes we are so close to something we can’t really see what is going on. We get really caught up in our emotions of the moment, our insecurities, and our doubts. We have a tendency to question everything about ourselves. Am I making he right decision? Why is this happening? How could they? etc, etc.

But when we step back, inhale deeply, and take a good look at what’s going on around us, we tend to find that all our emotions are over-reacting.

We don’t think rationally when we are swept up in the storm of our emotions. We say things, think things, and do things that we often regret when we come to our senses.

There are times when the situation really needs us to think about it with a level head. Recognizing when to step back, and take all this in is huge. That is half the battle. If we can recognize when our emotions are getting the best of us and take a couple minutes to step back and refocus, we’ll find that we stop acting out stupid decisions, or saying things we later regret.

So don’t be afraid to pause for a minute. If your words are coming faster than your thoughts step back. Reassess, then approach it with fresh eyes and ears. You will be glad you did later.