You Gotta Start Somewhere

Look around you! Do you see where you are? It's amazing isn't it!?
We're all in the exact same place... now, look directly across from where you are. Do you see that? Right over there? You know, if you move over there, you'll be able to see even farther!
Where you're at right now is the starting place to the world! What you start right now will determine where you are in a moment, which will determine where you are tomorrow, and next year. Do you realize you have choices? This could be your moment... we've already determined it's your starting point.
What did you dream about as a child? What did you want to become? I remember wanting to be an astronaut (my wife would say my head's still somewhere in space!). More than anything, I wanted to play Major League Baseball. Of course, I'm too old and out of shape now, but the taste to be great is still on my toungue.
Don't we all want to be great at something? Just because we're older, no one ever said we had to stop dreaming. I've never seen it written that we have to settle for anything. We don't have to settle for average. We don't have to be normal. Don't we all want to live abnormal lives? Instead of just getting by, don't we want to be able to provide not just the necessities for our family but the great experiences too?
We all have talents. God gave them to us! He wants us to be great, so he gives us a head start with our natural talents. Plain and simple, it is our God given ability. But, we have to develop our skills. Skills are what we learned yesterday, and what we are building today. We are urged to tap into our talents, take advantage of our head start, and build upon it by developing and nurturing our learned skills.
And then, there's commitment. Commitment is what we do tomorrow. Without commitment, our skills weaken, and our God given talent is put to waste. Are you willing to commit to fulfill the greatness that your heart desires?
God allowed me to be a talented baseball player. I developed my skills for many years. Unfortunately, I was not commited. I let one day go by, and it turned into two. After two, it was easy to say, I'll start training again tomorrow. My skills began to weaken and I never made it to the Major Leagues. However, I recognize that God gave me another talent, and I plan to build my skills and commit daily to being great.
So, what's my dream now... to be a great husband, a great father, a great friend. Ultimately, my dream is to build a great life and give abundantly of my time and resources. First to my family and then to others.
Look around you! Where you're at right now is the starting place to the world. It's time to dream again. Move forward towards those dreams and you'll realize you can see farther than you imagined.

I Challenge You

How do you react when faced with a challenge? Do you put off the task and hope it goes away? Do you jump in feet first, tackling every obstacle, knowing that you will overcome?
I recently came across a passage in a book I am currently reading that I believed was full of truth and reward concerning challenges. It says, in part:

"The challenges you are willing to face will rise in proportion to the character you are willing to develop. It is in this process of transformation (of building character) that we find the fuel to engage with confidence the opportunities placed before us." -Erwin McManus, Chasing Daylight

I've often heard, "the greater the challenge, the greater the reward." How do we face these great challenges, and how do we achieve these great rewards? We must be willing to engage in personal growth in order to build character, credibility, and integrity. As we grow as a person, the challenges we faced yesterday will be routine in the future. In comparison, the challenges that await for us tomorrow will lead to greater reward.

How do we experience personal growth? How do we strengthen our character to face the great challenges that reap the rewards we dream of? For many of us, we have to reprogram the way we think. We have to feed on the wisdom of the experience of others. More specifically, we have to be mentored by those that have had the success that we want to mimic.

We live in a time that we can be mentored by some of the greates leaders of all time as well as the most successful people of our time. We have to read! Don't like to read, download an audiobook or get the CD and listen to it in your car. There's a lot of wisdom available to us. You don't have to agree with everything you read, but I challenge you to continuously learn and better yourself.

A great place to start reading is the Bible! Who better to be mentored by than our Creator and Savior!? I have added a list to this blog of books I am currently reading, and books I have recently read and recommend. Please share with me your recomendations as well.

I encourage you to rise up to the challenges of everyday, to make todays challenge routine for tomorrow. I hope that you will find great reward in overcoming those challenges, but most of all, I hope that you find great confidence, wisdom, and character as you take on the opportunities that lie ahead.