I am new to the reblogging stuff, but I thought this was a great post. Follow this blog for more great insights. This post is so applicable to people whether you are going for that big promotion, or starting a home-based business like I am.
Dreams become visions, visions become goals, goals become actions, and actions create activity.
You Tube Tuesday: Bear Bryant
For YouTube Tuesday I am posting a video clip of Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. For those of you who don’t know who Coach Bryant is…..GET OUT FROM UNDER THE ROCK!!!!! LOL.
He is considered to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time. Until the early 2000’s he held the NCAA Division I (FBS) record for wins, the record was later broken by Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno. He is considered an icon of almost deity status within the state of Alabama, the only person held in more reverence than the Lord Almighty is Bear Bryant! Anyway, this is a clip of Coach Bryant reciting a poem that he kept a copy of on his desk so that he could read it every day. I think it is very poignant and very applicable for all of us.
Here is a copy of the poem:
This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will.
I can waste it or I can use it for good.
What I do today is very important because I’m exchanging a day of my life for it.
When tomorrow comes this day will be gone, forever, Leaving something in its place I have traded for it.
I want it to be gain, not loss, good, not evil, Success, not failure, in order that I shall not forget the price I paid for it.
Have a great day everyone.
Monday Motivation
Today’s Monday Motivation comes from Dr. Kevin Elko, one of the most requested motivational and inspirational speakers in America. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies and national championship college teams, helping them to realize their full potential. Our principal at Pearl High School, Dr. Lundy Brantley sends out Dr. Elko’s Monday Morning Cup of Inspiration every week and I usually just ignore it, but today I decided to give it a listen to see what it was all about. Man, that was 7 minutes well spent on the way to school this morning!!! So I have decided to post a link to this message so you can listen for yourself. You may also want to subscribe to the different free newsletters and sound bites that he sends out on a weekly basis.
The topic of today’s Monday Morning Cup of Inspiration is New Levels, New Devils. I thought this was awesome because we all want to get to higher levels in life, but no where does anyone tell us what to do whenever we get to that next level. There are new challenges and new problems to deal with once you hit that next level, and Dr. Elko talks about that today.
Monday Morning Inspiration 2/3/2014
I hope you enjoyed this morning’s cup of inspiration, but before we wrap up today, I wanted to share a quote for you from Don Yeager and His Daily Dose of Greatness site.
“Once a man has made a commitment to a way of life, he puts the greatest strength in the world behind him. It’s something we call heart power. Once a man has made this commitment, nothing will stop him short of success.”
– Vince Lombardi Former NFL Head Coach
If today has you inspired to make a change, I hope you do so. If you are looking for spiritual nourishment, check out yesterday’s post, or if you are looking to make a financial change, take a look at our business page and see how you can take steps to start a new lifestyle.
Hope everyone has a great week!!!
Sermon Sunday
Wow, I can’t believe it’s Super Bowl Sunday, and in a few short hours football season will be over for another year!!! At least conference play in college basketball has hit full swing so I can devote my energies to that, LOL.
Today starts the first day of Sermon Sunday, as I will recap the sermon from this morning at The Pointe, where my family and I attend church. The actual sermon will be put online later today, you can click here to listen to this sermon, as well as the first sermon in this series. These are my notes taken from the sermon.
OVERWHELMED: Getting Past Our Past
Jim Taylor, Sr. Pastor, The Pointe
Everyone loves snapshots, we love to catch those moments and time and hold on to them forever. However, a snapshot never shows the entire picture, or tells the whole story, it only captures an instant, a single moment in time. Unfortunately, when it comes to the snapshots of our lives, we often allow one or two bad snapshots to define our lives. You have to realize that when you are of God, the snapshot is not who you are in HIS eyes. Everyone has a few bad snapshots, but ultimately you have to decide if you will let it overwhelm you or will you overcome it.
I. If you are in Christ you are COMPLETELY forgiven.
- you will still see, feel, and hear reminders of your past, but you don’t have to let it define you (2 Corinthians 5:17)
- your past and FUTURE are forgiven
- being forgiven is not about asking, but about accepting the blood of Jesus, because in Jeremiah 31:34 God says. “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
- the reason it is about accepting and not about asking is that God forgives you whether you ask or not because we are saved by faith and not by works (Eph. 2:8-9), and the requirement of asking to be forgiven would be considered a work (an entire topic for later)
- the act of asking is for US and OUR benefit, not God’s (I John 1:9); it makes us feel good to confess and get things out
II. In Christ, we are chosen and valuable (I Peter 2:9)
- we undervalue ourselves because of our snapshots; sadness and rejection stays with us because we feel unworthy of forgiveness
- He is always drawing us to HIM (Romans)
III. In Christ, I am unconditionally loved
- Jesus loved the worst people of the times (lepers, prostitutes, tax collectors)
- Matthew 1:40- He showed compassion to the lepers by TOUCHING him. He could have simply looked at him and healed him, but instead chose to show him compassion and physically touch him
- God is not afraid of how dirty you are, He wants to wrap his arms around you and give you a hug.
- God loves you because you are HIS (Romans 8:38)
In closing, we may not be who we want to be, but thank God we aren’t who we were. What is true of your past does not have to be what is true of your future.
Hope you enjoyed the recap. Enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday.
Wooden Wednesday: Two Sets of Three
Hey guys, I hope everyone has stayed warm this week. It has been unseasonably cold here in Mississippi, and by unseasonably, I mean extremely cold!! As in temperatures in the teens and snow for two days!! The only plus has to be getting to spend two days at home with my daughter because we have been out of school. It’s been quite a change considering about three weeks ago it was close to 80 degrees!!!!
But I digress. I’m sorry it’s been a week and a half since I’ve posted, but between basketball and the family being sick, it’s been crazy around here. However, during this hiatus I have managed to get some clarity on the direction I wat to take with this blog. We are going to have theme days here at The Change in You. So here are our daily themes:
- Monday Motivation: We are going to try to get your work week started off on the right foot by hitting you with some great insights from various authors, athletes, and motivational speakers. As “The Mouth of Mississippi” Jerry Clower would say, I hope we can get your week off to a “Super, Dyna-whoppin’ Good” start!!
- YouTube Tuesday: Video goodness to make you laugh, cry, tap your feet, and just feel good about yourself.
- Wednesday Wisdom: We are going to drop some mid-week wisdom to get you through the rest of the work week. This week we are looking at more goodness from the Wizard of Westwood, Coach John Wooden.
- Food For Thought Thursday: On Thursdays we are going to give tips on how to feed your body physically, mentally, and socially
- Fitness Friday: Ending your week with some workout ideas for the weekend.
- Scatter Saturday: We can go anywhere on this particular day, so this will be a lot of fun.
- Sermon Sundays: On Sundays I will recap the Sunday sermon from Pastor Jim Taylor at The Pointe Church in Brandon, MS. Jim’s sermons and Biblical teachings are very practical for today’s society.
Ok, so now that you see where we are going with the blog now, it’s time to drop the Wednesday Wooden Wisdom on you. As we talked about earlier, John Wooden’s core foundation was built on the teachings of his father, Joshua Wooden. In addition to the Seven Point Creed we discussed earlier, he received what he called the Two Sets of Threes. They are:
- Never Lie
- Never Cheat
- Never Steal
- Don’t Whine
- Don’t Complain
- Don’t Make Excuses
The great thing about these Sets of Threes is that they are applicable to any and all walks of life. Work, home, or wherever, they are rules we all can live by.
Twitter Talk for Sunday Morning
Hey guys, just want to send you some Twitter goodness this morning before church. Hope these get you in the right mindset before spending the morning with your church family. Don’t worry, even if you don’t goo to church, these are still great for getting you going this morning.
Hope you enjoy. I’ll be back this afternoon with some updates about where I am going with this blog. Have a great day.
Family Ties and Rubber Bands
The other day, I was playing around on Facebook and I saw a picture that my Mom shared on her timeline. It really resonated with me so I thought I would share it with you.
Now if you know my family at all, this sign could be posted in the entry way of every single house on Line Creek Road. I can’t count how many times people in my family have screamed, cussed, and gone without speaking to each other for extended periods of time. However, usually does heal most wounds, and after time it usually only takes one random act of kindness, or a family crisis, to rally the troops back together. it’s like my Mom often says, “We can be mean to each other, but no one else can!” It’s an oxymoron of the the highest level, yet it rings so true.
I have often compared family to a rubber band. It stretches and contorts, and it sometimes looses its shape for a little while, but in the end it pulls itself back together and takes its original shape, and it once again become a single strong unit.
Wooden Wednesday
As a young boy growing up on a small Indiana farm, John Wooden’s family didn’t have a lot of money, but what they did have was the love and wisdom of his father, Joshua Wooden, to lead and guide him through his formative years. Upon his graduation from grammar school, John’s father gave him a two dollar bill and a 3×5 index card. On this card there were seven points on one side and a poem written by Reverend Henry Van Dyke on the other. The seven points and the poem on this index card were the foundation John Wooden built his life upon.
Joshua Wooden’s Seven Point Creed:
1. Be true to yourself.
2. Make each day your masterpiece.
3. Help others.
4. Drink deeply from good books, including the Bible.
5. Make friendship a fine art.
6. Build a shelter against a rainy day.
7. Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day.
Four things a man must learn to do
If he would make his life more true:
To think without confusion clearly,
To love his fellow-man sincerely,
To act from honest motives purely,
To trust in God and Heaven securely.
—Henry Van Dyke
I am declaring Wednesday to be Wooden Wednesday, so in keeping with that theme I will be expanding on one of these principles each week for the next seven weeks. I look forward to this journey, and I hope that you will ride along with me.
I want to leave you with this brief YouTube video of Coach Wooden talking about his Dad’s Seven Point Creed at an awards ceremony. It’s only 6 minutes long, so grab a coke and watch.
Jump on the Train
I get told all the time that I live in “Positive Town” too much. I can’t help it, I am a genuinely happy person. It’s just the way I am, and I’m not ashamed of it, nor do I try to hide it. A positive attitude will help you to make a change as quick as any weight loss plan or self-help video. So today I am going to give you few tips on how to jump on board the “Positive Train!”
Here are some ways to help you work on a positive attitude in your life:
- Reverse the way you think. Take the negative words out of your thoughts. It won’t come easily at first, but by practicing doing this in your mind, every day until it becomes a habit, not only will you think this way, you will actually believe it! (For example, “I’ll never get this finished by the end of the day!” could become, “I will probably get most of this finished by the end of the day.”)
- Do some thing for YOURSELF!Enjoy a long, relaxing bath, pick back up a relaxing hobby that you might have given up, go for a walk without giving yourself a time limit. Simple things are what pleasure is built on.
- Random Acts of Kindness. The simple act of helping others makes us feel good. Volunteer at church, at a senior center or at a homeless shelter. Anywhere there is a need for a show of love.
- Find you some JESUS! Seriously, whether you are religious or not, find your spiritual side. Research has shown that those who have developed their spirituality through associating with other spiritual individuals or having cooperative beliefs, live longer, more satisfying lives. The secret is practising those beliefs, either through organized worship, or simple meditation (openness) in a quiet place.
- Daily Prayer. Studies show that people who spend time in prayer or mediation are happier and more focused throughout the course of the day. Prayer has a way of centering and grounding us and helping us to gain focus as we begin our day.
- As the Beatles and many other philosophers have expounded, “Let It Be, Let it Be”. Or if you’re a Christian, you could say “Let go, and Let God!”
- Find something worth loving. The ability to love and be loved is a most basic human trait. The healing power of God’s love is one of nature’s most powerful medicines.
- Laugh at yourself and find humour in the little. Laughter is a powerful mood elevator. Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, you’d be surprised how good you will feel.
I hope after reading this you have decided to take the first step towards an attitude lifestyle change. Hopefully soon you’ll make up you mind to buy a ticket and join me on the train!
Twitter Talk for Monday
I like to post great Tweets that I read during the week. If you have any suggestions for good people or sites to follow on Twitter, you can follow me @thechangeNyou.
The Change in You 