There is an interesting phenomena that takes place nowadays called living in the future.  You begrudgingly go to work all week because you can hardly wait for the weekend, right?  (TGIF and everybody’s workin’ for the weekend…)  One day, when your ship comes in everything will be okay.  Buy the lotto ticket because when you finally win, man-o-man life will be good.  You know how it goes…  “When I get that new job…”  “When we finally sell this house…”  “When I find that one special person…(my soul-mate created solely to make MY life complete!)” …and so on and so on!  But, did you ever stop to think that your life actually is this moment of time that you are in, right now?  You can’t go back to yesterday to change something (trust me, I’ve prayed for that one a lot 😉  You can’t ever arrive at the future, you can only live this day.  SO, what are you gonna do with this day?  Will you trade it for the illusory promise of a better tomorrow?  (That tomorrow that never comes, because it will always be tomorrow?)  When you pray to God for something (which, by the way, He not only hears but wants to provide for you), is it future tense?  Some folks spend their whole lives praying for some future event that never leaves the future.  Or, will you finally leave the land of self-deception and get into the here and now?  You see, the time to determine how your life will turn out is now.

If you were going on a very long journey, one that was going to take a long time, the most logical thing to do would be to take the first step.  Sure it’s a helluva distance, sure it seems like it is going to take forever, but if you make up your mind to take a step (right now) you are going to be at least one step closer than you were yesterday.  And if you follow me, you are going to get there at some point.  But, here’s where the self-deception kicks in.  Because what you want is in the future, you fail to start the journey.  You keep waiting and waiting and waiting.  “It’s too far man!”  “I just can’t see it happening yet!”  And, at the end of the ride, you haven’t moved forward one inch.  Everyone of us is at some location in this journey of life and I imagine every one of us has some other destination in mind.  So, what in the world are we waiting for?  The secret is to simply start!  Take a step; make a move; get off your “but.”

Lately I have been challenging myself to do some visualizing.  Oh yeah I know it works (intellectually) but when do I do it?  Never!  It is so much easier to dream of some future state that will make my life complete, as long as it remains a dream.  But to actually take the steps to make it happen is a whole different story!   So I broke out my trusty IPad and put together a PowerPoint presentation called “Visualization.”  Then, I put pictures on there of my “future life” so that I could get a clear picture in my mind of what that life looks like.  Then, (and here’s when I departed from the land of self-deception) I made (and am making) myself study it every morning and every night.  I know, I know, you don’t have time for that crap right?  LOL  But somehow you have time to live the same life day after day, peering into the horizon watching for that ship; that one ship that will make everything okay!  I digress…  Now, here’s where it gets interesting.  My house that we have been selling for three years now, is on there with a cleverly photo-shopped picture of a “sold” sign on the banner.  (Future plan-sell house)  After all, when we finally sell this house we will be able to live again…  Haha  Well today we got an offer.  Glory be, an offer!  Do you think there is a connection?  As soon as I decided to make that future goal a present day reality, it became a present day reality.  I’ll say it again, it became a present day reality!  It wasn’t the “magic” of visualizing that made it happen, it was my personal mental shift from the future to right now.  (And imagine how happy God is about it, as He may have tired from that particular prayer!  LOL, just kidding Pops)

So what dreams do you have for the future that you would like to enter the present tense?  Well, get off your “but” and get busy making it happen.  Tomorrow?  No, now!  Get a crystal clear picture of what it looks like and see it and see it and see it.  You aint getting any younger!  That future you earnestly desire is not going to move towards you until you move towards it.  MOVE TOWARDS IT!  (yelling intended…smile)  Even if your grand and glorious journey took three years, on September 29, 2015 you would be living it.  That’s worth it, right?

Now, I should add an important point here.  Don’t think for one moment that the stars will align and all of life will harmonize to help you as soon as you start.  In fact, circumstances and events are going to do their best to talk you out of what you just decided.  (There’s a reason for that called “the adversary” who is never in favor of your personal happiness)  So, do it anyway…  Stay the course and keep moving on your plans.  If you keep moving forward and refute those false appearances, you are going to arrive just as surely as the sun is going to come up tomorrow.  And, as you steadfastly set your mind, you will discover another fantastic reality.   You will start getting to the place where your dream is no longer a dream but instead a reality that no-one can talk you out of.  You will find yourself in places and circumstances that are going to help you get to where you are heading.  Why didn’t it happen before?  You weren’t moving towards it before, that’s why!

So folks, you are now left with an important decision.  Will you continue your futile attempts at staring into the horizon waiting for that ship; that circumstance; that indicator that it’s time to move, or will you put on your big-boy briefs (and your big-girl panties) and take a step?  Will you decide that the time to determine how your life will turn out, is now?

I sure hope so…

There may no longer be a house for sale in Layton!  (woot woot)  Your future starts right now!!!

Love, compassion, and understanding are all the underlying tenets behind every person that ever walked on Earth.  So, have you ever wondered why folks find it so hard to love one another?  There’s a short answer really…because they don’t love themselves.  Oh sure, the world is full of people proclaiming copious amounts of self-love, but the real acid test of whether or not a person really loves themselves is, “do they love other people?”  You can only give what you have and if you can’t share some love, you must not have love for yourself!  That then begs the question, why don’t people love themselves?  Another short answer…because they have been taught not to!   I think if you got inside most folks minds you would find a merciless, criticism machine that specializes in, “what is wrong with me.”  I don’t have to prove that claim to you, do I?  What do you tell yourself?  How do you treat yourself?  Would you be proud of the thoughts you think about yourself if they were broadcasted on the big screen?  Being a fellow human, sharing your experiences on Earth, I would have to say probably not.

In the Bible in 1st Corinthians 13, God tells us what love; His love, looks like.  Love in action is certainly more than just saying, I love you.  (Though that is also very necessary)  So here is a little summary of what that love of God looks like:

1.  Love is very patient (long-suffering).

2.  Love is kind.

3.  Love doesn’t burn for what others have and you don’t have.

4.  Love doesn’t make itself appear better than others.

5.  Love is not puffed up and proud.

6.  Love doesn’t behave out of character (like loving this one and hating that one)

7.  Love isn’t only interested in itself alone.

8.  Love isn’t easily agitated or made angry.

9.  Love doesn’t draw conclusions that are evil.

10.  Love doesn’t rejoice in wrongs received by others but rejoices in the truth.

11.  Love protects and covers things.

12.  Love always believes for good.

13.  Love hopes for an expected outcome.

14.  Love stands strong under pressure.

Love never fails!!!

Okay, I hope you are still with me!  Love is clearly something you do with your mind.  Love is a mind-set that you decide to live in.  You will find in life that your thoughts and your mind-sets and your attitude play a huge part in determining how your life turns out.  So why don’t you love yourself or at least continue to love yourself?  Well, look at the list.  Love is  very patient or long-suffering.  How are you Mommas with your two-year olds?  My guess is very patient.  When they lose it, you don’t!  Why?  Because you love them!  So how about with yourself?  Are you very patient with yourself or do you demand flawless performance in every scenario?  Maybe this old world has talked you into setting some unrealistic expectations for yourself?  Love is very kind and tenderhearted.  Are you kind and tenderhearted with yourself?  Is your mind your friend or your enemy?  It seems like you should always be on your side, since you are the only you, you’ve got!  If you’re not for you, who is?  (You getting the picture?)  Then we go into some things love is not.  You will notice (if you are paying attention) that fear is involved in every negative characteristic.  You envy what others have because you are afraid that you wont have.  You try so hard to make yourself look superior because you feel secretly (and wrongly) inferior and are afraid as hell someone might find out!  And on it goes…

So if you would rather live in this world of prevailing hate and fear with love, why not change how you view yourself?  Stop abusing yourself in the secrecy of your own mind and love yourself like God loves you.  Stop criticizing yourself.  Forgive yourself (even for that one big thing!)  Quit measuring yourself against other people who you really cannot know that much about and accept yourself for the wonderful person that God uniquely made you to be.  Unless of course you have concluded that God has some flaws in his humanoid production line!  Practice loving yourself and you will be hard pressed not to share that love with other people.  God has already graciously solved everything that was ever wrong with you and me forever by the accomplishments of His son, Jesus Christ.  Don’t you see, He knows the crapola that goes through our minds and He solved for us what we could not solve for ourselves.  He did it out of love!  He did it so we could finally love ourselves!  No matter what that angry preacher may have told you, God loves you in spite of yourself.  That’s real love…

So, how can you be a part of the solution and not be a part of the problem?  Love yourself like God does, so you can share His love with someone else.  The world needs love man (and woman) and the world needs you to be the one that gives it.  Don’t wait on the other guy, you be the other guy (and gal)!

If you do this, you will find that all of your wrongs will be made right in a hurry.  You will have what you need when you need it because you will have found the key to life ~ love!

It’s election season folks…share some love!