Shushing Your Conscience to Death! When You Ignore What’s Right, Wrong Prevails

My client told me about her “text” affair last year.  I cautioned her that the only way out of it was to kill the relationship completely.  I could tell she didn’t agree, as she described the scenarios in which it would be safe to maintain connection and contact.  I knew she wanted to be free, but her desire to have her unyielded needs met competed with her desire to respect the vows in her marriage and in his.  She didn’t want to let go, because she didn’t want to go back to being unfulfilled in some key areas of her life.  

I could tell that she’d convinced herself it wasn’t an affair, because nothing physical happened.  In her naïveté and let’s face it…selfishness…she has deluded herself into thinking that it is all “just” words.  But the Word teaches us that words hold life and death.  They are the beginning of a new reality.  They are the predecessors to action.  They change the world.

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A Lesson from My “Phone Friend” : Drop Stereotypes & Branch Out in 2012

For nearly four years, Lina & I spoke on an almost daily basis.  She was a vendor for a company I worked with extensively.   We usually talked about work, but over time our conversations drifted to other topics in life.  Then one day, due to downsizing, Lina was laid off.  But, we still kept in touch via email and texting.  We eventually decided to meet for lunch and needless to say I was excited about putting a face to the voice. 

The morning of our meeting, Lina emailed me a picture so that I would recognize her when we met up.  As I stared at her picture, I couldn’t believe that  was Lina.  She looked nothing like the image I’d painted in my mind.  For years, I’d pictured a petite, energetic woman with brownish-blonde hair in her early 30’s.  But Lina wasn’t what I’d imagined.  Her voice was about 30 years her junior and her hair was a mass of gray.   While she was spry enough, she certainly wasn’t filled with energy and hobbled a little.  

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Exposing the Time Management Myth: You Can’t Manage Time, So Manage Self

Most mornings, I reach for my Smartphone before I even get out of bed.  I am forever curious about the new things my inbox will bring my way.  As a subscriber to several daily devotionals, there is usually some food for thought that helps me get the day started with focus and inspiration.  This morning, I started with a video from John Maxwell.  Today, he explored the word time and the myth of time management.

The video was loaded with thought provoking nuggets, but in a nutshell the take away was—we can’t manage time.  The only thing we can successfully manage is self.  As the New Year approaches and the temptation to make resolutions is creeping up, I needed this thought to help me successfully manage some of the changes I desire to make.

Most of us are overwhelmed and can’t seem to fit what we “must” do into our lives as it is.  So, the thought of adding some “want to dos” is practically laughable.  We struggle under the weight of family, work and church responsibilities.  We’ve erroneously thought that we just need more “time” to get everything done.  So, we schedule our lives down to the very last minute. 

But the truth is we don’t need to know how to manage our “time” better, we need to know how to manage “self” better.

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