Goals

Today I thought I would write about goals, since the new year is approaching fast. This time of year people start thinking of things they want to do the next year, and usually end up not doing them. This of course begs the question of why we set goals at all. I believe that setting goals is definitely a good thing, if it is done right. People set goals like "lose weight", "work out", "quit smoking", or something of the like. We call these "new year resolutions", which means a determination to do something in the new year. Setting these resolutions is great, but we don't follow them. Why not? I believe we don't go through on our resolutions because we don't set the right goals. We say "lose weight", but we don't say how we are going to lose weight. We set goals without a plan to achieve them. Without that plan, our goals are too vague, so we generally don't follow through on them. When we set goals, they should be as specific as we can make it, so it is easiest to achieve. If you want to work out the new year, set an exercise plan giving specific days of the week in which you will do different exercises. It sounds like a lot of work, but if you do it I guarantee you will find exercising is a lot easier after you plan it out. I once decided I wanted to work out, but I never actually did until I planned out my exercises. If you want to set goals this year, make it specific and detailed. Another problem we have with goals is that we don't set goals we want to achieve. As you may have realized, I talk about what we want a lot. This is because it is so critical to how we live our life. If you really want to do something, you have to put effort into it. The more you want something, the more you will sacrifice for it. When you set goals, the same principle applies. If you really want to finish a goal, you will put more effort into it. The tricky part is finding out what goals you really want to accomplish. One good way to find out what goals you want to achieve is to look at your purpose, and set goals related to it. I cannot tell you what your purpose is, nor can anyone else. You have to find it, and once you do, your life will begin to have a perspective you didn't have before. Once you find your purpose, you will be able to set goals in accordance with it. I am not going to lie, this is much easier said than done. But once you do find out your purpose, your life will be a lot more directed and meaningful. Lastly, don't make your life about accomplishing goals. Goals are a good way to do things in life, but don't make them your entire life. Set goals, but don't freak out if you don't accomplish them. Your life is not about setting goals and reaching them. So what is your life about?
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Giving

Christmas time is coming so I thought I would talk about giving. I always hear around this time of year that giving is better than receiving, or something along those lines. Why? I thought about why giving is better than receiving. When I receive gifts, I feel happy and special. I'm getting something that I want, or even need. Receiving seems like a good thing, because you get something you don't have to pay for. Giving doesn't seem as good as receiving, and definitely not better. So I wondered why we tell people that giving is better. Is it because we want them to give us stuff? Maybe, but that's not what I think is the reason. Obviously there are many good reasons to receive, as I mentioned before. But what is so great about giving? I think giving is a way to show our appreciation for what we have. If you have even considered giving something to somebody, you probably have the means to buy that something. Be thankful for having those means. Not everybody gets the chance to have the money that you might have, so be thankful. Appreciate what you have, and give. How does giving show appreciation? If you give something to someone, you probably love them, or at least like them. You can show that by giving them something. A gift is a way to express how you feel about someone. When a man wants to get married, he gives a ring to his fiancee, or a gift, to show his love for her. Giving is a way to show someone you appreciate them. I think it goes deeper than even that though. If you constantly receive and never give, you become very selfish and spoiled. You become attached to getting things, and then get greedy. These of course are qualities nobody likes in others. People who constantly receive only think of themselves and what they can get from others. They think by receiving their life will get better, but in reality it won't. When you give you create qualities in yourself that will benefit your life. People who give realize that what they have is enough and giving to others is just a way to express their thankfulness. People who give help others who might not be as fortunate as they are. People who give can create happiness in other people who they give to. People who give realize that perhaps the world is about more than just them-self. People who give realize that their purpose in life is not to have everyone give to them, but is something more than just receiving. This holiday season I encourage that we give to others as a way to be thankful for what we have.
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Optimism

So recently I've been thinking about optimism. Optimism is defined as the tendency to expect favorable outcomes in situations, or a tendency to believe that the world is good. Many people agree that optimism is good, and that you should be optimistic rather than pessimistic. I wondered why this is so. I agree that optimism is a good thing, but I didn't really know why. People generally don't like hanging around pessimistic people, for obvious reasons. They tend to discourage people and create a bad environment. Optimistic people encourage others and create an overall positive environment. Everyone needs encouragement, so might as well give it to them. But I really struggle to understand why being optimistic is considered good. I believe that optimism is good because it gives you a better outlook on life. Which is quite obvious. The reason I think optimism is good to have is because it helps get things done. If you constantly believe that you will be able to do well in your circumstances, you will. I once read a quote by Theodore Roosevelt that says "believe you can and you're halfway there." If you think nothing will go right and everything will turn out unfavorably, there's a better chance they will. This is caused mainly by how your attitude affects you. If you think pessimistically, you don't make an effort to change the situation. If you think optimistically, you do put that effort. People make the argument that if you place high standards, you will never reach them; so why not place low standards? If you have low standards and expectations, you will achieve them easier than high expectations. However true this may be, I think I am happier when I fail at something that I put effort into than when I succeed at something I put no effort into. When I think optimistically, I enjoy life more, because I put more effort into what I believe. You will put effort into what you believe. If you believe you can become a basketball player, you will practice basketball. When you think positively, you will achieve more of what you want in life. You can't achieve as much if you think negatively. Optimism is the best attitude we can have when we approach different situations in life. I encourage you to think optimistically and believe that you can achieve what you want.
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Success

I started thinking about success. Success is a very hard word to define. Success in the dictionary means the favorable termination of attempts. It is also defined as the attainment of wealth, position, or honors. I don't like these definitions; as a matter of fact I don't really like the word success. The way we use the word is so wrong to me. Sometimes the word is used right, say in a football game, "that play was a success". Fine, that works. But the way we use it in talking about wealth or position is just so negative. Interesting concept, success being a bad word. I think the word success is mostly used to put others down. "If you don't study, you cannot be successful", "Bill Gates is successful because he makes money". How much money do you need to make to be "successful"? Nobody knows. Some would say enough to make you happy and well off. What if you can be happy and well off without a lot of money? Is that success? Why not? Do you have to make money to be successful? Most people say yes. That could be part of it, but I don't think you have to make money to be successful. I think people think you need money to be successful because what they are looking for is happiness. They think that getting money will make you happy. But what they don't realize is that they are not looking for money; they are looking for happiness. Most of the time people are not looking for money, but for something that drives that want for money. I think that drive is usually happiness or is related to it, which is fine. What people want reveals what their purpose is (see post on purpose). I don't think you need to make a lot of money to be successful. So how is success reached? I think the way to be successful you have to find what you want in life, not what you think you want, and work for it. To be successful you have to figure out what drives your life, what your purpose is, and work for it. You can have a purpose and never work for it, and that's why some people aren't successful. It's not that they don't want to do something, it's just that they don't work for what they want. You can also work for something and have no purpose, which is why others aren't successful. They work for what they think they want, but not what they really want. How do you find what you really want? Look at the things you want, and try to find out why you want them. Whatever that 'why' is, is probably what you really want. I think that success is different than what people think it is. So how do you live a successful life? Honestly I don't know. What I do know is that we need to find out what our purpose is, and keep on working for it. We have to keep working for our purpose, and then we will have success.
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Support

So after posting about opposition I started thinking about support. I mentioned that we need to ignore people who oppose what we do and that only try to drag us down. I think we should take it a step further, and take people like that out of our life. If you let yourself be surrounded by negative people, you will begin to feel less and less positive about yourself. We need to surround ourselves with people who will support us, and people who will encourage us. If you want to develop good character, make friends with people who already have it. If you have trouble in one aspect in your life, make friends who can help you with it. If you have trouble lying, make friends with people that have integrity. As much as I hate to believe it, and I know we all do, you end up becoming who you surround yourself with. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says that "Bad company corrupts good character." If you are constantly around bad people, you will start to develop the bad qualities they have. I sometimes believe that I can still be good even while I am with bad company. It doesn't work like that. When I am with bad company, I start thinking and acting like those people. The people you are around will shape you, no matter how strong you think you are. I've experienced it in my own life. When I hung around people that constantly cursed and criticized everything, I realized I started thinking like them. I didn't curse, but I started to think very negatively about things. I had to watch what I said, and still do, because they influenced the way I thought about things. I had to struggle to not say curse words, because they had said them so much it stuck with me. I find that when I spend time with positive people who have qualities that I want to have, I am a lot more comfortable and I start thinking positively. You need to make friends with people that will lift you up, not people that will drag you down. Surround yourself with people who respect you and encourage you. Make friends with people who actually want to be your friend, and who care about you. You don't want to be around someone who will leave you when you are going through bad times. You need people who will stick with you even when times are bad for you. You need people who will stick with you when everyone else falls away. That's a true friend. As you surround yourself with these kind of people, you will start to realize that you start becoming like them. You will start to have qualities that you want that they have. That's how you become successful. People who support you and stick by you will make you feel better about life and help you become who you want to be. We need to find people who will support us and not oppose us.
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Opposition

I began thinking about what hinders us from doing what we want to do in life. Of course there are a ton of "reasons" that we have, but mostly they are excuses. We say we want to do something great with our life, but we make too many excuses. 'I don't have time', 'I don't have the energy', 'I can't do it', 'it's too risky', 'what if I fail' and on and on and on. If we really wanted to do something, why do let these thoughts come to mind? If you really want to do something, you have to really want to do it. Obviously. Once you come to the mindset that you really want to do something, just do it. If you want to learn how to play an instrument, pick it up and start learning. If you want to make videos, pick up a camera and start recording. Stop making excuses. I also realized that another reason we are so hesitant to do things is we are afraid of what other people will think. We think that if we start making videos or something, people will say that we are not good at it. But the people that tell us we aren't good at something are mostly people that aren't good at it themselves. Why let it bother you? If they have something constructive to say, use it to get better at what you're doing. If they have empty criticism, ignore them. What they think of what you do will not affect your success. What they think is absolutely meaningless. If you know you really want to do something, don't let other people drag you down. The people that I'm describing are known as haters. Once you start becoming successful at something, you will have haters. No matter what you do you will have people who won't appreciate what you do and who constantly will criticize you. Don't let it bother you. Their opinions are wrong and are guided by jealously. Also, don't be a hater yourself. All haters do is try to criticize others and pull them down. They will see someone doing well and it bothers them. A successful person doesn't think like that; they see someone doing well and they get inspired. Be that kind of person with that kind of mindset. Take inspiration from people who are successful and don't criticize them. People have enough opposition as it is anyway. You will have opposition in your life, no matter what you do. Don't let it affect your life. Do what you really want to do, and keep going after it. Work for what you want, because it won't come easy. Life won't hand you what you want, you have to fight for it. You have to put effort in order to get what you want and become what you want to be in life. Life is too short to spend listening to haters and be affected by opposition. Life is too short to spend being a hater. Use your life to do what you really want to do and to become what you want to become.
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Thanksgiving

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
-1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Sorry I'm posting this so close to the last post, I try not to post too often but I think this is a good topic to discuss. So Thanksgiving is today, and it got me thinking about what that means. Thanksgiving is comprised of two words; thanks and giving. If you flip the order, you get "giving thanks". Thanksgiving is a time for us to give thanks for the things we have. People always look at the things that they don't have, but this is a time where we can be thankful for the things we do have. Sometimes we focus way too much on the things that we don't have, when we actually have a lot. If you look at your life and what you have, you find that you have more than you first thought, especially compared to other people in the world. The fact that you have a computer and internet to be reading this is a pretty good indication that you are pretty well off. If you remember back to my previous posts, you may remember me saying that material things are meaningless. Right now it may sound as if I am contradicting myself, but I'm trying not too. Things eventually will fade away, so you might as well be thankful that you have them now. Material things can be taken away in a heartbeat, so it might be worthwhile appreciating things while you still have them. Also, Thanksgiving is not a time for getting more material things, but a time to give thanks for what you have. Be thankful for what you have. Thanksgiving goes beyond just material things, but other things you have in your life that you might not recognize. If you have someone special in your life, be thankful for that person. If you are healthy, be thankful for that. If you have a loving family, be thankful. If you have a job, be thankful. If you are going to a school, be thankful. Give thanks for the person that you are. Give thanks for the people in your life, and the relationships that you have. I am convinced that no matter your situation, there is something you can be thankful for, whether material things or not. Take some time today (and everyday) and just begin to give thanks for what you have in your life.
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Unity

"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ."
- 1 Corinthians 12:12
I recently attended a church rally, where the speaker talked about unity. This made me start thinking about why it seems so hard for people to be united. In the United States, we have this idea that "united we stand, divided we fall". I agree with this quote and believe that there is power in people who are united. However, even though we believe this, we still are not very united. People still put each other down, and people still don't work together. People always try to find differences and try to separate others, rather than find similarities and come together. In groups, people are always excluded, because they aren't "good" enough, or because they believe in something else, or because they are different in some way. Why do we do that? Why do we always try to separate others because they are different than us? We all seem to believe that unity is good, but we don't live out that belief. In the book of Corinthians, Paul uses a body as a metaphor for the church. The body is made of many parts, but the parts all make up one body. The key thing here is that there is one body, not many bodies. The parts of the body were made to work together, not against each other. If the parts were not working together, the body would not be as efficient as it is meant to be. This is how we are supposed to be. We cannot work against each other, or else we will not be able to do achieve as much as we could if we worked together. Paul continues and says that if one part suffers, the entire body suffers with it; if one part is honored, the entire body rejoices with it. If we exclude one part of the body, thinking it is not useful, we will suffer. A part of the body cannot ignore another just because it is different. Similarly, we cannot exclude people just because they are different than us. Different parts of the body have different functions, but they all work together to create something that would and could not be there before. Walking is not achieved by one part of the body; it is achieved by the parts working together. So why is unity so hard to attain? I think it is because we expect people to change to what we want them to be. However, we have to learn to accept people for who they are. We cannot expect people to become something they are not, we have to realize that they have a different function within the "body". Lastly, to become united, there has to be a common purpose. It is near impossible to become united when people have different purposes. There has to be a common purpose in order for people to work together. "United we stand, divided we fall."
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Righteousness

I was preparing stuff for a discussion I have to lead at one of my after school clubs, TLC, and I started thinking about righteousness. Righteousness is defined in the dictionary by the state of being right in a moral sense. I don't really like this definition, so I redefined it as being right with God. In the book of Philippians 3, Paul describes his previous life. He calls himself a Pharisee, or one who follows the religious law. He was found blameless when it came to following the law. However, later in the book he says that it was all a loss. I wondered why Paul thought that following the law was a loss, because the law is a very important part of righteousness, especially in his time. I heard a sermon on the radio that described this concept in a very good way. The speaker said that the law is necessary because it exposes wrong in our lives, which is true. Obeying the law seems a good way to "fix" our sin problem, but actually it is not. The problem with the law is that the whole concept of it is focus on human effort. The law is a way for people to create their own righteousness, which they cannot. Following the law will not make us righteous, because following the law is based on our works which cannot make us right with God. The law misses the whole point of what I am going to talk about next, grace. The key to becoming righteous is not to follow the law, but to have faith in Christ and his death and resurrection. Only by faith in Christ can we achieve righteousness, because faith is not based on our effort, but rather on grace. The grace of God gave us the chance to have a relationship with God through Jesus, and through this relationship we can become right with God. We cannot find righteousness in ourselves, but only in Christ Jesus. I want to conclude with this analogy. Imagine driving in an unfamiliar area, trying to reach a destination. You see a man walking to you, so you ask him for directions. He tells you how to get there, but it is very complicated. This is like the law. The law is a set of "directions" for how to reach a destination, with you driving your life. Back to the analogy; imagine instead of the man giving you directions, he offers to drive you to your destination. This is no problem for the man, because he knows the destination you need to get to, and how you will get there. This is like faith in Christ. He knows where you need to go, and how you will get there. Also, Christ is "driving" your life, rather than yourself. This is the difference between the law and faith. Stop trying to direct your life, let God get you to where He knows you need to go.
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Who controls your life?

I started thinking about control. I realize more and more that I want to control my life as much as I can. But the more I try to control my life, the more I start to realize that I can't control it. When I try to do things that will make my life go a certain way, I realize that I can't control my destiny. I can't control the way my life ends, or the way my life will be. Of course I can control some things, like what I do with my time and money, but I can't control how my life will end. I can't control what others do to me, what happens in my life. People try to make their life go exactly as they want it, but in the end there are some things you just can't control. I'm starting to learn that. I want things in my life to be under my control, but that's impossible. I can't control how my life is going to turn out. I can affect how my life is, but I can't control it all. So why talk about this? Isn't it kind of depressing? Well, yes I know it is. But this brings up a great question which I thought about. What do we do knowing this? First of all, we have to recognize that we cannot control our life. This is a scary thought, but it's true is it not? Once you recognize that, you're life can become a little easier. You aren't trying to constantly control what happens in your life. People who are "control freaks" have pretty stressful lives. You don't want that. I know that I don't want that. So know that we know this, now what? Give control of your life to God. Give your trust to God. Realize that you are not in control, but God is. God is a sovereign god, and He does have total control of your life. Knowing that God is in control of your life is very difficult, because God cannot be seen. However, trusting in God with your life is a much better solution that trying to control your life. God is the only one that can direct your life in a good way. He has plans for you that will make your life so much better if you just trust Him. Don't try to take control of your life. Give control of your life to God. Trust in Him, and He will bless you more than you can imagine.
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Are you who you wanna be?

I recently heard the song titled "this is your life" by Switchfoot. The song really made me think about what it is people want to become. Ask anyone what they want to be, and they almost always answer by saying what career they want. Is that really what you want to be? A doctor? An engineer? An accountant? Why do we want to become these things? I think that I want to be something greater than just a man with a job. This ties back to purpose (which I know I always talk about). How will a job help you achieve your purpose? If it does, great. But I don't want that to be my end goal. I want to become something greater than that. I'm sure most of us do as well. People always want to be someone great, which is why great people inspire people. If you want to become something other than you are, why are you not changing your life? Nothing can stop you from becoming what you want, except yourself. Others cannot stop you. They distract you, but it is only you who stops yourself from becoming something new. Try new things. Explore. Dare to believe. All these cliches are important to becoming someone great. You cannot change without changing your thinking and your actions. We are supposed to be more than just people that make money, eat and die. Become something more. Don't settle for less than you can be.
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Is Everything Meaningless?

"'Meaningless! Meaningless!' Says the teacher. 'Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.'"
-Ecclesiastes 1:2
I was thinking about my last post about desire and purpose. I then wondered why we attach ourselves to things that don't really matter. We try to get as much as we can, but in the end they won't help us in any way. We follow this formula that everyone thinks is the key to success; study hard, go to college, get a job, get money and be happy. I realized that we don't really need money to be happy. Money will not last after we die, so there is no reason to get as much as we can. We don't need to buy a bunch of stuff that we don't need, because it won't last. When we die, nothing we save up in life will matter to us anymore. Why do we think we need things that don't last? We think these things bring us fulfillment. We think rich people are happier in life than poor people are. When I think about it, whether we are rich or poor, all will die. Whether you make 20 dollars or 20 million, when you die, it's all meaningless. What does a rich man have over a poor man? What does a wise man have over an unwise man? Nothing. It's all meaningless. Even worse is the man who has no one close to him. A man with no friends lives a truly meaningless life. He tries to get stuff, like the rest of us, but it is only for himself. How fruitless is that? A man who only works for himself really is living a crappy life. He dies, and nothing he does matters. No one cares about him, because he had no one close to him. So of course the question remains; what does matter in life? Does anything matter? I think so. For anything to have meaning, there has to be purpose. You have to look forward to something, have somewhere you want to go in life. Colossians 3:2 reads: "Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things." In other words, don't focus on things that you can have on earth, but on something else. If you're Christian, focus on heavenly things. Set your mind on things of God, not on things of man. If you're not Christian, don't focus on getting material things, focus on getting more lasting things; relationships, friends, something. Don't constantly think about material things, but what you want to do with your life. A life focused on material things and focused on yourself is truly meaningless. I still do not fully know what is meaningful in life, but I know it is not about getting material things. Stop chasing after these things. They don't matter. It's meaningless.
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Desire and Purpose

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."
-Philippians 3:10-11 
I started to think a lot about people's desires and wants. People all want different things, whether it be a car or money or an Ipad. Why do people want these things? They have different reasons for wanting certain things, such as to achieve some sort of happiness or to gain satisfaction. This is what purpose is. Purpose is the driving force in your life. Purpose is a direction, not a goal. It is not meant to be attained, but to be worked for. You can head east, but you can never reach east. But the more east you go, the further you will have gone to reaching your destination. Goals are landmarks that you use to head east, but they are not your destination. If you look at what you want, you may see that you have a reason for wanting these things. Maybe you want to have fun, or have satisfaction. That's a purpose that you have. The things you want are just ways that you try to achieve your purpose. I realize that no matter how much stuff we have, we never seem to have enough. That's because material things are not our purpose. Actually, a purpose is not attainable. If it was, it would not be too useful. Purpose gives you a reason to live, something to look forward to. My favorite quote is "he who has a 'why' to live can bear with almost any 'how'." This quote says that having purpose makes everything more meaningful. If achieving happiness is your purpose, things you do are to make you happier. Everything has a new meaning. You cannot reach happiness, but you can strive toward it. The more unobtainable your desires are, the more you have to sacrifice to achieve them. The bigger your purpose, the more you have to work on it. What's your purpose? Happiness? Satisfaction? To become a better person? To change the world? Figure it out, and work for it. Realize that you cannot achieve it, but you know that it is there for your good.
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