LifeWalking has been instrumental in quality decision-making in my life. There have been several "big" decisions that I have had to make in recent years and by using LifeWalking to try on the decisions that I have been making, I have been able to make many quality decisions that I'm not sure I could have come to without the element of LifeWalking.
A little over a year ago, I was struggling to find my life message. I wasn't quite sure how God wanted to use me. I decided to LifeWalk that decision with a close friend and the results were incredible. As we both processed ways that I could better hear from God, we came up with some simple "assignments" that I could do in order to better understand what direction I needed to take. I did some journaling, wrote a few articles, conceptualized some speeches and essentially took up the mantle of LifeWalking over the course of our ten week journey. By the end of ten weeks, I had tried on the decision of making LifeWalking my life message and I was certain that it was the direction that God wanted me to take. I was then able to move forward with confidence that I was doing the right thing. It was the ability to process this decision with a good friend who was supporting me in prayer and honestly giving me feedback that allowed me to move forward confidently with my life message once our journey was completed.
The next step was to discover what direction I should take with this message. LifeWalking had worked so well in the past so I tried it again. I began a new journey with another friend. This time I knew that my message was LifeWalking but I didn't know where I should go in order to share that message. I decided to try on the decision of starting my own ministry as a way to share this message with the world. I wasn't sure if I had what it would take to have my own ministry, I wasn't sure what it should look like and I didn't know how to fit it into my busy life. Again, I processed with my LifeWalking partner and we devised some assignments that I could do to "try on" the idea of this ministry. I worked on conceptual ideas, set goals, made a work schedule, and presented my ministry idea to several people in order to get feedback. At the end of 10 weeks, I felt confident that I could start this ministry with the backing of friends, family, supporters, and most importantly God.
These are a few examples of times when trying has resulting in ultimately doing the thing that I was trying, I have also tried many things that didn't stick. For a time I tried to take up knitting (not my thing), I tried to exercise early in the morning before my son woke up (it didn't work for me because I was just too tired at the end of the day), I tried on the idea of going back to work but decided that it just wasn't the right time for me.
Allowing LifeWalking to take an active role in your life decisions by processing them though trials can help you to come to much better decisions for your life with much less pain and in a much shorter time. Give LifeWalking a try, give your decisions a try, just try, you never know what will come of it.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
You're Not Gonna Know Until You Try It
Have you ever done any online shopping? You see that shirt, pants, or dress that is just so cute you've got to have it so you buy it knowing that if you really need to you can return it (but you are sure you won't need to return it because you are sure that you'll love it). Then the day that you have been waiting for arrives and you open the box and pull out the item that you have dreaming about for 5-7 business days and you can't wait to put it on. You run to your bedroom and after putting it on you discover that nothing about that item is the way you thought it would be; the size is wrong, the color is different, the fabric is terrible, and even the style isn't what it appeared to be online. You put it back in the box, affix the return label, and vow never to buy clothes without trying them on first.
When it comes to fashion we have all learned the hard way that nothing is as it seems. Your size isn't always your size, things do look different on the hanger and some styles and colors simply aren't flattering to you. So why then do we constantly "buy" things before we "try them on" in the areas that really matter in life? When it comes to our careers, parenting styles, relationship styles, goals, dreams, and passions, we often buy them hook line and sinker before we have any clue what we are actually getting into. Don't you think that you would be more successful in all of these areas if you did a little more "trying" before you actually bought?
Take your career for example. Many of us go to school assuming that we will like a particular career so we take an appropriate line of study in order to achieve the necessary licenses, degrees, credentials, and so forth believing that we will have to wait to actually be working in that field before we will know if it is a good fit. While it is true that you can't be totally sure until you are actually doing the job, there are many things that you can do to "try" on a career before you waste weeks, months, or even years, not to mention thousands of dollars, barking up the wrong tree. You can research online, meet with someone who is already in that field, do an internship, etc.
Now it may seem easier to imagine trying on a career than a parenting or relationship style but many of the same rules apply. Many of us pick up self help books about these subjects and figure the only way to test them is to immediately put them into practice and deal with the pros and cons later. You can be much more proactive than that; you can look online for testimonials, you can meet with people who have tried a similar style, you can consult a counselor or clergy person and ask for advice, and so on. You really should be testing the waters for the way that you will relate to your children, spouse, and other important people in your life in an effort to discover methods that will work best for you and those in your life rather than grabbing the latest best seller and hoping it works.
These are just a few examples of areas in your life that you can apply this principle to you but the list really is endless. Essentially any area in your life in which you are trying to make a decision, enact a change, or improve, can be applied to this technique.
For me this concept was always a good one but I really struggled when it came to the follow-through. I knew what I needed to do, I just didn't always have the ability to make it happen on my own. I needed others to brainstorm with me, bounce ideas off of, give me the brutal truth even when I wasn't willing to see it for myself, and encourage me to see it through to completion. This is where LifeWalking can come into play and be an invaluable tool. You can walk with someone through any of these issues or decisions and that person can help to guide you down the right path.
More on that next time.
When it comes to fashion we have all learned the hard way that nothing is as it seems. Your size isn't always your size, things do look different on the hanger and some styles and colors simply aren't flattering to you. So why then do we constantly "buy" things before we "try them on" in the areas that really matter in life? When it comes to our careers, parenting styles, relationship styles, goals, dreams, and passions, we often buy them hook line and sinker before we have any clue what we are actually getting into. Don't you think that you would be more successful in all of these areas if you did a little more "trying" before you actually bought?
Take your career for example. Many of us go to school assuming that we will like a particular career so we take an appropriate line of study in order to achieve the necessary licenses, degrees, credentials, and so forth believing that we will have to wait to actually be working in that field before we will know if it is a good fit. While it is true that you can't be totally sure until you are actually doing the job, there are many things that you can do to "try" on a career before you waste weeks, months, or even years, not to mention thousands of dollars, barking up the wrong tree. You can research online, meet with someone who is already in that field, do an internship, etc.
Now it may seem easier to imagine trying on a career than a parenting or relationship style but many of the same rules apply. Many of us pick up self help books about these subjects and figure the only way to test them is to immediately put them into practice and deal with the pros and cons later. You can be much more proactive than that; you can look online for testimonials, you can meet with people who have tried a similar style, you can consult a counselor or clergy person and ask for advice, and so on. You really should be testing the waters for the way that you will relate to your children, spouse, and other important people in your life in an effort to discover methods that will work best for you and those in your life rather than grabbing the latest best seller and hoping it works.
These are just a few examples of areas in your life that you can apply this principle to you but the list really is endless. Essentially any area in your life in which you are trying to make a decision, enact a change, or improve, can be applied to this technique.
For me this concept was always a good one but I really struggled when it came to the follow-through. I knew what I needed to do, I just didn't always have the ability to make it happen on my own. I needed others to brainstorm with me, bounce ideas off of, give me the brutal truth even when I wasn't willing to see it for myself, and encourage me to see it through to completion. This is where LifeWalking can come into play and be an invaluable tool. You can walk with someone through any of these issues or decisions and that person can help to guide you down the right path.
More on that next time.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Lean on Me
Last week was a really difficult week for me. I have a daughter who is 19 months and a son who is 4. That can be very trying at times (as I am sure all of you moms know). I know I am not unique and there are millions of other women in the world who are experiencing or have experienced similar difficulties when confronted with the day to day chores and challenges of raising two young children and I know that many have experienced much worse but that doesn't change the fact that there are days when I just don't feel I have the strength to make it through. I know that you have probably felt the same in your life too. Maybe you don't have children but you have a job that is really difficult to do most days or maybe you have a relationship that is hard to manage right now. Whatever it is, we all face challenges in our day to day lives that make it quite difficult to muster the strength to go on at times.
As I was in the middle of it last week, I found myself in tears struggling to move forward with my day but I knew that for myself and for my kids, I had to pull it together. At that time I just began put out the calls; I called my sister and I called friends. Some offered moral support, others gave some great advice, and one friend went out of her way to meet me after a long hard day at work. It made all the difference in the world to know that there were people out there that cared about me enough to let me lean on them in a difficult time.
I don't know about you but I am the kind of person that wants to do everything on my own. I don't often ask for help and I usually don't think that I need it but it is the difficult times like those I faced last week that force me to reach out and it is in those times that I realize that not only am I blessed with people who are willing to lend support, we are both better for having supported one another. We all want to know that we are needed in some way and it is those times when friends or family need us that allow us to shine. It gives us a sense of purpose and allows us to feel like we can make a difference in the world.
This week I just want to encourage you, if you are in a time of weakness, reach out and lean on those around you, you will probably be amazed at the outpouring of support that you receive. If you are called upon by someone that you know and love, give your support willingly, wholeheartedly, and without strings attached. In the end you will both be better for having lived your lives with each other. It is getting through the challenges of life with one another that makes our relationships the deep, powerful kind of relationships that we all need and desire.
As I was in the middle of it last week, I found myself in tears struggling to move forward with my day but I knew that for myself and for my kids, I had to pull it together. At that time I just began put out the calls; I called my sister and I called friends. Some offered moral support, others gave some great advice, and one friend went out of her way to meet me after a long hard day at work. It made all the difference in the world to know that there were people out there that cared about me enough to let me lean on them in a difficult time.
I don't know about you but I am the kind of person that wants to do everything on my own. I don't often ask for help and I usually don't think that I need it but it is the difficult times like those I faced last week that force me to reach out and it is in those times that I realize that not only am I blessed with people who are willing to lend support, we are both better for having supported one another. We all want to know that we are needed in some way and it is those times when friends or family need us that allow us to shine. It gives us a sense of purpose and allows us to feel like we can make a difference in the world.
This week I just want to encourage you, if you are in a time of weakness, reach out and lean on those around you, you will probably be amazed at the outpouring of support that you receive. If you are called upon by someone that you know and love, give your support willingly, wholeheartedly, and without strings attached. In the end you will both be better for having lived your lives with each other. It is getting through the challenges of life with one another that makes our relationships the deep, powerful kind of relationships that we all need and desire.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Be Intentional
I was driving home with my family a couple of weeks ago when my husband and I began a conversation about the approach that we were taking when it came to raising our children. In the end we decided that above all we wanted to be intentional about the decisions that we were making regarding our children. My response to him was, "they are our kids, why wouldn't we be intentional about the way we raise them?"
When you are thinking about making a life change it is important to remember that intentionality is one of the key elements of LifeWalking. Just as I am intentional about my kids, you need to be intentional about your life. You only have one life and you only get one pass at it, why wouldn't you want to be intentional about the way that you are living your life?
There are many ways to be intentional. The first step is to be aware. You can be aware of what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what else you could be doing to improve any aspect of your life: parenting, work, relationships, spirituality, and everything in between. Just begin to be aware of the things that you are doing in your life and take note of the things that just aren't working for you. Once you recognize those areas that need a little tweaking, pick someone and start LifeWalking. You don't have to have all the answers today, just start doing things differently, enact some type of change and see how that works for you. If it works, great keep doing it and if it doesn't, you can try again until something pans out.
It really is about purposing to do something different with your life. You can have the kind of life that you really want, you just have to go out there and make it happen.
It is your one and only life so don't waste it...BE INTENTIONAL!
When you are thinking about making a life change it is important to remember that intentionality is one of the key elements of LifeWalking. Just as I am intentional about my kids, you need to be intentional about your life. You only have one life and you only get one pass at it, why wouldn't you want to be intentional about the way that you are living your life?
There are many ways to be intentional. The first step is to be aware. You can be aware of what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what else you could be doing to improve any aspect of your life: parenting, work, relationships, spirituality, and everything in between. Just begin to be aware of the things that you are doing in your life and take note of the things that just aren't working for you. Once you recognize those areas that need a little tweaking, pick someone and start LifeWalking. You don't have to have all the answers today, just start doing things differently, enact some type of change and see how that works for you. If it works, great keep doing it and if it doesn't, you can try again until something pans out.
It really is about purposing to do something different with your life. You can have the kind of life that you really want, you just have to go out there and make it happen.
It is your one and only life so don't waste it...BE INTENTIONAL!
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