Focused Thinking

Focused thinking will take you to the next level. No one achieves greatness by becoming a generalist. You don't hone a skill by diluting your attention to its development. The only way to get to the next level is to focus. No matter whether your goal is to increase your level of play, sharpen your business plan, improve your bottom line, develop your subordinates, or solve personal problems, you need to focus.

"The immature mind hops from one thing to another; the mature mind seeks to follow through." - Harry A. Overstreet

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Desiderata

Go placidly amidst the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its shams, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

Failing

When we fail, we often feel a tremendous amount of guilt that can often cripple us. But we learn a very great lesson in grace and trust when God restores us and allows us to rise from our failures. When we rise above them we really understand that it is God who works in us to do good works. It’s a humbling experience, and one that brings a new perspective and a renewed motivation to continue and persevere.

Sonic Boom

Almost like a sonic boom in your spirit, there comes a moment in prayer when you know that God has answered your prayer. In that moment, your frustration and confusion give way to quiet confidence. Your spirit becomes like a sea of glass because you know it's out of your hands and in the almighty hands of God. The natural resistance that was thwarting you turns into supernatural momentum that is propelling you.

Prayer Is the Hub

In the circle of successful living, prayer is the hub that holds the wheel together. Without our contact with God, we are nothing. With it, we are a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor.

Easter Weekend

I grew up in the church, and part of growing up in the church is hearing the same stories over and over. Each year around Easter we’d talk about Jesus’ crucifixion—a dark and brutal story by any standard. But strangely, the crucifixion account never had much punch for me.

After all, we typically read it knowing that with “Friday” comes “Sunday”—that as grim as things seem on Good Friday, the joy of Jesus’ resurrection is just a few days away. It never occurred to me to consider Good Friday as anything but a slight obstacle along the way to the resurrection.

Not long ago, I reread the Gospels with an eye towards putting myself in the place of Jesus’ confused and terrified disciples. At each point in the story, I tried to forget what was going to happen next, instead focusing on what the disciples would have felt, heard, and seen as events unfolded around them. And as I did so, the terrible power of the crucifixion hit me. I found myself with tears in my eyes, reading about Jesus’ death in a way that hadn’t made sense before.

Passion Week begins triumphantly. Jesus rides into the city, everyone pinning their hopes and dreams on him. Steadily the crowds expand and it seems as if Jesus might avoid the terrible events he had hinted at. And then, at the height of it all, Jesus is sold out by Judas and taken away to be falsely accused, cruelly beaten, mocked, and nailed to a cross to die.

It’s not a pleasant image.

But it is the image we are given on Good Friday. It’s demoralizing, distasteful. A mother’s worst nightmare, to see her son falsely accused and punished in the worst way for it.

Take a moment to put yourself in the place of the disciples. Try to imagine the pain of not knowing the end of the story. How does doing so change your perspective on the Easter story as a whole?

The full story of Good Friday is found in Matthew 26-27. Jesus’ final moments on the cross are recorded in Matthew 27:38-50:

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.