Tag Archive for: life

Too much to do?

Are you pushing yourself too hard?
Personally, I’m the kind of person that likes being busy, at least most of the time.
If you are not careful enough though, the side effects of the daily routines can include – physical aches and pains, difficulty sleeping, missing meals, abandoning exercise, headaches, stomach problems, forgetting things, feeling overwhelmed, feeling guilty, isolating yourself, irritability, anxiety and even depression can all kick in.
Have you noticed any new aches and pains recently?
Maybe you should listen to your body more often?
Yes, we all need to kick into a higher gear occasionally to get things done, but we need to put things into perspective, by taking care of ourselves and our relationships.
The way to succeed is not to work long hours, but to work hard in each hour.
And take short breaks – regularly!
Remember – life is short!
It is important to take time every day for yourself and to slow down, to enjoy the beauty you can find all around.
Open your eyes and see.
Perhaps it is time for you to re-connect with your core purpose and watch how your behaviours will shift along the way.
What can you do to slow down today?

A Heroes Journey

Have any of these people touched your heart recently?
Harry Potter, Spiderman, Batman, Superman, Ironman, Wolverine, Black Panther, Hulk, Cinderella, Bambi, Snow White, Luke Skywalker, Simba (Lion King), Maverick, all of the X-Men, Kung Fu Panda, Aladdin, Tarzan, Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan, Ariel (Little Mermaid), Bilbo Baggins, Wall-E and many more….
What do they all have in common?
You may be surprised to learn that every character listed is an orphan or a semi-orphan (separated from at least one parent).
The Orphan Hero is not new in storytelling.
Is it a coincidence?
So, what is the purpose of creating such characters?
May it somehow represent a journey that all of us need to go through?
There are usually different parts to a typical storyline.

The Storyline

Firstly, there is usually some kind of awakening story shaped by adversity of some kind.
Secondly, as the hero’s journey commences, there is a provocation of sorts that stimulates an awakening, frequently with a mentor on hand (usually older).
Thirdly, on their journey, the hero discovers some purpose, or true identity and embraces their own authenticity.
Through triumph and tragedy these movie characters have all played into large chunks of our life’s.
Without their parents, we are drawn into the storyline by the insecurity that is created. Perhaps we even start to imagine how we’d react to such perils in our own life.
Subsequently, the characters are all forced to deal with the challenges of the respective storyline and almost always faced with one or several transformational experiences.
As a coach and mentor, I’ve noticed that there is frequently a guide who plays a special part in the journey.
For example – Gandalf, Yoda, Obi Wan Kenobi, Dumbledore, Alfred, Xavier and many more.
Generally, these characters have a central role in the story and oftentimes eventually disappear.
The Hero’s Journey is in fact a formulaic template used successfully for generations.
Although formulaic, this journey is open to all of us.
Consider the adversities and challenges you have overcome in your own life.
What story are you living?
Do you have a mentor or guide?
What makes a real hero for you?

Choose to Play

“𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲!
“𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡…𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧!? – 𝐍𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞!”
Why me? Perhaps the better question is why not me?
All too frequently as a teenager – that’s where I found myself in the High School Basketball team. I just wanted to play in the game.
I wanted a jersey, I didn’t want to sit on the sidelines – I simply wanted to play!
In my youthfulness and eagerness to play, long hours of practice and effort eventually paid off, and I became a regular starter – playing constantly.
I learned too, that sometimes when you are not playing well, the coach can take you out of the game.
Similarly in life, I want to be where the action is.
Sitting on the sidelines is just not for me.
At home, at work, in the community I need to be involved, I need to play, to make a difference.
As Oliver Wendell Holmes said “It is required of a man that he share the action and the passion of his time at the peril of being judged not to have lived.”
Whatever it is that is most important in your life…
– choose to be engaged
– choose to participate
– choose to practice and expend the effort
– choose to get involved
– choose to make a difference
Decide now to get up off the bench, move from the sidelines and into the field of action – 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚!
What will you choose to do today?

Its time to wake up!

Are you wide awake or sleepwalking through life?
Are you aware & conscious about all that is going on around you?
Are you stuck in a rut?
Some clues…
– You may endlessly scroll through Facebook, Instagram or Tik Tok.
– You lack a clear direction in your life.
– You are often stressed, worried or anxious.
– You frequently complain or moan about other people.
– You can’t seem to find quiet time to even breathe.
Sound familiar?
It is really easy to slip into a very comfortable and rigid routine in your daily life.
We fall into an emotional state of autopilot and disconnect from our real feelings.
Each can bring exactly the same.
Choose to 𝒘𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒖𝒑!
Start today by choosing the life you want to create!
Choose to find some fun today. George Bernard Shaw said…
“𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐥𝐝; 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠.”
Be curious, look around. Enjoy the moment
Put your phone away today – stop scrolling!
Have a real conversation with someone! If you struggle with that then get someone else to hold you accountable.
Start journaling! Record your feelings, recall what makes you happy and capture the conversations you had in the day.
Call or write to someone you haven’t spoken to in a while.
Learn to stop and awaken your five senses of listening, touching, looking, smelling, and tasting.
In slowing down, you will recognise that you have much to learn as you awaken from your slumber.
Its time to wake up!

Understanding

Let me dispel the misunderstanding…
Today I will be attending church in Utrecht (again).
I first attended there over 28 years ago, on Sunday 5th September 1993.
It was my first Sunday in the Netherlands.
I had no knowledge of the language and struggled throughout to understand.
Thankfully Monic was on hand to help my understanding a little.
Consider for a moment the word 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠.
It is defined as – “to know how something works or to know what something means.”
As everyone knows, I am religiously active as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In my efforts to promote understanding, perhaps I can be a bit annoying and even unduly enthusiastic about my faith at times!
I certainly understand how easily that can happen, as the subject of religion can be a little touchy for many people.
Have you ever wondered why I am so anxious to share my views?
Like me, you may worry about the conflicts in the world, the political turmoil, the economic instability, and the pressures of living in a world where illness, or the death of a loved one may have taken their toll on you in all kinds of physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional ways.
I certainly do not understand the complexities of all of the volatility and turmoil in the world.
Through it all however – your family are probably the most important thing in the world for you.
As you look to the future, you may be anxious what it may hold for you, your partner, your children, and your grandchildren.
At times, I am.
But then I stop and remember my why.
My understanding of a much greater plan, which I believe to be immensely important for everyone.
It centres around my belief in Jesus Christ.
He always brings peace and safety.
My faith in Him it is not passive; it is very active.
Like so many others, maybe you are searching for something?
Just as Monic helped me understand Dutch a little all those years ago, our missionaries can help you come to understand a little more about the purpose of life, why you are here, the plan of salvation and even answer that question that troubles so many – is there life after death?
Perhaps it’s time, once and for all to understand these things, to let God prevail – He is no great mystery after all.
I promise – you too can 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅.
#HearHim

The Book of Life

I was asked recently, “𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲?”
Did you know that some of the most important historical records are the diaries and other personal writings of individuals from all different walks of life?
Living in the Netherlands, I am often reminded of one the most significant diaries of our time – that of Anne Frank, the 13-year-old Jewish girl living here, who, at the age of 16, died in a German concentration camp.
Her diary, written whilst she was confined in an Amsterdam apartment house, shares her story of how she and her family went into hiding for two years to avoid Nazi persecution. Since her death, the words from her diary have inspired millions. And because of her diary the world has known all about the terrors of growing up during the Holocaust.
My journaling journey began early when I was a young 12-year-old.
It has been the first thing I’ve done every morning for as long as I can remember.
𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧?
You do not have to write every day, even though this would be good. It could be weekly. It could even be as and when there is something that is memorable or moving or meaningful.
Remembering is an important part of life and journals help us to do that. They also help me to slow down!

𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 – by Zelda Davis Howard

Life is a book made up of days
Each one of us writes one,
It’s opened when we come to earth
And closed when life is done.
No pen but ours ere touches it
In our own way we write,
Whether we fail or succeed
Turns with the page at night.
And there is no erasing it
To add or take away,
The yesterday’s account is closed,
Sealed within white or grey.
The morning gives another sheet
That’s broad and very white,
And oh, how glorious to have
Another chance to write!
No bad is there too small to show
No good that’s ever lost,
All that we do goes into Life’s book
In black and white embossed.
  • Every life is a tale worth telling.
  • Why not begin yours today?

Is there a God?

Frequently I’m asked – “Is there a God, is there a creator?”
In answer to that question, consider this response…
“What are the odds that a tornado spinning through a junkyard would create a Boeing 747?” – Bruce C. Hafen.
In Alma 30:44, Alma states to Korihor “All things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion.”
A study of the sciences, helps us to understand that if the earth were just slightly closer to the sun, then all life on earth would simply be burnt up.
Conversely, if the earth was slightly further from the sun, then all life on earth would freeze!
I choose to believe that a divine power holds things in place through laws that have been irrevocably decreed from long before this earth was created.
I know that no matter what era we live in, we can find peace in the powerful parallels between the scriptures and our own lives.

You….growing older.

It is later than you think.
Remember how short our time is.
It is a characteristic of youth to suppose that life is long and time is in abundance.
Growing older is never easy.
There comes a time in everyone’s life when confronting ourselves with ourselves is mandatory.
“There is an old man (or woman) up there ahead of you that you ought to know.
He looks somewhat like you, walks like you.
He has your nose, your eyes, your chin.
And whether he loves you or hates you, respects you or despises you, whether he is angry or comfortable, whether he is miserable or happy, depends on you.
For 𝒚𝒐𝒖 made him. He is 𝒚𝒐𝒖, grown older.” – Author unknown.
What kind of narrative are you writing for your life?

Lessons that change us

𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐮𝐬 – Brad Wilcox
This is a cracking photo of two young missionaries, returning home exhausted, after another long hard day. This was outside our Stowe Road apartment in Shepherd’s Bush, London – in January 1984. I’d been out only a few weeks in the England London Mission.
I had the best trainer ever in Kelley Gray
Times never to be forgotten.
Those were the days!!
Every day those lessons in the mission field challenged me.
More significantly, they changed me.
Now, as Monic and I lead the Belgium Netherlands Mission, frequently I see great power and wisdom in the phrase “𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒖𝒔.”
For all who have served or are currently serving, I am absolutely certain each of you will know exactly what I mean.
That said, these lessons don’t only take place in the mission field.
What lessons have challenged and changed you?

Deep Roots

Storms blew across Europe on Friday.
Whilst walking through our neighbourhood yesterday, there was plenty evidence of fallen trees.
We passed a few trees that had been uprooted. Their roots seemed quite shallow, without much depth.
For a moment, I wondered if they would have survived the wind and storm, if their roots had been deeper.
Similarly, each of us will face the winds and storms of adversity in our own lives.
As the wind blows, are you prepared to withstand the buffetings that follow?
Seedlings fall to the ground, and dependent upon a number of factors, some may flourish and grow into mighty trees.
Opposition, challenge, and difficulty are part of growth. It takes time, effort, perseverance, set-backs will be inevitable and adaptation certain.

Roots

“But unlike trees, we can choose to deliberately develop the spiritual root structure for our lives. We decide where to set our roots down and how deeply to sink them into the soil. Daily decisions make tiny, almost imperceptible differences in the roots of our faith, the effect of which becomes foundational.” – says L. Whitney Clayton.
In the Book of Mormon, Alma likened the word of God to a seed and spoke of the need to nourish the seed’s growth into a tree:
“And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit.
“But if ye neglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out.” (Alma 32:37-38.)
It is my personal witness, that as we weather the storms of life, we will be strengthened by learning of Jesus Christ.
As we deeply root ourselves in the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ and exercise our faith in Him, He will fortify us against any buffetings from winds and storms that will come.