More on Becoming....

What You Get by Achieving your Goals is Not as Important as WHAT YOU BECOME by Achieving Your Goals # 2

I woke this morning with these thoughts going through my head. (Please note here that as a follower of Jesus my faith and spirituality is very much based in who He is and His teachings. I do not apologise for this. Neither do I wish to offend others who believe differently)

My ponderings….. As I shared yesterday, I have a very real concern - even fear - that we will move on from this Convid-19 experience too fast and, while we talk of all of the wonderful learnings we’ve had during this time of lockdown, they will not impact who we become because we will not action what needs to be actioned.

What if …… As Churches we moved our focus from our “temple” model of meeting in rows looking at the backs of peoples head, to the “table” way of being where we are in smaller groups gathered around buidling authentic relationships. What if, like Jesus modelled, our focus was on gathering around food and meals - picnics on the hillside, bbq’s on the beach, sharing meals in each other’s homes, sitting around the table yakking - building authentic relationships. What if????

What if…. we took seriously the care of this beautiful creation we have been gifted and instructed to care for by building on the reduction in emissions that has occurred globally during this time? How can we use our cars less? Buy less “stuff” that will eventually end up in the tip? Become more aware of “things” that damage our environment and cannot be recycled or decomposed? What action will each one of us take?

What if…. we take on the call of our Prime Minister - Jacinda Arden - to Be Kind. We are created to be kind. We feel so much better in ourselves when we are kind. But there is always that sabotaging voice within each one of us that calls us toward our own self-centredness / our own “rights”? What would kindness look like in your world today? What is one practise of kindness you can instigate into your life - your becoming? I want to build on intentionally making more time for people.

What if…. we take ‘the Sabbath’ more seriously. And by this I mean adhering to the spiritual principle of taking a day off per week. I mean a true day off. Not a day away from work just to rush around and doing other work. Our bodies are designed to need to stop at time. We all need regular times of silence, stillness and solitude. Only in this way - and as we connect with our Creator - can we be re-created so we can fully function the way we were created to be. How can we take back the control of our lives and what we fill it with to reduce the rushing syndrome we have come to think is an important way of being? We are so blessed to live in New Zealand where we can take time for stillness, solitude and silence in our beautiful environment. Nothing is as healing and restoring as the beauty of our creation. I hope in our becoming we can connect more deeply with it and its / our Creator.

What if….. I will let you ponder further. Let us know what you are thinking at this time of “re-entry” back into the world of being…..

What You Get By Achieving Your Goals Is Not As Important As What You Become By Achieving Your Goals

What you get by Achieving your Goals is not as Important as what you Become by Achieving your Goals

As we are able to move to Level 2 of Convid-19 lockdown, I notice my thinking has turned to how to preserve what we value through this time. I notice I have quite a fear that the world will just all go back to “normal” and that nothing of what we have gained in terms of slowing down, being more in touch with people, the value we have noticed to our planet etc, etc will last. I am aware of how important it is to intentionally set some “re-entry” goals in order to ensure these gains become part of my everyday life and way of being. And I am reminded as I ponder this quote, that it is only going to happen as I become a person of disciple and as I become a person who takes back the control of my life and what I do rather than unconsciously giving it to another and then complaining that I am too busy or don’t have time for what is important to me and what it is that I value.

So yes, it’s time to become more of that person I want to be and in that way I will achieve the goals I want to achieve.

Your Potential is Endless

Your Potential is Endless

Whenever I sit and ponder the wonder of the human-being and indeed all of creation it does not take long for me to feel overwhelmed with the wonder of it all. Overwhelmed in a good way. When my grand-daughters were born at just under 26 weeks. it was clear that they held so much potential as they fought their way into health and sustainability. Sitting in that neonatal until alongside other parents of premmies - and then again when Elea was born at 31 weeks - opened my eyes afresh to the wonder of who we are and who we are created to be. Looking at these 3 girls now - Amelie and Elise are 10 in a couple of weeks time, Elea is 5 next week - I am once again overwhelmed with seeing them realise their endless potential. And this is true for us all, me included.

So I ask myself; why is it that I so often forget this truth? As I ponder, I realise that is because I too often listen to the Critical Voice that resides within me. Some time ago I read that in the Ancient Aramaic and Hebrew languages, the word that we usually translate now as the devil or satan is actually the Accuser. Isn’t that so true? The biggest Accuser usually sits within my own head telling me that I am not good enough, that I am unworthy, that I am lacking. But that is not the truth. The Truth-Maker reminds me that my potential in endless. This is the voice of my Creator. So it is the voice of truth. It is not saying I am good at everything. But that I have endless potential within who I am created to be. And as I live into that, I truly do realise it everyday. Indeed, my potential is endless. So is yours!!! Your potential is endless. That is the voice of Truth. Live into that with me.

Everything I Need is Within Me

Today’s random card pull has brought up this one: Everything I Need is Within Me. Statements like this always ignite a bit of a reaction in me. It’s a “Yes, but…..” reaction or response. Yes it is true that everything I need is within me, BUT only if I have responded to that which my Creator has put in me. It concerns me when I hear of people trying to dig deep into themselves. This is only a limited deep well - sure it is much deeper than we are often aware of. However without being connect to the Wellspring of Life, then the well will soon run dry.

But, YES, when we are tapped into the One who continually feeds truth and life into us, then everything - absolutely everything, I need is within me. I just need to draw aside - take the time, space, solitude, and silence to draw from that deep, refreshing, life-giving stream.

Today Can Be the Beginning of Anything You Want

With Easter I realise I have overlooked my write-up. Today’s random card pull quote is:

‘Today can be the beginning of anything you want.’

As we have passed the halfway point of our 4 week Level Four lock-down period, there is beginning to be a lot of talk about what it is going to be like when lock-down is ended. I am hearing from virtually everyone that they don’t want to go back to life as it was. People are enjoying having the time and space that they didn’t have before. Families are enjoying doing much more together than they have before. On our daily walks, I am enjoying meeting new people in our neighbourhood who I have not had the chance to meet before. We are all enjoying having the time to stop and chat - all keeping in mind our social distancing. There are a lot of good news stories out there.

I am so grateful for being given this gift of time- time to reassess, time to recover, and time to reset. Yesterday we celebrated Easter Sunday - a time of resurrection, a time of new life (celebrated even in lock-down with the abundance of Easter eggs representing new life). Today can be the beginning of anything you want.’ It is so our choice what we do coming out of lock-down. I have been this gift of time and space. Now the power is totally in my hands as to what I do with it. My plan is to reschedule my day so I ensure I made priority time for reflection and journeying. I also plan to ensure I schedule time first and foremost for a walk or some sort of exercise each day. It has been on my planner for some time but in the busyness of the day it hasn’t been happening as regularly as I’d hoped. This lock-down gift has helps me establish it. For that and so much more I am very grateful.

Everyday is Another Chance

I was just about to click off when I realised the significance of today and this quote. Today is Good Friday. I am a person of faith and today would have to be the most significant day in my faith tradition calendar. As a follower of Jesus Christ, today is the day we remember his gruesome death - the unfairness and injustice of it. And how as a person of peace he choose to respond in peace rather than fight back. It is the immense love that Jesus poured how to the marginalized throughout his life and death that is at the heart of why I can actually live this quote. Indeed everyday is another chance as I live life knowing I am loved and cherish by my God and Creator.

Everyday is Another Chance

How I love this card!!! I don’t know anyone who lives their life without some downs and some regrets at times. It is so true Everyday is another chance. Learn from yesterday, apologise if you need to and move on. It is only a failure if you have not learnt from it and taken responsibility for what you have to take responsibility for. Kiss yesterday goodbye and wake up to a new day, a new dawn, a new opportunity and another chance. The chances are, having reflected on yesterday you are unlikely to make the same mistakes and today will be a much better day. Don’t allow the accuser in your head to bring you down. Just because you make a mistake or did something dumb does not make you a bad person. You are still you - a precious created being who is deeply loved and cherished by your Creator. How do I know this stuff? Because this is how I have to live my life every day. I am no different to you. I have to live my life trying to remember the truth that Everyday is another chance. Enjoy your day :)

Make Every Day a Masterpice

This quote is right up my alley :) One of my favourite scripture verses comes from Ephesians 2 v 10 ‘For we are God’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.’ My greatest fulfillment is when I am living into that; when I am being who and what I am created to be. This doesn’t come naturally for me. It only comes by being deeply connected into the One who created me. The past few days with all the giving-out I became disconnected from the knowledge of who I am, and the wheels fell off for me. I became overwhelmed by a couple of my saboteurs* and started to listen to the voice of my inner critic. It undid me. To ensure that I became correctly centered again and to live each day as a masterpiece I had to remember again who I was created to be and who I truly am. This has to be a daily connecting in for me.

* For more on understanding our saboteurs see www.positiveintelleigence.com

We Know What We Are, But Know Not What We May Be.

Mmmmm….. This card provides some room to stop and reflect. What does this actually mean? My take on it is that, we know what we are now, but do not know yet what we may be or become. In this light of understanding and in these days of lockdown, I can see both in myself and in others that this time of stopping and not being able to have true physical “together” times with our networks, what is truly in us - often held deep down - is bubbling up to the surface. This - whether we like it or not - is who we truly are. If we have the courage to acknowledge it, give it some space and time, trace it’s roots, then we can replace whatever has been our demons with a new truth. By doing this - face, trace and replace * - we have the opportunity to use this time to become a new ‘you’ - and this is who we ‘know not what we may be’. I so believe - and have to remind myself often - that who I was created to be is so much more that who I am now. I was created in love by my Transcendent Father of all Love….. and that is who I truly am. And while I am still on this journey of life and discovery, I cannot fully comprehend who I fully will be. But I know it is good :)

* David Riddle is where I first heard this phase of Face, Trace and Replace, speaking of thoughts and feelings that often rise up within us and how we need to deal with them.

Focus on the Good

For those new to reading my ponderings of these days, Barry (my bubble partner) and I are randomly choosing a card from a box of Inspire Cards and I am writing my ponderings from that. I am amazed at how every day it seems to be just what is been foremost in my thinking. Today is no different. Prepare for the rant!!

Focus on all the Good

This has so been my mantra the past few days. I am becoming quite deeply concerned at the focus on what are potentially hardships i.e our psycho-social health and the economy. In no way do I want to undermine these issues. They are very real. However I am calling out for more balance. There is so much good happening. Can we please just put some more focus on the good!!! In my thinking, we are potentially speaking them into being. We all know that there are and will be psycho-social issues arising from CV-19. Let’s instead of reiterating this, keep up the strong voice in the background calling us to be kind and look out for each other. Let’s keep remembering and speaking out the good things people are doing for each other. We all know that there is major economic implications already happening for people - with more to come. :Let’s focus on the incredibly fast and compassionate economic packages the government are putting out there and the compassion banks are showing to people in need. Let’s also consider how we can support and help those in our network who are struggling in this way. I so believe that as we focus on the good our spirits will be lifted up to care and help, whereas if we focus on what can potentially happen we will all be dragged down. Let’s unite together to focus on the good!!!