What You Said

We all have certain phrases and words we commonly use. Sometimes it's a specific word we use to express our surprise or the way we react to circumstances. Most of us have even established patterns of speech we use to interact with people closest to us even if it isn't always the best.

There are some things I have purposely removed from my verbal repertoire once I realized it, but others have stayed over the years. Those that stay become words that define me, my thoughts, and even describe the people around me. I would like to say those are always healthy, but that isn't always the case.

Instead of just focusing on the specific words (although those carry a lot of weight) I might be better served to ask myself deeper questions. Am I speaking words of blessing or words of discouragement? Do people look forward to hearing me speak to them or look for ways to avoid me? Am I a bringer of life with my speech or do I take life away? These thoughts focus on the motivation for what I say instead of just correcting poor speech habits. Honestly answering these questions gives me an opportunity to make positive changes to benefit other people and become a better person.

Just Tell Me

There are several traditional "parenting" sayings that I promised myself I wouldn't use with my own children. For the most part, I've been able to stick with that conviction. One of the biggest ones was to not answer the question, "But why?" with "Because I said so!" While it might be annoying to have to answer that question when it's posed multiple times, I always felt it was better to explain the motivation behind decisions. It didn't always have to be a complicated answer, but I felt it opened communication with our children and helped them to see it wasn't an arbitrary decision. Most of the time they were more at peace when they understood.

We all operate better when we understand the "why" of what we are doing and how decisions are made that affect us. If we focus on the underlying motivation it fuels us into more consistent action. As we share the "what" it helps if we can also effectively communicate the "why."

But Why?

There are very few people I know whose schedules aren't full. There are household duties to handle, appointments to keep, family responsibilities to manage, and social obligations to maintain. We keep running around and struggle to keep up with the demands in front of us. To survive we often focus on what needs to be done just to keep moving.

I think we might stand a better chance of keeping our sanity if we focus less on what we are doing and remember why we are doing it. The reasons behind our actions have great value and can give us strength to persevere when the frantic pace causes us to lose focus. There might be greater value in affirming our motivation than in checking things off our to-do list.

Don't Forget Why

During our current sermon series, we used a clip from the movie, "The Matrix". It has been several years since I watched it, but the clip has reignited my memory of the film. The basic premise is pretty simple: there are two worlds operating around us. There is what seems to be the normal world we all live in and there is the real world that only exists for those able & willing to see it. It's an interesting sci-fi twist on the idea of a virtual reality that has fooled most people into believing it is real.

I think we can sometimes fall victim to this same mentality. We become consumed by the stretched rhythm of life its demands on our time, energy, and finances. This creates a frenetic pace that narrows our vision to only conquering the problem of the day or maintaining our status quo. Sadly, this hectic mindset becomes our main focus and we end up forgetting the things which matter the most. We quickly become consumed by what we are doing and often forget why we do them. It's the motivation behind our actions that matters most--this is our true reality.

Don't let the rhythm of day-to-day life cause you to forget something bigger is happening at the same time.