Tag Archives: starting over

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Hope, It’s Next Best To Excitement

boy-fishing

I love collecting quotes. Most are from famous people like Abraham Lincoln, Helen Keller or Leo Tolstoy.

Occasionally I’m able to capture a priceless quote from someone I know. Such is the case with the following quote by an 8 year old boy, Austin Andrews. Austin is the son of my friends, author and speaker Andy Andrews, and his wife Polly. 

The Andrews live on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Fishing is one of their favorite pastimes. One day, while fishing with his dad, Austin said: 
 

“The reason I like to fish is because when everything is calm and quiet, your whole self is full of hoping. And whether you catch anything or not, you still get to hope. It’s a great feeling isn’t it? Hope, I mean. It’s next best to excitement.”  

Is your “whole self full of hoping?” What would have to happen in order to make this kind of hope possible for you?

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Consistency: My Greatest Personal Strength

n604922829_509432_1437After reading the title for this post, I know you’re jealous. Everyone knows that consistency is the key to everything. Well, I’ve got this one nailed. Consistency is my greatest personal strength. I am consistently starting over.

So here I am again—same show, different location. Starting over. This is my second attempt at keeping a blog. The last one I began in July of 2007. I had one post that year. Yep, one post. My second post showed up in May of 2008. There were a total of five posts that year, the last of which was in July of 2008. One solid year with six posts.

I’m not sure why I have such a hard time being consistent with new projects, but it’s been the story of my life. If I had been born within the last 20 or 30 years I’m sure I would have been diagnosed with ADD. I have such a hard time staying focused. But I’m not satisfied with staying that way. I’m starting over. Today. Fresh. Sort of like a person who really wants to quit smoking, I’m not giving up. I believe in the old adage: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

I really do want to write, if for no other reason than to bring some clarity to my own thinking—to bring focus into my life. I like it when I am focused because it means that I am living in the present moment. And the present moment is the only place where I can come face-to-face with the living God. To just be with him. To hear his voice. To receive his love. To discover his treasures.

If you’re on a treasure hunt, and you really want to find a treasure, you can’t be regretting what went wrong yesterday or afraid of what might happen tomorrow, you have to have your eyes wide open to what’s directly in your sight. Each of your five senses have to be on high alert so not to miss a single clue. That’s how I want to live my life—on a perpetual treasure hunt. Come join me.

P.S. I’m not sure how long it will take me to post another post, but don’t give up on me. I’m very consistent.

[The photo above is of my grandaughter, Ellie. After eating all of her ice cream one day, she turned the remaining cone into a telescope. She's on the lookout, too.]