Byrds Eye View: How Do I Know if I'm Progressing?

Byrds Eye View: How Do I Know if I'm Progressing?: How do we know if we're progressing, moving (either forward or backwards), or simply standing still? I recently heard a Pastor speak on de...

How Do I Know if I'm Progressing?

How do we know if we're progressing, moving (either forward or backwards), or simply standing still?  I recently heard a Pastor speak on depression. He lamented, "God, is this all there is?..." upon waking in the morning, "...if so, I'm angry!"  How many mornings do you wake up feeling the same way, waking up with no hope?  Here is my challenging question to you...How can you hope for more without "doing" something to change the outcome?

Now, if you are a big picture person; if you see the proverbial "forest" and not the "trees", than it's time to get into the details of your life.  It's time to take a nose dive from your view overlooking the forest and journey towards the trees to look at them more closely.  You most assuredly will be surprised because they do not look the same from this new vantage point. By the time you have completed the tree inspection process, and begin your ascension to the top of the forest, things will look totally different.  Not that the forest has changed, mind you, but your outlook is different based on your new found knowledge of what each tree reveals from a magnified view point. Only then, will a new outcome be revealed to you. 

THE FIRST STEP

Your first step is acknowledgement.  As an avid "journal er", my mantra remains, "Life is like a chalkboard and you hold the eraser...to erase away old habits and patterns. Before you can erase it, you have to see it on the board". In your case, my friend, by taking that proverbial journey into the forest to investigate the trees in your life; a job that isn't providing the satisfaction it once did, the confusion between whether past decisions were the right ones, and the big one, forgiveness for someone you have wronged, or someone who has wronged you, those trees that collectively make up your forest, you will be in an ideal position to face these giants that keep you in your wilderness.

SO HOW DO YOU KNOW?

The beauty of life, is that you never, ever, ever have to go it alone.  As you consider moving toward change this year, partner with us as we take a journey into the wilderness to uncover those stakes that are holding you back from your forward progression.

http://events.linkedin.com/Somethings-Gotta-Give-Womens-Empowerment/pub/786735

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes

but in having new eyes.

Marcel Provoust

Byrds Eye View: CHANGE...WHERE DOES IT BEGIN?

Byrds Eye View: CHANGE...WHERE DOES IT BEGIN?: No, not in the lining of your jacket funneled through that hole that just seems to get bigger and bigger. NO, not in the clothes dryer res...

CHANGE...WHERE DOES IT BEGIN?

No, not in the lining of your jacket funneled through that hole that just seems to get bigger and bigger.  NO, not in the clothes dryer  resting on the bottom of misfit sock land.  It begins in your mind. 

Yes, in today's topsy turvey, tumultuous world, it may be time to search for any spare change, but I'm referring to change as a verb; an action word.  CHANGE is a process and that process begins in your mind, and oh what a time to consider change. With the perennial quest to follow a new direction, AKA New Year's Resolutions, the one thing this new perceived direction will require (which is why many people abandon their resolutions quicker than an annual fitness center membership gathers dust),  is CHANGE. Yes, it is true.. change is inevitable, so why not embrace it? And, while we can't always change many of those external forces, we can change our reaction to them.

THE FIRST STEP

The first step in this process of embracing change is to eliminate excuses.  "I want to eliminate this in my life, but...", I know I can do that, but...".  "BUT" is the "eraser" for the words stated before it.  Think of how many times you use the word "but" in a given day. Now... think of the statements you have erased just before it.  Each "but" you speak is permission you give yourself to make an excuse as to why your change doesn't occur. 

There are many definitions for excuses. The best definition I've heard comes from Dr. Creflo Dollar, Pastor and Founder of World Changers Church International in Atlanta, GA: "Excuses are 'Me Removing Myself' from the Path of Blame ". 

Are you hiding behind your wall of excuses for the changes you want to make in your life?  Don't say you are willing to change if you are not willing to do what it takes to change--that change begins with you.  (Micheal Jackson's famous song, "Man in the Mirror" was not just for men...he was eliciting change for everyone.--I know, you're probably humming the song now!)

THE PROCESS OF CHANGE

Remember, change is a process. A process has to begin, and that beginning is in your mind.  Romans 12:2 states,"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God".  If you sincerely want something to change in your life, eliminate the excuses and begin to look at what you truly want to change and begin the process.  Step into your future by doing the work of change.