Nobody said it would be easy…

September 19, 2023

In yesterday’s post I talked about viewing life as a journey and advised that you embrace and enjoy that journey. I also mentioned that the journey might take you through some dark places. Those are the difficult roads that you might hit. I did not say yesterday that making the journey would be easy. There will be difficult stretches along the way.

That might involve setbacks to the progress that you’ve made or perhaps the loss of someone who was making the journey with you or at least supporting you on the journey. Sometimes it may feel like you’ve hit a pothole in the road – a sharp but very temporary jolt. Other times the route ahead might feel precarious, as if you are creeping along on a mountainside trail with a scary drop if you make a mistake. Perhaps it just feels like the road ahead stretches out to the horizon with no destination in sight.

Perhaps the biggest key to navigating difficult roads is letting go of the illusion that you can somehow control the future. At best, what you control is your reaction to the future. Only God can control the future. And speaking of God; a good first step in reacting to difficult turns that your journey might take is putting your trust into God. I use the little prayer, “Not my will but thy will be done.” That simple little prayer takes the burden off me, allows me to forgive myself, if I am the cause of the problem that I am facing, and frees me to move forward.

Overcoming adversity also requires patience and perseverance, two traits which seem to be in short supply these days. In our “immediate gratification” world having to patiently wait and being persistent in our efforts is frustrating. Many would rather just abandon an effort rather than seeing it through to the conclusion. It is possible to go through life achieving just those small things that you can get done quickly; however, those who take that route never achieve greatness and live a life that is much less satisfying.

So, do not be afraid of the difficult road. Be patient. Persist. Trust God to take care of the future. At the end pf that difficult stretch of road lies the beautiful destination of satisfaction.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Overcome today’s doubts to get to tomorrow…

July 18, 2023

The graphic for today’s post focuses upon doubts that hold us back from realizing our dreams and aspirations for tomorrow. I would add to that graphic the rest of the classic FUD elements (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubts) that are missing.

Fear of the unknown and uncertainty about whether we are even headed in the right direction combine with doubts about our own abilities to do what is needed to realize those dreams often hold us back from even trying. We convince ourselves that it is “better to be safe than sorry.” And then we are sorry that we didn’t even try.

There is a very real chance that the things that you are concerned about or afraid of are real. They are constraints that you are currently under that limit your ability to achieve your goals; however, they are seldom permanent roadblocks. In many cases they just require you to take a detour, like maybe going back to school, in order to obtain some skill or knowledge or certificate/degree that will allow you to advance towards your goals. This is where the attributes of patience and persistence pay off.

It is important during these “detour” times to remind yourself often of the overall goal, when it doesn’t feel like you are making progress towards that goal. It helps if you break down the things that you need to get done before you can resume the pursuit of your goal and reward yourself as you accomplish each step along the way.

Remember that impatience is your key enemy. Anything that is really worth something usually takes a lot of work and a lot of patience. Much of the work may be tedious and repetitive.  Just imagine getting up every morning and doing 2-3 hours of workouts or running, yet that is what Olympic athletes do and they do it for 4 years leading up to their event in the games. That is a real test of patience and persistence.

The doubts that you have today can help you define your plan to achieve your goals for tomorrow by helping you see the things that you need to do in preparation for achieving them. So, don’t let them stop you. Use them to motivate you to create a plan of attack to overcome those roadblocks. Just that act of understanding the issues that you must overcome and planning how you will do it puts you in a whole new frame of mind. You have mentally moved from, “I don’t think I can do this”, to, “Here’s how I’m going to do this.”

I have no doubt that you will achieve your goals for tomorrow.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Do you have SISU?

September 7, 2016

From the Jack’s Winning Words blog come the inspiration for today’s post –

“I have perceived that man with courage and will-power can overcome anything.” (Scharnhorst)

Jack went on to write – Determination?  Persistence?  Tenacity?  Guts?  The Finns have a word for it: SISU!  Sisu is even in the Bible.  “I can do all things…through Christ who strengthens me.”  Paul wrote this while facing difficult situations in his life.

I often advise my real estate clients that selling their house will take patience and patiencepersistence. They must get into the habit of keeping the house in a condition such that a showing could take place at any time. That means allotting some extra time in the mornings to make sure it is show ready before heading off to work. It helps if you can exercise that patience with a good attitude.
In life in general, those with SISU as part of their personal makeup most often succeed. They have the courage to try new things and the will-power to stick with it until they succeed. They have SISU.

sisuSometimes we need the extra little boost to our SISU in our daily lives that a little reflection in prayer can add. Perhaps you could find strength and resolve by just repeating that little phrase that Jack mentioned in his post – “I can do all things…through Christ who strengthens me.” For some the opening lines of the 23rd Psalm is a pick-me-up – “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” For others the fear of the unknown or of failure is stripped away be this passage, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

The common theme that runs through all of the supportive scriptures that I might mention is that you are not in this alone, if you accept and believe in Jesus Christ. He is always with you and with Him in your corner you cannot fail. You may suffer setbacks from time to time, but your willpower, courage and tenacity (your SISU), strengthened with God’s help, will pull you through.

Video game players know that in many video games there are secret treasures to be found that have restorative powers. The character that you are playing may be beat up, injured or otherwise in bad shape due to setbacks in the game; however, if you find those hidden man prayingtreasures they can restore the character to full strength immediately, ready to go with the game. Life is a little like that; although the restorative treasures aren’t really hidden; they are most often just forgotten about. Those restorative treasures are the words of God as found in the Bible. A few have been mentioned here, but there are too many to list.

Here’s a link to one site that points you to several uplifting passages that might help make you day better. Find a few for yourself and see if they don’t restore your SISU.

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Posted by Norm Werner