Good Morning dear one, yes you, the one who is fully seen and known by God Almighty. He loves you and cares for you to know Him. Do you know Him and the sweet and strong making words He uses to lead and guide you, make and mold you? Remember, I am here as an old friend or maybe to be a new friend, willing to hear and encourage you along in your journey to Jesus <3 Our flock would be honored to serve you as a saint of His in whatever simple or out-of-this-world way you’d dare to ask. Just sayin’
Since I am more of a planner, maybe you’d say ‘a typical type A person’ with regards to day-in-day-out living, it’s a challenge to be free in the unknown of God’s ask of me to share here in this blog. It’s getting a little easier and I look forward to complete freedom in doing that which “that day” holds. To me this means, still work on writing and learning but sometimes not sharing. The freedom in this variety is meant to be a gift to me too, may I receive it as such!!!
Following is a golden nugget Ryan brought to the table this morning. It is an excerpt from the book, “What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There” by Marshall Goldsmith. It was shared with him by a senior mentor who is hired to mentor those willing at Ryan’s place of employment and it’s some sort of goodness! Again, super relevant (wink wink) to our flock! May you be encouraged too as you ponder and maybe apply the principles highlighted here <3
Habit #1 — Winning Too Much
This is a common problem with successful people who tend to be over competitive. Being competitive is desirable, but it becomes a problem when we deploy it as the service of objectives that are not worth the effort.
If we argue too much,
if we’re guilty of putting people down
if we ignore people,
if we withhold information,
if we play favorites, it is to gain advantage and win position (at least in our own estimation).
If we need to win a discussion, whether the issue is important or trivial, whether the discussion takes place in the office, at home or socially, we maybe have this Habit.
Consider your action in the following example. You and your spouse (or friend) are going to dinner. Your spouse recommends restaurant Y. You point out the bad reviews restaurant Y has received, but your spouse continues to insist on his/her decision. You go to restaurant Y. The reservations were lost, you wait 30 minutes to be seated, the service is slow and less than cordial, the food tastes like shoe leather and is insufficient to satisfy an appetite. In this example you are permitted 2 options; (1) Critique the restaurant and point to your prior objections (how right you were and how wrong your spouse was) or (2) be quiet, eat the food and work at enjoying the evening, while mentally writing off restaurant Y.
As Ryan read this to us, before reading option one, he asked the kids if they could share what they thought the two options could be, and of course they could. Clearly, we have these scenarios often (funny / not funny)! For us it was worth our time to remember we always have a choice in who we are in our relationships. When we feel we need to force a position, either consciously or subconsciously it does have the potential to effect the health of the relationship. For our flock this morning I will celebrate the gift of us at least seeing and recognizing we at times…
argue too much, fighting to be right and often about nonsense,
can be guilty of putting others down,
ignore others,
and withhold information etc.
I trust this mornings talking point number 1,456,739,001… will serve as a reminder to each of us when we are tempted to jockey for the “winning” position and instead choose to “lose.” This choosing to “lose” is really deciding to “win,” for we all know the real value is in the person we are in relationship with, not in the fought for position.
Thank you Jesus for another example to learn from and be reminded by. May we remember by following Your example we can let go and choose to lose, knowing for Your namesake, it is a win! While we still have breath may we be imitators of You, yielding our ways to Your higher ways. We trust You and thank You for holding us in the position that matters most, hid with You. May it be so for all of us whom are asking <3