So, a 100 Year Plan.  I’m serious.  Forget the 1 year & done plans and little stuff (I do explain later on it’s good to plan towards the basic things).  I dream BIG.  Desire to see the Bigger Picture.  I hate to break the news to you, but…you and I are eventually going to die and no longer physically exist on the earth.  However, what we do in our lifetime will either impact our community/society/world in a positive or negative way.  “Well, what if we didn’t impact our community?”  That’s a negative way.  Doing nothing helps no one.  Leaving a legacy…I’ll write about it another time, because I really love this topic.

I was challenged with making a 100 year plan last year, and my reaction is similar to what your mind is thinking.  “You’ve got to be kidding me?  I can’t even hardly plan what I’m doing this whole week.” 

To break the 100 year plan down, I was challenged with making a “simple” 3 week, 3 month, and 5 year plan.  The main categories are the following:

PHYSICAL (what you’d desire to be do for activity and be personally fit,

MENTAL (what you’d desire to read or learn),

SPIRITUAL (what you’d desire to challenge & understand within yourself),

FINANCIAL (how much you’d desire to make and give toward programs/others,

RELATIONAL (how often you’d desire to be intentional with friends or community),

INFLUENCE (who would you desire to pour into). 

Be real with yourself when making these "goals".  Within each category, my goals of where I’d like to see myself within each time frame are broken down.  Every now and then check to see where you’re at with the basic goals and adjust, but always desire and push to move forward.  That’s Life.  It’s going to be a struggle.

Unfortunately, our minds can hardly even contain the brief idea of planning something so huge.  We over analyze at times (I'm one of the best), and our desire to be very specific on exact details of our expectations not being met make us fearful we might be considered a “failure”.  From my brief amount of years trying things I have learned the hard way that IT’S OKAY TO FAIL.  Yet, it’s Very Critical you know and understand that the Failure doesn’t Define Who You Are.  I have a fear of failure I Must face off and “knock out of the way”…on many occasions!  How about you?

So, you may still be thinking I’m an insane lunatic with outrageous expectations.  I’m insane in the membrane, so get it right! Ha!  OR, you may be in a position you don’t know really what to choose due to your skepticism of what you really want/like to do in life.  That fear is paralyzing you.  Just try something.  You’ll never know until you try, and then when you do take the specifics of what you enjoyed and didn’t enjoy to help in your projecting and planning of Bigger Dreams...which You desire to come to fruition!

If you have any questions, please ask!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

p.s. You don't have to wait till a "new year" to make plans.

Seriously?

With so much hustle and bustle about for the holidays, I think it's definitely healthy to pause and think about it all. 

Life seems to be flying by with work, plans to meet others, cooking to be done, setting up decorations, or preparing gifts for others.  Home Alone, The Grinch, Charlie Brown Christmas Story, A Christmas Story, Elf, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Ernest Saves Christmas, It's A Wonderful Life, or whatever holiday appropriate movie is on TV with fond memories abounding. 

There is candy cane mint hot chocolate, pumpkin/cinnamon spiced ciders, delicious treats all over, and delicious meals only prepared once a year to be eaten.  Oh the pies!  The scent of a  live Christmas tree is overwhelming, and it's humming with life from the ornaments and lights.  The chill from outside makes the warm hearth even more inviting.  Relatives you haven't seen in years may be visiting, or you visiting them is creating a hidden excitement from within you don't care to share.  The decorated lights and ornaments outside in the bleak cold night vibrantly stand out, and they somehow warm our hearts.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Santa Claus, or whatever...there's just something different about this time of year.  Joy.  Hope.  Encouragement.  Care. They seem to abound even more during the month of December. 

Unfortunately, there are many who don't have anyone to see or gifts to be received/given this time of year.  The may be impoverished, elderly, homeless, or choose to set themselves away from others for this time of year.  Life still goes on in the World.  Simply taking a few minutes to show care to others you don't know, ask about their lives, or help out with something they may not be able to physically do means more than anything one can purchase.  Be intentional.  Choose to Not Ignore those less fortunate than you. 

So simply from me to you, I wish you all a
HAPPY JESUS' BIRTHDAY AND

This past week I asked high school aged kids a series of questions.  I’ve been substitute teaching in a neighboring county high school very often nowadays.  I was tired of being superficial and talking about petty stuff.  I wanted to know their thoughts and opinions on  certain subjects.  I’m curious to know so I will have a better idea on how to specifically relate and challenge/encourage them.

My 1st question was “What is the overall mood, attitude, and atmosphere of this county and the people in it?”.  I asked these questions in about 13 separate classes (the school has a period schedule) totaling about 250 different students.

For the most part, their responses were somewhat of the following: depressing, lazy, ignorant, boring, nosy, rude, impoverished, and the list goes on and on.  There was an overwhelming amount of negativity.

I had only 2 students speak up and say something like “There’s still some good people here”.   Those 2 students were a breath of fresh air for me. 

The 2nd question I asked was “Why is it like this type of mood and atmosphere here?”. 

They eventually spoke up saying something like the following: it’s always been like this, people are too much into drugs, people just don’t care, the teachers here don’t teach, and the negativity list goes on and on.

After reviewing what the overall mood/attitude was and the why for it, I asked my 3rd question.  Now, this question absolutely dumbfounded the students.  I laugh now when I think of the look on their faces.

The question I asked was “How could we “fix” these issues or better yet improve on the overall attitude and atmosphere in this school and county?”.

Some students said that it’s not possible.  Some mentioned how certain people will get upset and possibly threaten you if messing with the status quo. 

Some said to rid those who were the “problem”.  I pursued that response with more questions.  Basically, I asked them from the sound of their responses if they wanted to be a dictator and start another genocide. 

After I summarized all their responses I asked if they really wanted to know how to “fix the problems”.  With puzzled looks on their faces I told them tangible wisdom I hope they apply in their lives of how to address the problems we agreed on.

You set the tone.
The change starts with you.
If all you do is focus on the negative, then you’ll have a gloomy outlook on your circumstances and those around you.
The negativity will spread like a virus and bring others down around you.
You decide how to act, react, speak, and discipline yourself.
Be the change you want to see.
It’s not “impossible” to change the mood.
Why can’t you focus on the positive?
Speak life and not death.
Stop complaining.
Punch negativity in the face…figuratively.
We hurt others, because we’re hurt ourselves from something else.
Hurt people hurt people.
Let things go.
If you’re acting in generous ways and speaking to others in positive ways, they will notice and enjoy you more than if you were negative.

Out of all the classes I was asking these questions in, I “went off” in a specific one.  What I mean is that I raised my voice as if I was at a football game (those of you who’ve been at games with me understand). 

Let me explain.  A certain student was berated a teacher on how horrible they were.  I asked why they thought this.  They couldn’t give me a solid reasoning.  Now, I do understand that some teachers at times seem very unrealistic or are what us Health & PE majors call “ball rollers”.

Anywho, this student kept being mean in their words, and other students were agreeing with what was being said.  It hit a nerve of mine. 

In my loud voice I said something like this… “All you’re doing is speaking death right now!  Do you realize we have the power of speaking life or death in our words?!  If all you do is speak death, then nobody will want to be around you!  How about this for example to be more clear on what I mean…I think you’re absolutely a pathetic excuse of a human being!  Stupid!  Scum of the earth with no purpose! …or I can say… I think you’re great looking, you have a brilliant mind, and a fantastic future ahead of you!  Which would you rather listen too!?  Do you understand?!”

…I think I made my point, and the whole class understood the message.

This is a simple example how I’m setting the tone, raising the bar, and loving on these kids in this specific community so that it may grow and become a healthy environment rather than one that wants to tear itself apart.

"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat it's fruit."   
- Proverbs 18:21

p.s. The title was told to me by a 7 year old of what “cool” meant.  If all we teach others is how to be negative in order to build up our self-esteem, then we’re going backwards as a society.

PURE
UNBRIDLED
KID
ENERGY

Anywhere you’re able to observe kids playing, their energy seem to never cease.  Seriously, do they ever get tired?  I’m amazed by it, and absolutely loved it during my PE student teaching at an elementary school.  Unfortunately some kids, depending on age group, don’t really try to put forth any effort of physical exertion in a game or race.  Everyone can relate to whom they were while in their sports practice or PE class growing up.  Were you the most athletic, in the medium range, or tried to use as many excuses to get out of activity as possible?

The brilliance of it was brought to my attention a few weeks ago as a 5 year old in one of my tennis lessons all of a sudden started running around the courts.  I mean, she just ran...like Forrest Gump!  We did some relays, balanced the ball on the racquets, and then I tried to get her back to practicing her strokes.  There were 2 kids, so when it wasn’t the girl’s turn, she was off running in circles with her arms spread wide as if she was flying! 

The word “unbridled” really stuck out to me.  Webster defines it as “not controlled or limited, something done, felt, or expressed in a free and uncontrolled way.”  I believe it best fits the true capturing of what I experienced while watching a 5 year old run around for basically 30 minutes straight.  Maybe, she kept running to stay warm since it was about 55 degrees Fahrenheit with a breeze, and she was being asked to hit a tennis ball.

Where did we lose such innocence growing up?  Kids this age hardly ever care what people are thinking about their actions.  Rules and culture are forced down our throats, and we accept the “normal actions/ways” of acting “appropriately”.  Sometimes, we simply need to tap into what I call that kid energy and just let loose!  I guarantee it'll do you some good both mentally and physically.