DO IT ANYWAY (Sometimes We Won't Know Why)

Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens.

“Great,” she thought. “Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry.” She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the ledge. But it just wasn’t there!

She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she may find her contact lens.

When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains.

She thought of the Bible verse, “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth.” She thought, “Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me.”

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, “Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?”
            
Well, that would be startling enough. But you know why the climber saw it?

An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!

The story doesn’t end there.

Brenda’s father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens with the caption:

“Lord, I don’t know why You want me to carry this thing. I can’t eat it, and it’s awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I’ll carry it for You.”

LAUGHTER

"Laughter is an instant vacation."

There are so many benefits to good ole belly laughter. Humor is infectious. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any cough, sniffle, or sneeze. When laughter is shared, it binds people together and increases happiness and intimacy. Laughter also triggers healthy physical changes in the body. Humor and laughter strengthen your immune system, boost your energy, diminish pain, and protect you from the damaging effects of stress. Best of all, it's fun, free and easy to use. 

HAVE YOU TRIED EVERYTHING?

One Spring day, a young boy tried to move a big rock in his back yard so he could start a garden. He tried, he worked, and he tried some more, but couldn't move it. His father watched from the porch, and finally asked his son if he had tried everything to to move the rock. The boy said," yes, I've tried absolutely everything."  "No, you haven't," said the father. "You haven't asked me to help you!"

SO, HAVE YOU TRIED EVERYTHING?

MOTION CREATES EMOTION

To change emotions, start moving. Emotion is created by motion. Our movement or motion engages muscles, determining our posture which in turn effects our mental state. I have a friend who is very depressed. I'll bet that even though you don't know them you can describe their posture and movement; slumped shoulders, head tilted down, eyes looking downward, moving very little and when they do they move quite slowly. Change the motion and you change the emotion. Stand up straighter, head up, eyes looking forward and move like someone that's excited and... what happens? You begin to feel excited. A USC study demonstrated that even the simple act of smiling causes an internal chemical change and we feel better. 

EMOTION IS CREATED BY MOTION, START MOVING!

TIME TO REFLECT

No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see. 

Even if only for five minutes, take time for stillness and reflection everyday. Silence and put down your smart phone. Turn off the television. Turn off the music. Step away from the crowd. In this time of still watered silence and reflection, wonderful discoveries from deep within occur. 

KNOWING VS DOING

Once upon a time, there was a penguin who was surfing the Internet. He came across the website of a motivational speaker who specialized on teaching pigs how to fly with his seminar titled "Pigs Can Fly!"  The penguin was amazed and thought, "If this person can teach pigs to fly, maybe he can perform a miracle and also teach penguins to fly." The penguin emailed the motivational speaker and asked him if he had a seminar titled " Penguins Can Fly." "Of course. No problem." The speaker responded. The penguin asked him if he would be interested in coming to the South Pole. The speaker said it would be very expensive. The money was raised. The travel arrangements were made. Everything was all set. On the big day, 100 excited penguins showed up at the hotel for the "Penguins Can Fly" seminar. The speaker began by telling them that there were only two things they had to do to fly.

 #1 Flap your wings harder. 

#2 Believe in yourself. 

He started teaching them how to flap really, really, really hard. The penguins learned to flap harder but not one of them left the ground. Then the speaker had ladders set up all around the room. He explained that he wanted the penguins to start on the first rung, jump off and flap really hard. They started on the first rung. They jumped off and flapped. And they all fell flat on their beaks. Next, they progressed to the second rung. Still no success. When they got to the third rung, suddenly one of the penguins yelled out, "look at Ralph! Look at Ralph!" Ralph was up and flying for about 10 seconds. That did it! As soon as the other penguins saw that it was possible, they started to believe. One after another, they started flying. They were up in the air for five seconds... 10 seconds... 30 seconds ... by the end of the day, every single one of them was flying for as long as they wanted!

The "Penguins Can Fly" seminar was a resounding success. When it ended, the speaker didn't just get a standing ovation, he received a flying one too! After it was all over, the most curious thing happened. When all the penguins left the hotel, each and every one of them  WALKED back home. 

Are there some powerful or even amazing things you KNOW but aren't DOING!

"KEEP YOUR OLE WRENCH!"

A man was on a long drive heading home for a large family gathering. His drive took him through miles of countryside and farmland. He had previously been having trouble with his car's engine and was nervous about the trip. To make matters more stressful, he had forgotten to pack his toolbox for the trip in case he had more car trouble. 

Driving into the dark of night he nervously  progressed on his journey when suddenly the car engine sputtered, bucked and quit. A quick check under the hood revealed a simple problem that could be fixed with an adjustable wrench. He had no tools! Cell phone? No service. He could see way in the distance a lone farmhouse with lights on. He started a long walk toward the house. As he walked he began to think, 'it's late at night. It's the middle of nowhere and the people at the house will probably be suspicious of me and not loan me a wrench.' The thought was a little irritating. He continued walking, 'it's late at night, they may loan me a wrench but will be irritated because I disturbed them so late at night.' He began feeling a little defensive. He then noticed the lights at the house go off. 'They've probably gone to bed, I'll be waking them up and they'll be angry having to get out of bed so late at night for a stranger.' Now coming closer to the house the man's thoughts continued,'It's so late at night. I'll probably be waking them up. They'll be angry with me, call the dogs on me, holler at me and call me names as they run me off their property!' Finally reaching the porch of the farmhouse the man was feeling furious!  He pounded on the front door. Lights came on in the house. The farmer opened the front door and before he could even say a word, the now angry man shouted at the farmer, "I DON'T NEED OR WANT YOUR HELP ANYWAY! YOU CAN KEEP YOUR OLE WRENCH!"

The man then stomped off the porch and headed back to is inoperable car. 

How often do we do this kind of thing to ourselves through self-sabotage?