Success in Balance

Well, I promised an update and continued review of Joel Osteens book over a week ago and it just hasn’t happened. It seems at times life is full of interruptions, some good and others not so good. But all my interruptions have been good from one perspective and bad from another. So which perspective will I choose? That is one of the keys to Joel’s book. Choose to take the positive view. In the Maxwell book that I am reading he says it quite differently, he points out that no one he knows that is very successful is a pessimist. He also points out that many people spend their time thinking about what could’ve, should’ve or would’ve been. These people generally find themselves living day to day, but those that are ultra successful don’t get caught up in those thoughts. They are too busy thinking about their next move - thinking strategically. As I thought about that, I thought about how much time I spend thinking “what if I would have started that internet business in 1995?” and “what if I would have not bought that…” you get the picture. The bottom line is it is good to learn from our past, but if we spend too much time thinking about it, it doesn’t move us forward. It just holds us back.

Back to Your Best Life Now…

The first section, we won’t look at the individual chapters, deals with enlarging your vision. God has great plans for you. He says over and over that if he told us we wouldn’t believe Him. As I look back on my life I can clearly see this. If he has told me 20 years ago when I was in college that I would eventually get a Ph.D. and be a college professor at a large public university I would have laughed and said “no way.” But here I am, living proof that if He would have told me I wouldn’t have believed Him. So now that I know this, why do I still find it hard to enlarge my vision? Could it be that I am thinking too much about “could’ve, would’ve, or should’ve”

Some quotes from the book that I think are key to enlarging our vision:

“Your life is not going to change until you first change your thinking” -7

I think I read the same thing in Maxwell…

“Don’t settle for a small view of God. We serve the God that created the universe. We’ve got to eliminate the barely get by mentality.” -11

“Each day you must choose to live with an attitude that expects good things to happen to you.” -13

“‘According to your faith…be it done to you.’ In other words, ‘Have what your faith expects’”  -14

Now that’s a powerful thought. I had read that verse many times in my life, but after reading it now it jumped off the page. God wants to bless you, are you not expecting it?

Also a key to remember is that “Your job is not your source. God is your source.” -23

Again, something I know already, but need to be reminded of. As I work on Success In Balance, I ask myself, “why’s no one jumping in” and I get a bit discouraged. My hope is that it will be of use to others and we can create a great community of people helping each other to enlarge our visions and making success in balance with the rest of our lives, a reality. But ultimately, should it take off or simply fade away is irrelevant. It serves a purpose. God’s purpose.

Joel also shares about his own journey and says something that makes a lot of sense and when you read it you will think “so what Paul, that’s silly.” But I encourage you to think about it and how it applies to you. When talking about his taking over Lakewood Church when his dad passed away, he struggled because he could not be his dad. Then he realized:

“…I didn’t have to fill my Dad’s shoes, I only had to fill my own shoes.” -26

Now that is freeing! We are each created unique. You know that already, but do you live it daily? All too often I try to find a model for success that matches me so I can duplicate it. But that is not what God wants. He wants me to be me and you to be you. From there He will enlarge our vision.

“You will never go beyond the barriers of your own mind.” -30

“…so stop talking about what you can’t do and start talking about what God can do.” -35

Again it comes down to limiting ourselves. Focusing on could’ve, would’ve, should’ve.

Finally he ends this section with a discussion of expecting God’s favor. God wants us to have good things. We just need to start expecting them to happen. They may not happen all the time, but if you expect them they will happen with more regularity.