ON SECOND THOUGHT

"On Second Thought..."

Would Christ Recognize Christmas?

If you read my introduction to "On Second Thought" last week you have an idea of what's coming.  


"On Second Thought" is purely my opinion and editorial about a particular topic that may get you to think about an issue in a different light.  Maybe form a new perspective.  


Have you been asked yet how your Christmas went?  Funny how people are curious about what we did, where we went, what we bought, and what we received isn't it?  One gentleman told me about how much he ate over the holiday?  Funny to hear someone tell you that he ate too much goose!


I can remember being in elementary school and you and your friends compared what you got and how many things you were given.  There was a certain amount of "one-ups-manship" as to who got the most or the coolest toys.


Then we become adults.  Our toys get bigger and more expensive.  Like the guy in the commerical who goes to the living room and sees a new Mercedes Benz!   My my he must have been a good boy!


Personally, I'm not a big fan of Christmas.  Now don't get me wrong I had a good one this year.  I had fun with all my loved ones, received some cool gifts, did some fun things, heard Mannheim Steamroller, played with my grand kids...good stuff right?  I'd say so.  Now if it was left to these things, I'd be pretty good with the whole concept.  


But On Second Thought...


I was thinking would Christ recognize His own birthday celebration?  Gosh I wonder.  He wouldn't with the jerk I encountered in a Trader Joe's store.  Hey I know you're still out there weasel boy.  Or the dope who thought the stop sign didn't refer to him.  Or the sheer madness that Christmas has become.  Stop and think about it.  The greatest nation in the history of the world bases its economy on its Christmas sales and yet more individual families will go into debt buying things they can't afford.  Go figure.


 I think Jesus for the most part would be His courteous and gracious self with Christmas.  Appreciative for the recognition.  But maybe He would think that things had gotten a bit out of hand since the manger in Bethlehem.  Ever notice when you read about the Wise Men bearing gifts that they didn't turn to Joseph and say, "what did you get us this year?"  


Our celebration with Christmas has gotten to the point where I read a news story where the following is so unusual it made the internet.  A family decided to fore go their gift buying, kids included, and took the money and used it to help less fortunate families. Imagine that!  


So it got me to thinking.  Can you imagine if a minister announced to his congregation that he was going to promote that every family for just one year, donate the money they were going to spend on gifts and as a church, use the money to make a difference in the community they serve?  Would you like to know how long he'd be preaching there?  OK so he softens his approach and says to his flock, "how about we go 50 - 50 next Christmas?  After all we'll be blessed for doing so."  Sorry but I don't think these sheep are following their shepherd down this path.


But On Second Thought...I bet Jesus would be alright with it.  After all it's His birthday.




Next week's On Second Thought:  Best Friends

On Second Thought

ON SECOND THOUGHT...


You're having a conversation with a friend, family member, or neighbor when they say; 'but on second thought."  


WHOA!  Time out.  Weren't they just sharing a 'first thought' about the conversation you were having with them?  You hear a change in their voice and notice a difference in their body language.  They've had a second thought.  It's as if this second thought negates their first thought.  "Never mind what I just told you".  This second thought will offer a different point of view from what they had just shared.  It's the other side of the coin. 


Second thoughts may reside down the road less traveled.  We may visit a second thought but not long enough to introduce it to anyone else. We just think about it on the inside.  They may at times seem to come from out of the blue.  Sometimes a second thought surprises not only the person who hears it but even the person who speaks it.  Second thoughts may be seen risky as in, "did I really say that? Where did that come from?  What do these people think of me now?"


At times we may have wished we had kept a second thought to ourselves and simply stuck with our first thought.  My mother put it this way: "You know you don't have to say everything you think."  Translated from mom speak: "Please don't say anything that will embarrass either your father or me."  Sorry Mom...well not really.  See having a second thought is that easy.  My first thought was 'ya she's right'...but then on second thought 'why not say what I'm thinking'?


On Second Thought is my new blog dedicated to sharing with you my second thoughts on a variety of topics ranging from; family, politics, life, friends, work, entertainment...really just about anything.  No need to agree with me.  Just hear another person's viewpoint beyond that acceptable first thought.  To see that possibly 'first thoughts' aren't necessarily 'final thoughts.'


And if you are so moved to have a thought of your own on any of my second thoughts, then email me at: rdcreek@cox.net or go to www.thelifeworkscoach.com and tell me what your thinking about on the topic at hand.  I may print your response in future articles.

My Second Thought for this week is sure arouse more than a passing thought:  

Would Christ Recognize His Own Holiday?

What do you think?

What Will Your Legacy Be?

I am fascinated with cemeteries. There are countless stories on the headstones at any cemetery. I love to read the markers and headstones and wonder about the person it speaks to. I mean wouldn't you love to ask, "well how did you end up here?" Well maybe not that one. But at least the general type questions. What did you do in life? What were the times when you were alive? Tell me about your family. Did you have any unfinished business? Wow you didn't live very long...what happened?

To be honest wouldn't it be cool to have a little audio player where you could record your own story and epitaph. I mean think of it. Someone walks up, pushes a play button, and there you are telling them who you were and what you did in life. Just think of the possibilities!

Some people call what you did in life and with your life, a legacy. And whatever your legacy is going to be has to be fashioned while your alive. So if you haven't started...well its time right?

You don't have to build a school or start a foundation to make a difference with your life in the world. And you don't have to be influential. Each of us is influential in our own ways.

With a small act of kindness, we can impact a friend's or co-worker's day. By taking time to share our knowledge, we can improve someones chances for success. Gretchen Rubin writes, "One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy."

Beyond your immediate circle, you can make a difference by linking up with an organization that serves the less fortunate or those who have been challenged in life. There are dozens of worthy causes to serve. Who could you be making happy?

Don't wait to make a difference - your legacy begins now.

PUSH PLAY...beeeep..."Hi thanks for stopping by today. I'd say its nice to see you but...anyway alittle about me....and hopefully the difference I made while I walked on the earth."

Excuse Me...What Time Is It?

Anyone ever ask you what time it is?

Of course they have...all through life people are asking "What time is it?" We have watches on our wrists, clocks in almost every room of where we live, clocks on our computers...banks have signs that tell us the time. Songs are written about time. We measure time by calendars. We measure time by events in our lives. We may hear a song on the radio that takes us back to a 'time' in our lives.

Time. There's one more way I'd like you to look at time. Talk to any elderly person and they will tell you they can't believe how fast the time went! They'll start a sentence with, "why it was just yesterday...my goodness where did the time go?"

You see for many of us the tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it. Time gets away from us before we even realize it.

For many of us in life it's time to action. Time to live with your priorities in mind and stop wishing things were different. Time to stop smoking, start exercising and eating right. Time to make that appointment, hug your child (even if they are older and now bigger than you), tell your friends and family members how much they mean to you, start that business, read that book, take that trip, make a difference.

What time is it?

It's time to start living and stop waiting.

Why Stop Now?

A woman in South Korea who tried to pass the written exam for a driver's license with near-daily attempts since April of 2005 has finally succeeded on her 950th time!

The aspiring driver spent more than 5 million won ($4,200) in application fees, but until now failed to score the minimum 60 out of a possible 100 points needed to get behind the wheel for a driving test.

Cha-Sa-soon, 68, finally passed the written exam with a score of 60 on Wednesday, said Choi Young-chul, a police official at the driver's license agency in Jeonju 130 miles south of Seoul.

Police said Cha took the test hundreds of times, but had no specific total. Local news media said she took the test 950 times.

"NOW she must pass a driving test before getting her license," Choi said.

Cha said that she needed her driving license for her vegetable-selling business.

So the next time you start out on an endeavor just think of Ms. Cha and don't give up. People who find ways to say 'yes' rather than give up, in the end succeed.

P.S. Let's hope the actual driving test went quicker!

Thoughts Are Powerful!

It has been suggested that we have around 60,000 thoughts per day...whew. That to me is astounding number. What is even more astonishing is how many of these thoughts are self-defeating ones. How easy it is to allow our train of thoughts to jump from one track of thinking or subject to another.

How difficult it can be to stop an old mental tape from playing over and over again about a frustrating conversation that we had with someone at work or at home. We replay the mental tape until we are exhausted and yet where have we found ourselves? The answer is in the same place we were before but now with wasted mental, physical and emotional energy. We have solved and resolved nothing.

Do your thoughts shape your life? Albert Einstein believed so. He said, "The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking." James Lane Allen, author of the book, "As a Man Thinketh" states, "You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you."

So how do you take control of your thoughts? How do you direct them from self-destructing thinking and behaviors to self-constructing and positive behaviors? By making a decision to do so and then committing to a thought controlling program, then you can begin to change your life. After the decision and commitments have been made, you must implement a mindful state of being...that is living a life that is mindful of what you think and are doing.

Now What? What If? It's Not Too Late!

I was talking to a friend recently about the state of events of being in "mid-life". We discovered that there are alot of 'mid-lifers' who agree that as they were "painting their lives" they ended up in the corner of their world. Not deliberately mind you. Maybe the fumes of life's moments got to them because one day they looked up from painting the floor and there they were pushing their backsides up against the wall and wondering how in the devil they got there. Stop and think about the frustration of it all. Can't step forward...WET PAINT!...can't go backwards...WALL! In a word, many mid-lifers feel TRAPPED! This was not suppose to happened right?

Sometimes people...mainly that baby boomer generation, 1946 - 1964, experience that great torture of watching a repeating movie of their lives when they could have believed in and pursued the dreams and goals that were available and attainable to them.
Sure its true you can't always dictate what issues come at you in life. Work, family, relationships, children, older parents, economy, health, etc. we all get to experience them. Raise your hand if none of these are a challenge for you...(that's what I thought...) each of us has one or maybe all of these.
So what can a 'mid-lifer' do to get out of the painted corner of their lives before its too late?

Don't be a Spectator!
While we all say we don't have enough time to do justice to our goals and dreams, each of us has all the time there is. None of us really has a time management problem. We really have a dream and goal-focus problem. We spend too much time worrying about the things we want to do but can't, instead of concentrating on doing the things we can do but don't. It is the regret for something we did or didn't do yesterday and the apprehension of what we can't do tomorrow that is the biggest energy drain on our lives. So many 'mid-lifers' become spectators, resigned to live their lives vicariously through others. They can see success for others but can't imagine it for themselves.

Stayed Focused on You
Avoid the tendency to measure your own progress by looking over the fence at greener pastures. There are many others who may have started a little earlier than you, and you may become discouraged if you see them harvesting success when some of your seeds are barely in the ground. Comparisons rarely benefits anyone. You'll always be able to find someone smarter, younger, older, wiser, richer, more clever, better looking, or working harder than you. So avoid comparing yourself to others. You will only lower your goals and settle for average when you could have had excellence.

Work on Your Attitude
Having a good attitude is the single most important key to success in anything and getting out of that corner. One of my favorite quotes is "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it." Hey I never said it was easy but it is the truth. You have to think like a winner to be a winner and that can be a challenge. Our attitude has a profound effect on our environment and there are those people who given the opportunity will squash it like a bug. Its what they do in life. They poison every conversation with their negativity and will draw you deeper into the corner you find yourself painted into if they can. Why should you have a great attitude when they don't is how they think. Do these people really ever go far in life? I mean really? Go flush your toilet right now and you'll get a visual of where these people are headed! They want you to join them.

Life is completely what YOU make of it. You create your own reality. So focus on the good things. Focus on adding value to your life. Focus own creating success for yourself and that's exactly what will happen.

And by the way...if you currently find yourself painted in the corner...think about it. Whoever said you couldn't walk on wet paint or knock a hole in the wall if it meant getting out and moving on. Sometimes you do what you have to do to keep moving. As my grandfather told me once, "alittle wet paint never hurt anyone."