THE SMALLEST SPARK

John was 42-years-old and had always dreamed of earning a college degree.  No one in his family had ever graduated college.  The desire was there.  The vision was there.  Unfortunately, I had also spoken with John when he was 38.  What was his dream at 38?  John wanted to earn a college degree.  After a few minutes of probing I discovered that, in four years, John had not applied for admittance to a single university. 

I asked John, “If you could earn a college degree in one day, would you already have a college degree?” 

“Of Course!” John answered.

“You’re right, John.  I have no doubt you would have a degree.  But the truth is, you can earn a college degree in one day and I can tell you how.  Would you like to know how?”

“Sure”, John answered, with a great deal of skepticism in his voice.

“Let me explain...”  

“Do you ever lie in bed at night worrying if you will have oxygen available tomorrow to breathe?”

“It never really crosses my mind”, John replied, laughing.

“Does tomorrow’s oxygen serve you any purpose today?”

“Of course not”, John answered.

“ Well, John, oxygen is a lot like our time, we can sit around and talk about what we’re going to do tomorrow, next month, or next year but that fact is, we can really only do something about today.  Just like we can only take one breath at a time, we can only live 'one day' at a time.  Focusing on or worrying about  'four year' goals paralizes us.  The key is to just focus on 'one day' goals.  Because, if you think about it, that really is all you can control.  And when you focus on the things you can control, your chances for success greatly improve.” 

I left John with one exercise to complete before the start of each day.  I requested that he read the following phase and just focus on it a few minutes:

“Do something today that will make my dreams closer tomorrow.”

I asked John to visualize his dream every morning and schedule one action (no matter how small) that day to bring it a little closer to reality.  John followed this advise and is on his way to becoming the first college graduate in his family.  What was his first step on the day he began reading the above written statement?  Writing his name on the application where is said “Name”.  That is all he did.  The next day, after reading the phrase, John went to his kitchen table where he had left the application (instead of sticking it back in a file cabinet) and noticed two things:  The name of a four-year university and his name directly below it.  He visualized that being a diploma and took action in making his dreams come true, "one day" at a time. 

Remember:  The smallest action will always carry you further than the biggest intention, and…

THE SMALLEST SPARK, AT THE RIGHT TIME, WILL IGNITE THE BIGGEST DREAM.

5 Minutes…

As Christmas finds us once again

And we hurry to complete our deeds

So that everyone we love so much

Will have a gift by Christmas Eve

It seems each year we try to “buy love” at the mall

Or the ultimate tool at Sears

And even Wal-Mart has promised to offer

The lowest prices in years!

So while I was thinking

About what I could buy

For friends I hold so dear

I know a check written to send you all to Hawaii

Would probably…. never clear!

I finally decided on the best gift I could give

Which was simply a part of my time

And to take 5 minutes away from my life

And give it to friends so kind

For you see, the paper bird you hold

Could not be sold for a lot of cash

But remember, the real value lies in the 5 minutes I took to craft it

For those 5 minutes… I can never rehash

The true value is found in how I invested this time

As, with each fold, I thought of my friends and the dreams they hold so dear

And as each small fold slowly created this bird

I asked God to share with you strength and guidance

Because I know sometimes, the road to success, will not always be clear

So this Christmas I may not be able to shower my friends

With gifts that will astonish their neighbor

Therefore I offer you, my friends, all I could give…

5 minutes of my time in prayer… discussing your dreams and family… with our creator

I WISH ALL OF YOU A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT DURING 2010!

(The picture of the folded birds below is what was given to a number of folks in their Christmas card this year.)

Chadrick Black 2010

HOW FAST CAN YOU RUN?

“How fast can you run?”  Do you remember how important that question was in grade school?  I’m sure many of you have not been asked that question in a long time.  But truthfully, we need to ask ourselves that question more often.

“How fast can you run?” does define many of our lives.  As children, how fast we could run was based on our athletic abilities and desires to push ourselves.  The same was with climbing, jumping, and holding our breath.  We wanted to push our limits! 

As adults though, our answer to this question many times tends to be: “It’s according to what is chasing me.”  We may not say that answer, but many of our lives reflect that answer.  We “run” just fast enough to stay ahead of bill collectors.  We “run” just fast enough to avoid job termination.  Unfortunately, many of us “run” just fast enough to avoid divorce.  We have found our steady pace in life (which tends to be in line with the friends and associates we choose) and “run” through life with a “half-hearted” effort.

But…… just like a cheetah stalking a gazelle on the African plains, most of the things “chasing us” in adulthood sneak up on us before we have time to increase our pace.  This happens with past due notices, fights with our spouse over insignificant issues, and reprimands at work.  Many times we survive these attacks, but sometimes we don’t.  Even if we do survive, we are forced to continually look over our shoulder and adjust our pace to what is trying to catch us.  This takes energy and focus from our life which destroys drive, ambition, and happiness.

Why do we set the pace of our lives trying to avoid negative events?

“How fast can you run?”  Have you ever figured that out as an adult?  Have you ever stopped looking over your shoulder, looked forward with determination and drive, and given your all?  When you do this, an amazing thing happens.  Everything in your life, positive and negative, friend or enemy, will have to adjust their pace to keep up with you.  You will lie down at night knowing that on that day, you gave it everything.  Today, you were in control.

I believe the people who have realized this are the people who are creative, empowering, and demonstrate control in their life.  Why?  Because we tend to pace our life and measure our success by them.  They are the Olympic athletes, the sports stars, the writers, the successful businessmen and women who did not look over their shoulder to see how close they were to being caught by failure.  They simply ran as fast as they could…

How fast can you run?

Why Are We Here???

I’ve spoke and written on occasion about the purpose of life and always present the following argument:

Why did God create us and place us on earth?  If he was simply seeking friendship, why not just create man “in his image” and spend eternity with man and forget about the world?  Why allow war, hunger, disease, struggle, and hate run rampant in this world and then place his “most cherished creation” right in the middle of it?  What was the need to place us in a world separated from him just to spend our life “searching for” and developing a relationship with him?

I’ll present my thoughts and feel free to share your thoughts as well…

This world presents one of the best gifts God could have given us that, based on biblical records, will not be offered after this life is over.  And it seems what this world and life offers is something even God couldn’t resist – the desire to create. 

God found pleasure in “creating” the universe, this earth, and us.  (And God saw every thing he had made, and, behold (it was) very good - Gen: 1:31)

Therefore, if he found pleasure in creating, and we were made in his image, why would he deny his “most cherished creation” the chance to create and experience the pleasure that comes with creating?  

I believe, not only did he share this gift, he placed this gift in every person's heart from birth.  And if you will pay attention to a new baby, the gift of "creativity" is one of the first pleasures enjoyed in life.    

For example, I remember when Allie was just weeks old, she quickly became aware that shaking a rattle “created” a noise.  Therefore, she continued to “create” a noise because she received pleasure from it.  Just last week, she received pleasure from painting one of our chairs and our English bulldog with a permanent pink marker.  She had created something, “saw it was good, and found pleasure in it.” 

By the way, she will be receiving a painter’s easel for Christmas to see if we can better “contain” the creativity.  

I believe we’re not just here to seek God, but the chance to experience the feeling God experienced when he created the world.  And I believe we’re all given talents and opportunities to “create” something in this world that will live forever, even if we’re just here for a short time...

So the question becomes:  What are you creating?  Are you creating a happy family?  Are you creating a successful business?  Are you creating loving relationships?  Are you creating art that adds beauty to the world? 

“True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new…” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

AT THE HEART OF SUCCESS (An Introduction)

I will not be satisfied with complacency.  I will not accept the fact that the best I can be was yesterday.  I will live with the hope that my best is always tomorrow.  My best will be a future occurrence not a past memory.

I want to find a dream and mission that wakes me up at 3:00 a.m. and will not allow me to find rest until I fuel it again and again.  I want this dream to channel the passions of my childhood combined with the knowledge of great thinkers throughout history.

I want failure.  I invite it to dine with me and share with me the knowledge that it offers when it enters my home.

I want to be knocked down repeatedly by mistakes, for it is mistakes that teach me and remind me of the fairness and level playing field called life.

I do not want by biggest accomplishments to be fame, money, or power.  I want to be able to finish this life knowing that I did not sacrifice my values to obtain fame, money, or power.

I want to meet my enemies on the street and greet them without envy, hate, or fear.  I will not allow people to evoke emotions in me that I have the power to control.

I ask daily for the strength to find courage, conviction, and determination so I can share my gifts with every person I meet.

I invite life to enter the ring and give me the best it has.  I may go down, but I will not stay down.  I will study its strategy.  I will learn for its mistakes.  I accept life’s ability to fight many rounds and throw pain, fear, and failure at me.  But the last round will be mine.  The last round I will be perfect.

I know the best I have to offer exists in days that my eyes have not witnessed because…

AT THE HEART OF MY SUCCESS LIES THE POWER TO MAKE TOMORROW GREATER THAN TODAY!

At the heart of my success I find this statement.  It reminds me that my life is more than a paycheck, power, or position.  Life was a great gift given to me and I am very careful how I use it.  Therefore I will use this endowment to take me higher and further each day I am blessed with.

In the upcoming study guide, I have included writings and exercises that have helped me during my journey - writings and exercises that challenge my convictions, my attitude, and my decisions on a daily basis.

My hope is that it will help you find what is at the heart of your success.

"He cared for the likes of us..."

     “He cared for the likes of us,” was the sentiment expressed in the tears of a young desolate girl to the queen at the funeral of William Booth. And while many reading this do not know the name William Booth or have knowledge of his story, his life reminds us of the power of following our hearts, discrediting the critics, and listening to the voice inside that whispers: “This is why you are here.”
     Mr. Booth was born in Nottingham, England in 1829. At the age of thirteen, he entered an apprenticeship at a local pawn shop to help care for his mother and sisters. And while he did not find enjoyment in his job, it placed him face-to-face with the overlooked issue of poverty in England as well as the humiliation and the acts of cruelty and exploitation that cursed these people’s daily lives.
     Upon completing his internship, Mr. Booth moved to London, got married, and continued to work in the pawn-brokering trade. And it is in London where his desire to address the issue of poverty, his availability to be a part of that change, and accepting his purpose, all collided. But as with most great causes, it did not come without sacrifice...
     While in London, Mr. Booth felt called to become a Methodist minister, believing this path would offer him a means of addressing the issues with the homeless and hungry, but after a number of years and little progress, he denounced himself as a minister.
     He later wrote a book entitled In Darkest England and the Way Out, concerning the issues of the poor and hungry in England – the same people he had witnessed coming in and out of the pawn shops, in torn rags and exhausted from tireless and grueling labor in sweat-shops. He hoped his book would create the change needed. But his efforts with the book were swiftly crushed by critics citing Mr. Booth’s attack against trade unions, of advocating socialism, and of using the popular platform of poverty to merely conceal his desire to share religious beliefs.
     However, it was on a hot July night in 1865, that Mr. Booth found his purpose. Walking home late through the appalling streets of East London, he observed five-year-olds stumbling drunk from local taverns, men fighting in the streets, mothers forcing alcohol down their babies’ throats, and the smell of raw sewage filling the air. And that is when words from his past life as a minister became forefront in his mind – a challenge from Jesus Christ himself:

“I was hungry, and you fed me: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in. Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers, you did for me.”

     Mr. Booth had found his purpose! Soon after this experience, he placed a tent near the slums in East London as a place of refuge. Torches were lit and bells rang to show the way and to get the people’s attention. The message shouted out to the gathering audience was “Come drunk or sober”.
The people did come. The movement did grow. And as it grew, Mr. Booth opened one tent after another to house the growing crowds. Soup kitchens were established and three course meals were provided for pennies. Gifts went to the homeless and to the orphanages. Every Christmas, dinners were distributed throughout the streets of London.
     Later on, Mr. Booth was questioned as to why he did this. His answer? “We saw the need, we saw the people starving, we saw people going about half-naked, people doing sweated labor, and we set about to bring a remedy for these things. We were obligated. There was a compulsion. How could you do anything else?”
     Mr. Booth continued to fight poverty until the end. And the end occurred in 1912. Approximately forty thousand people attended his funeral, including the Queen of England, who sat among the common folk and next to a prostitute who Mr. Booth had helped and had shared the encouraging statement, “When you get to heaven, you’ll have a place of honor.” The only flowers on his casket were three red carnations placed by a young girl able to get close enough to adorn the glass lid.
Until this point, many of you are not familiar with William Booth. But you know his work and have most likely donated to his purpose. And I believe a statement in his later life best sums up his passion and purpose. “However poor you may be, however wretched you may be, however bad you may be, you have two friends. One is Jesus Christ, and the other is The Salvation Army!”
     Therefore, as each holiday season is escorted in by the melodic sounds of a ringing bell outside many of the retail stores across America with someone standing beside a small red bucket collecting donations and sometimes, offering a warm glowing candle and smile, remember William Booth. A man who, in 1865 accepted the challenge of the one whose birthday we celebrate each Christmas - the one who came to teach us how we should really treat one another. And while Mr. Booth’s life ended in 1912, his purpose lives on today, feeding and clothing the poor and hungry in over 100 countries each year.
     However, it was a little girl who attended Mr. Booth’s funeral in 1912 that reminds us of the impact we can have when we follow our hearts. A little girl who paid tribute to Mr. Booth by placing three red carnations on his casket – an underprivileged child whose eyes simply said to the queen, “He cared for the likes of us”.

And that is simply because he saw Jesus in them…


Reference:

1 www.salvationarmy.org
2 Words to Die For, Copyright 2002, Broadman and Holman Publishers.