ClydeStyle

Category: Sharing

  • Lessons confirmed in 2012

    20130104-234856.jpgIf you are reading this blog, then once again there were foolish folks that believed the world ended a few weeks ago. We should all be thankful we made it out of 2012.

    I have to say that I didn’t learn any “new” lessons, but I definitely confirmed some lessons I thought I knew. It’s always good to recap the previous year so that the next year is better. Each year we’re supposed to get better. Life is supposed to get easier. After all we matured didn’t we?

    Well, I hope that you are enjoying the new year and you are already working your plan of action to make 2013 better than 2012. With that said, here are the top 5 things I confirmed in 2012. I’d love to hear about your list.

    1) Read more non-fiction books and watch less TV! This one is a no-brainer. TV is run by corporate America and it is designed for one thing: To get you to buy the ads you see. There is science that supports the ability for ads to reach your subconscious mind. Your spending habits are linked to this. Now before you go thinking that I’m crazy, there is a company called NeuroFocus and they probe consumers subconscious by using Electroencephalography (I’m not smart enough to make up a word like this). The other problem with TV other than being a big waste of time is how your body handles your emotional reactions to shows. For example, whenever you get angry, your blood pressure rises and your arteries take a hit especially among older groups. So when you get so into a character on a show and their actions make you angry, your body doesn’t say, “Oh, you’re just watching TV.” Since your body can’t tell the difference, it handles that situation as if you were really angry.

    2) Life is too short so to maximize your time you should spend time letting the people close to you know how important they are to you. Your circle of trust should know who they are. Your family should know they are loved because they heard you say it as well as demonstrate it. You should make sure you are living forgiven meaning that no one should die thinking you have a grudge with them or that you thought ill of them. Be known as a giver and allow others to benefit from your generosity — not just your money, but even more important is your time.

    3) Get your house in order and keep it that way. This means that no matter how old you are the people close to you should know your advance directives and your wishes at end of life. We don’t know when our time is up, so it’s always a good thing — no matter how old you are — to have a plan and let those closest to you know what your plan is and the role they play in that plan. If you have done this, every year it’s a good idea to make sure it is current and your wishes are still the same. You want to make sure that the people involved in your plan at the end of life are still willing to carry out your wishes at the end.

    4) Everyone needs a day of rest. God rested from his labors on the seventh day and he created us with the idea that we would need a break from the natural rhythm of life to reset. There is an awesome book written by Dr. Marva Dawn called “Keeping the Sabbath Holy” and she beautifully describes this concept and gives a lot of great information on the topic.

    5) One of the most hurtful things is to have expectations for someone or something and get let down. It would help us all to remember that in America we make money. That’s what we do above all else. There are some secondary things that we do, but due to big business and politics, our system is flawed. Case in point: Sandy relief was recently left for the next session of congress because there was so much other stuff (like a new roof for the Smithsonian Institute) written into the bill. One would think that a bill with the subject Sandy Relief fund would only include things immediately related to people. I’m sure the Smithsonian probably does need a new roof, but at this point it is at the expense of the Sandy survivors. Our wars are about money and greed. There is an excellent documentary series by Oliver Stone on Showtime that talks about the untold history of the United States. It’s a sobering look at how the world sees and has seen our country over the years. This documentary has challenged me to re-evaluate what’s important to me and to help make America truly beautiful. Make the most of 2013 my friend!

  • I wish I could gift wrap common sense this year

    tumblr_m6z628lfAf1r566gro1_500Years ago I would have said that it seems around this time of the year that people loose their minds when it comes to shopping. Now I have to say that all year round there are constant reminders that all sense is not common.

    This year in particular it is really difficult to see anyone down on their luck when you go to the malls. People are shopping, but the shopping experience is not jolly. There are lots of attitudes, ignorance, selfishness and foolishness to go around — and that just the store employees. In addition, customers are ungrateful, unruly, liars and theives — and I saw all of this in just two hours at the mall.

    I couldn’t help but wonder wht is this all for? Is it all to make someone in a day feel like we should have made them feel all year? Is it our way of trying to buy off someone’s forgiveness instead of just apologizing? Or are we trying to make up for lost time or for not being there or for someone missing?

    Wouldn’t it be nice if we spent the entire year helping other people and then used this time of the year thanking folks for it? Imagine if we all had the mission of making a difference in our communities and that the more we made a difference, the less taxes we had to pay. Wouldn’t it be cool if thinking was a requirement and you were given tickets for not thinking in public? I guess the more we live the lesson is the same, all sense ain’t common! I just wish I could have Santa bring this gift to a few folks so that they can have a better New Year!

  • But God,

    Attention everyone!

    This is a break from the election junk. Please remember to vote Nov. 6 for whoever you support because it is your right.

    I was explaining to a group of kids this past week about my selection for president. Now before you think that I’m getting ready to give you my personal views on the candidates don’t worry. That’s not what I told the kids and it’s not what I’m going to waste your time on either.

    What I told them was about two of my favorite words in scripture and when these two words come together, look out! The two words I’m referring to are “But” and “God”. If my life were a manuscript, after every calamity it would read “but God.” After every screw up, every sin, every problem, every worry and every confession, I have been able to say “but God.”

    I’m very proud of this fact. I have personally experienced the unmerited favor of the Lord. Every time I read Ephesians 2:3-6 I get goose pimples because it is very personal to me. Paul writes: “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. BUT GOD, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;).”

    It’s not enough to simply know that we are sinners. It’s really the idea that we could experience such great love and not have earned it. It’s really that we have been granted peace, given grace and experience mercy. The level of forgiveness is not of this world and for this, all God wants us to do is trust and obey.

    It is this fact that makes me not a candidate for judging others. I am not a candidate eligible to sit on the same level as God and condemn anyone. BUT GOD did invite me to love, forgive, help, comfort, educate and nurture all of mankind. It’s the privilege I have as a child of the King. I have to always remember who is in control — and it ain’t ever been me. I’m glad that God sits high and looks low and shows favor to his children.

    No matter what happens on Nov. 6, I will be content where I am because God is in charge and I am eternally grateful for that. So when things go wrong and situations get out of hand, I hope like me you can smile and say, “But God.”

  • Greet one another

    An acute characteristic of a Christian ought to be that he or she is very friendly. I have heard many congregations say that they are the friendliest church around, but most times when you attend you can barely get a handshake.

    Christ seemed to have a natural way with people. It always fascinates me that crowds of sinner hung around just to hear what he had to say. Jesus was always gentle with them. He never made the feel like they were sinners. He never made them feel like he was better than them. And he never made them feel like they didn’t belong.

    But beyond making them feel welcomed, through his words he always gave them something valuable – the words of life.

    Every moment was like a teaching moment for Jesus. He never lost sight of his mission and he understood that how he greeted people would directly effect his ministry. He never gave people a license to sin or made them feel comfortable in sin. What Jesus did was profound: He accepted where they were in life and gave them words to move them forward.

    The woman he met at the well in John 4 is a great example. Despite the obvious differences of Jesus being Jewish and the woman being a Samaritan, Jesus did something to show her instant acceptance. He asked her for a drink of water. When she heard the question she had a hard time digesting it. She knew he didn’t have anything to drink with meaning that he would have to drink from her cup.

    That’s not something a Jewish person would have done at that time. This would have been worse than a White person drinking from the “colored” fountain in Mississippi in 1930!

    Jesus with one question did more to build a relationship with someone different than many Christians do today. To have the same Spirit of Christ we have to have the ability and desire to walk in his steps.

  • Another school year in the books!

    Well, it’s June and that means most kids (and some are already out) are wrapping up another school year. It seems like they just started school and now it’s over. I used to get caught off guard every time school ended for the summer. By off guard I mean every year I would say that I wanted my kids to be active and have a fun, educational summer, but I had no idea of what they would do.

    I was so used to seeing kids go wild over the summer! Teachers even prepare to received these little wild ones in the fall. Someone had to put a stop to this!

    I decided that it was time for my kids to make good use of the summer and as much as I wanted them to be active and have fun, I also wanted them to not stop learning. I wanted them to have fun learning and stimulate their minds as well as their physical bodies. Here is a list of five things that I have used in the past to accomplish this goal.

    Summer bucket list:

    1) Visit the library weekly — the library is a fun and inexpensive way to stimulate the mind of your child. This is great for the whole family. The library has a full list of activities to enjoy.

    2) Take a field trip with the kids once a month and — dare I say — have them do a report on what they learned. I had to pay my kids for this, but they did learn. We went to museums, festivals and even a concert. These become great conversation pieces at the dinner table.

    3) Have your children write a reaction paper to the movies they watch over the summer. They can discuss the movies with you and then put their thoughts down on paper.

    4) Teach your children about the wonderful fruits and vegetables that come in season over the summer.

    5) Cook with your children so they learn how to be self sufficient and they get hands on learning.

    These are my top 5. You can also make sure they are reading books, they have chores to do regularly and you limited their television viewing. Kids tend to watch more TV in the summer than any other time of the year. More than anything else, make it a summer that they can remember. Don’t forget that you are building life long memories.

  • Us big folks have to stick together!

    Here is my pre-summer appeal for America to wake up to the fact that we are waaaay too big! When I say way too big, I mean fat. America is obese and I would like to do something to help.

    I’m not talking about any diet you have ever heard of. This blog is specifically for big folks like me. As an experiment for the summer, please join me  in three months of healthy eating. I call it the plus, minus, plus diet (+-+). For the first month, you still eat everything you normally eat and I just want to add some things to your diet. Then, for the second month we will eliminate a few things. Finally, the third month we will add some additional things and see what Mr. Scale says then. (I’ve learned to respect the scale!) This will just cover June 3 – September 3. If you like it and this diet works for you, email me and I’ll give you the next three months. The next set is called minus, minus, plus (- – +). I lost 100 pounds in 13 months doing exactly what you are going to read next. Now of course I went from eating everything to being a pescetarian who doesn’t eat any dairy and still no bottom feeders. This happened in my ninth, 10th and 11th months of dieting, but I’ll talk about that at another time. The bottom line is I feel great and I want you to feel great too! Ready?

    For June:

    Eat whatever the heck you want (or just what you are currently eating), but you have to eat these additions first. It does not matter if you are diabetic or not. Make the proper adustments.

    You are to add five servings of fruit and five servings of vegetables. Two servings of vegetables can be cooked, but the rest (five pieces of fruit and three servings of vegetables) MUST be raw! When I first started doing this I thought it would be hard. I didn’t know the variety of vegetables I know now and I didn’t know how to appreciate a good green salad. I made green smoothies and  you can knock off two of each category that way. Be creative and make sure you get the quality stuff…you deserve the best! This is the point when I discovered the Whole Foods Market!

    The next thing to add is filtered water — lots of it! Undoubtedly your biological system needs to be flushed out so 60 to 80 ounces of filtered water would be appropriate. This is easiest to accomplish by just making water your drink of choice. Wake up in the morning and drink 20 ounces of water before you do anything. This will jump start your organs and help flush out anything leftover from the previous day. If you do it this way, it makes reaching 80 ounces easier. Your urine should be light yellow or clear — that’s what you are going for — clear pee! 🙂

    For July:

    You are going to look hotter than July when you take away the following things from your diet. You do not need to eat processed foods, dairy or red meat. I would love it if you would drop these things completely, but I know it is not realistic for everyone to do that. So, to make this as guilt free as possible, (and don’t forget to carry your additions from June into July), make an effort to eliminate these things. If you cannot go cold turkey, then start with a meatless Monday, or eat processed foods for just 10 days out of the month. Red meat should be treated like a delicacy and it would be better to eat chicken and fish than the red meats. You also need to stop all fried foods. It’s too hot to eat fried food anyway, is it? Purge these things from your diet and get active. Most of the time we eat because we’re bored. Get out an enjoy the summer!

    For August:

    At this point you should have had some level of success and you should be emailing me about the next phase. This month is easy because all you are going to add is consistent exercise. You should have more energy, but all you have to do is something that is consistent and will make you sweat. Walking is awesome! You need to take just 30 minutes each day (yes, seven days a week — it’s only three and a half hours!) to raise your heart rate, break a sweat and have fun. Consult your primary care physician before beginning any exercise program. This would be a great time to start with a personal trainer if you can. If not, there are several million books and dvds — the goal is to exercise. I strongly recommend getting a partner to exercise with. You two can be accountable to each other and be a source of encouragement. Don’t forget to carry June’s and July’s routine into August.

    There you have it! My + – + diet to a new and better YOU! Make sure you pray and meditate at the beginning and end of each day. I’m here if you need me!

  • Make a habit of it!

    You know, I was recently thinking about the habits I have. Like everyone I have some good habits and bad habits and it made me wonder why we never think to capitalize on this concept?

    Habits are behaviors that are regularly repeated and can even occur subconsciously. Habitual behavior often goes unnoticed, because a person does not need to engage in self-analysis when doing a routine task. Habituation is one of the simplest forms of learning, in which an organism, after a period of exposure to a stimulus, stops responding to that stimulus in varied manners – technically speaking.

    Habits are sometimes compulsory. The process by which new behaviors become automatic is habit formation. Old habits are hard to break and new habits are hard to form because the behavioral patterns we repeat are imprinted in our neural pathways, but it can be done.

    The general population only seems to be interested in the bad habits. If someone had a habit of helping seniors with their groceries or helping them with chores, no one would care. If a guy had a habit of womanizing, we could draw a crowd pretty quick.

    What if we were able to effectively trick our bodies into forming habits that were good for us? I mean instead of just falling into a bad habit, what if we were calculated with forming a good habit? Our bodies seem to respond well to repetition and at least in theory it would work. What if we formed a habit of eating five servings of vegetables and fruits per day? What if we made it a habit of giving our kids a daily dose of encouragement? What if we made it a point to make someone’s life a little easier every day? Whether it’s at home or at work, there are people in our lives who would be affected in a positive way if we thought to give them some unsolicited help.

    It is the little things in life that make it worth living. It’s the things that money can’t buy. I need to make a habit of exercising daily. I need to make a habit of building the reputation of a helper. I need to make a habit of visiting my parents weekly. I need to make a habit of eating more salad.

    What about you?

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  • How about your life?

    Are you enjoying life?

    This is a simple “yes” or “no” question that you should be able to answer immediately.

    This question is so relevant to the perspective of the person answering. We could assume that a six year old who got everything he wanted for Christmas would probably answer in the affirmative. While a family living in their mini van because a bank took their home of 22 years and sold it for less than half of what they owed may simply answer this question with a look — a look of disgust, a look of betrayal and a look of hopelessness.

    We as a country were once proud to say we were the land of the free and the home of the brave. We bragged about how our ancestors migrated here in search of a better life. Many have benefited for what those ancestors accomplished.

    We became spoiled with all of the benefits most of us had. Then we went from spoiled to arrogant. Some began to acted like they created the benefits instead of just merely being a recipient of them.

    Some got greedy and now spend their days trying to make it difficult for others to come here seeking a better life. And all of that negative energy makes life enjoyable for no one.

    For the little kid who takes his ball and heads home from the playground angry because he didn’t get his way, he will only be sad to get home and find there is no one to play with. The folks he left at the playground are without a ball now, so they can’t play either.

    No one wins in this scenario. Not the playground dwellers nor the ball keeper.

    It seems that the ancestors knew how to play ball and get along with everyone on the playground. When more people came to play, they created more playground equipment and more games and everyone enjoyed.

    Now, there is only a small percent of ball keepers with attitudes and a host of playground dwellers who are hopeless. There is nothing being created so there’s no growth and no one is happy.

    It is not what we have or have acquired that makes us happy for happiness is much deeper than that. What we do, even the decisions we make and how we feel about the results of those decisions are the real source of happiness and will lead to an enjoyable life.

    So if you spent your time screwing people over for a profit or getting ahead on the backs of others, that may make you rich, but you’re no where near happiness for happiness cannot be acquired this way.

    But if you are spending this life enhancing the lives of the people around you, making a positive difference in the area you dwell and taking advantage of the opportunities God places before you, I already know how you would answer the opening question. Those around you know how you would answer. Now we have to reach those who still haven’t gotten it.

  • Another year

    It seems that the older we get, the faster the years go by.

    We were just ushering in 2011 and now it’s over. The end of the year becomes a time where we are able to reflect on the things that happened and make changes if needed.

    It’s a time where we should be deciding to end bad relationships because the year has revealed to us that there is no benefit in them.

    It’s time to take control over the things that this year has shown us are out of control.

    It’s time to rededicate our lives to the people who matter the most to us.

    It’s time to talk to God about purpose, plan and repentance.

    It’s time for us to make sure that we don’t miss out on the real important things in life because we’re too busy chasing the superficial things.

    Don’t let 2012 come and go without you experiencing the things that matter most. Make sure you seize every moment to love someone, admire things God created like sunsets and rainbows and mentor someone that needs you — what God has hidden in these types of relationships make life worth living.

    And finally, do the best you can to eliminate stress, the Western culture diet and revenge out of your life. All three of these things can kill you.

    Lord thank you for allowing us to see another year. Grant us the courage to make the most of it and honor and glorify your name in it.Amen!

    Happy New Year my friends!

  • A true worker for the Lord

    Have you ever thought about asking God what you can do for him?

    It seems to be a foreign concept to ask the creator of the universe if he needs us to do something. But when we consider how the Almighty has set things up, we actually should be asking him that, more times than not.

    Consider this: John the Baptist came to bear witness of the light. The bible says he was not that light, but came to bear witness of the light to the world.

    Jesus then comes on the scene as the light and teaches his disciples that they are the light of the world.

    Question: If I am the light of the world, shouldn’t I ask the originator of the light where he wants me to shine?

    I can make some assumptions, but why? Is it too much to think that God would actually place certain people on our hearts and minds so that we can pray for them, minister to them or just help them?

    If this still sounds foreign to you, pray this to the Lord: “Father in heaven, you have been so good to me and I don’t deserve it. I want to serve in your kingdom and show the world how good you are. Please point me in the right direction. Give me a ministry that I might utilize the gifts you gave me to better your cause. I love you and thank you in Jesus name, amen.”

    See how simple it is? It’s good to be in a place where you are content and can see clearly how to help another person get there.

    The harvest is still plentiful, but the workers are still few…. selah.