Break the mold of society

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the lateness in this post, I was writing another piece but wasn't ready to release it so I decided to start again- and at this moment I can hear all the writers out there saying 'I feel ya bro'! :)

I don't like being negative but I have to admit that the world we live in is a sad place -and not because of wars, hurts or injustice (all though all those things are really not great).

No, today I say the world is a sad place because:

• people can't give a compliment without someone thinking they have an ulterior motive

• people are so use to not being thanked, they get scared when they are

• no one goes out of their way for anyone, for fear of being judged

• the phrase what's mine is yours has now become what's mine is mine & mine alone

• you can't have a conversation without someone trying to guess what the discussion is really about.

• people feel such a lack of community and support they will use public facilities to care for their kids instead of finding someone to look after them!

Since when did we become a world where trust, care and love were placed so low on the bar of importance in society that you'd need to be a limbo champion to reach them? 

It's time that someone changed this and today I'm putting the call out to all who read this post for that person to be you.

Too often in society, and this especially goes out to the Christians reading this, we would rather be accepted in society than to do what is right - I mean why try to help others out when we can just be happy with our friends, in our groups which love and care for us all and giving token gestures to show our support of the plight of the wider world?

Doing what is right however is how we will change the world. 

Now you might be saying, but I'm just one person doing right, surely my small works will do nothing. I say think again!

By doing what's right, you can inspire everyone around you and then they'll try it and inspire all around them and soon, communities & towns are all getting involved.

One of the greatest examples of this is one of my workmates. He works on the road but whenever he's in the office he's always buying coffee for others and inviting them to join him when he buys it, without ever expecting anything in return.

In doing this, he's not only inspired me to be more generous but he's made our entire team more generous as we see how much happier we are when we're giving. Now people regularly go on coffee trips together and we also buy each other coffee even when he's not around. 

This guy has changed an entire area of an office by one simple task.

Another example is the great community I belong to. A lot of these people give everything to help others see how great life can be. 

Even when budgets are tight, these are people who will by a smorgasbord of food for an event or a lolly store for a party. They also truly make everyone around them feel special and in doing so, inspire others to do the same.

Now while these two examples are great, they really shouldn't be anything special. This should be the way that we act all the time but sadly, it's so rare it needs to be pointed out here.

It's time we all started to act like this, the way Jesus called us to and the way we know we should as followers of God. Sure it's not normal and sure it might cause people to question or either persecute us, but we should expect that when doing God's will and be willing to keep going knowing the great change we can make.

So what are you waiting for... it's time to break the mold of society and change the world for the better. 

Till next time...

It's time to take on the storms in life

Hi everyone,

Have you ever tried to avoid a storm when you need to go somewhere? If you have, then chance are that you'd quickly realise that it's not an easy thing to do.

Sure you can go inside and be safe from it, but it will still hit the surrounding areas and have some impact on your life, even it is only that it delays you from where you were going.

Then there's the option to try to run away from it. While that's feasible in short stages, the problem with it is that you will most likely either have the storm follow you or, if you do avoid it at the time, another storm will come and you'll have to run again, constantly running from the weather to avoid it and never getting to where you needed to be.

Just like the weather, the storms in our lives - whether they are caused by loss, tragedy, lack of belief or circumstances we can't control - can have a severe impact on who we are and how our lives pan out.

All too often, people avoid moments or don't do what they know needs to be done as they feel that in doing this, they avoid the storm that is to hit if they keep going forward and face the challenges in their lives. Problem is though, just like the weather, they are either left stranded or the same/a similar problem arises hours, days or weeks later and the issue is never resolved.

So just what should we do when a storm hits. Well - as much as I hate to say it, when a storm hits, the best thing to do is to batten down the hatches and go straight through it and today, I'm going to give three reasons as to why.

1. If you go through a storm, while it may seem to be a destructive and at times terrifying process, you will always gain something out of it. While it's easy to think about how a storm can destroy or knock out power lines, it's sometimes harder, but just as true to say that they bring families closer together through time spent stuck at home, they unite people as they fight to help those affected and they make us all realise what's important. The same goes with storms of life - sometimes God shakes things up in our lives not because he want to cause chaos, but because we need a reminder of what's important and how much we need to draw back to him. Next time a storm comes in life, rather than seeing a negative, work to find the lessons to be gained.


2. Storms remind us that there are some things we can't control in life. Too often in our lives we get caught up in trying to make things happen our way but in a storm, we aren't able to do this. We become passengers to a much bigger phenomenon and have to rely on others knowledge of the weather charts and area to be able to stay safe. It's the same with the storms of life. The best thing you can do when faced with a storm is to just give up the problem to God and trust he'll see you through. Like working through storm, it isn't easy, but you can be assured that he'll be with you every step of the way and if it's meant to be in life, he will guide us safely out of the thunder and lighting.


3. At the end of every storm, there is a rainbow and clear skies. Now I know this is the one
   
   I struggle with the most - especially when metaphorically you are being drenched and the thunder and lighting is all around you. There are times recently where I have really felt as if there was no end to the craziness, but it's important that all of us in these times continue to look towards the end goal and have hope. This is not only because we believe in a God who will always see us through, but also because when we do this, we focus our energies on getting through the problem. This is a key to overcoming a storm as unless we realise there's a problem and work towards solving it, nothing will ever change in life.
   
   

Storms are designed to be moments of amazing power and change - in just one severe storm, many trees can be destroyed which will in the long run allow them to re-generate and become even greater or weather patterns can be changed from a sweltering hot day to a cooler, more comfortable summer night.

The same goes with the storms of life. It won't be easy, but if we are willing to take a risk, trust God and ride the storm, then we give ourselves the opportunity to grow in not only our understanding of a situation, but also in ourselves as well, 

So what storms are in your life that you need to confront and see through? Make tonight the night you do something about them and set your life free for greatness.

Till next time,.,

P.S. stay tuned for a special bonus post this weekend - it's going to be a life changer.

Time to move on...

Hi everyone!

Apologies once again for the gap in posts (seems like I should make this a monthly post LOL!)

Seriously though, I do apologise for the delay in writing and for not getting any more Lent posts up. I have recently moved and we didn't have internet for a whole month (another story for another day) but yes, now we have it, I'll be back online and hope to have a post for you every 2 weeks.

But yes, back to that news in the last paragraph- I've moved. It's not a spur of the moment thing, I've been planning to move for a few months now, but it's finally happened.

I haven't just moved down the road though, I've moved to the other side of the city and with that has brought many interesting experiences and adjustments to get use to being in a different location and in a different environment to the one I've become very use to.

Like any move, there's been the setting up of rooms, the travelling of stuff and the joy of having boxes around the place and never having any time to do anything with them. Along with this though, there's been the differences that take a bit of getting use to - like being at the Easter Triduum (for those who don't know what that is- it's the time between Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday) and not being in my home parish- having different ways of doing things and being in a different place in general when you are so use to being at the same place for so long can be a bit of a shock.

As the weeks go on however, I am getting more and more use to being in a new place and I feel as if it is now more home than my old place is. I am enjoying the new journeys and I am fortunate to have some great housemates which has made the whole thing even smoother than usual.

I write all this above as I think it relates very well to where I reckon a lot of you are as we head out of Lent and into this Easter season.

For many people, there were things that you did over Lent that were different to what you had done before (sacrifices made, attitudes changed) and you are not where you were when we started those 40 something days ago.

The problem with this is that now that Lent is over and you are once again able to do the things you could do before, there's a temptation to go back to what is comfortable and you know the outcome of - to slip back into bad habits or lose the progress made during this time in the desert.

This is not however what God has called us to. We are always called to something greater and to grow in ourselves and our ever deepening relationship with Christ.

Just like how for me, getting use to moving has taken time - so it is with you and your changes. For everyone of us, change is a difficult and at times scary thing - but it is so necessary if we want to keep growing and it is vital that we stick to the path, no matter how challenging it might become.

I've written before about how you need to keep going at something for it to become a habit and the same relates for the changes we have made over the Lenten period.

It is great to have given up chocolate, being angry, being more compassionate to others or to have begun to read more scripture or go to mass more often over these last few days, but if we don't keep on with this after Lent then we will miss out on our chance to grow as people of God.

To really see how God will work in your life, you need to take your Lenten promise and keep running with it for all of your life. It should become part of your psyche and another building block to your development as a Child of Christ.

Now I don't mean that if you've given up something, you must keep giving it up, but I do mean that you shouldn't go back to old ways.

For example, one of the things I did this Lent was I had a few weeks where I took a complete break from social media. Now while it is tempting to go back to spending every spare moment looking at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the truth is, I know how much of a waste of time that was and so I am now going to limit my time on these, knowing I'll be better off because of it.

If we are to be the Easter people God wants us to be, then we need to make sure that we keep alive the light that God calls us to carry- and that includes working to become the people we started to grow into over Lent.

Now that doesn't mean we aren't going to stumble every now and then - that's human nature but we know from Christ rising for us that he won't ever not be there for us and in these times, we need to turn to him and then keep powering on.

So don't let the work you've done over Lent go by and in the process lose the real value of Easter and Resurrection Day. Make this be your move to a greater and better life- as God intended it to be.

Praying for you all and till next time...