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...

The 5 key things you need to survive the storm

Hi everyone,

So I promised you something life changing a few days ago and hopefully here it is.

In the last post I talked to you about why we need to sail through a storm rather than just avoid it - now I'm here to give you five things you need to do just this.

These however are not only important when it comes to overcoming challenges in life - they also will change the way you view the world and possibly make your life very different to what it is now.

1. Belief- first and foremost, you need to believe that you can overcome the challenge. You won't get past a tough situation if you can't see that there could be an end in sight. As humans, we hate the unknown and we'd rather be in a bad situation then go to an unknown that could be even worse. It's why it's so important to make sure you have stored in your mind a belief you can overcome any challenge. Even if when the challenge arises, you feel you can't overcome it, just knowing that you've trained your mind to think you can will make the process of working to overcome it easier.


2. Pride- now I know, there are plenty of post in this blog alone that talk about the danger of being filled with pride. In this case however, pride isn't a bad thing to have, when used correctly. Being proud of who you are as a person is key to gaining the confidence and belief to overcome challenges. If we aren't proud of who we are, then we can get lost in trying to be someone else or being favoured by others, which in a time of challenge, can lead us astray from the simple path out of the wilderness. We need to stay strong in our values and be proud of the person we are, flaws and all.
   


3. Humility- alongside pride however, we also need to have some humility. Want to know why so many great explorers died while exploring - and it wasn't because they weren't good enough! They perished because they weren't humble enough to know their limits and to seek out help when their abilities couldn't take them any further. When you're in a challenge and you don't know where to turn to, be brave enough to say that and seek the advice of those who you trust and who can build your confidence, or who have been through it before and can help you out of the mire.


4. Support- Of course, in order to seek out people for advice and confidence building, you have to have support around you in the first place. I think it is paramount that whether you are in a challenge or not, that you have a group of people around you at all times to help you with your life. As someone who for many years was a solo eagle - I know from plenty of experience that this is not the way to go, and that having support is key to success, especially when overcoming storms in life. Sometimes, having someone to talk to will clear the bad weather before it brews into a storm. Other times, having someone to talk to make travelling through the storm a little easier. Either way, if you ain't got a support network around you yet - now is the time to do so.


5. Patience- ah good old patience. Something I know I'm always in need of more of and really one
   
   of the more vital keys to surviving the storms of life. So often, we see a problem and we want to solve it straight away, then when we don't, we get downhearted and we need the other four keys mentioned above to get out of the storm. The truth is though, if we had just had the patience to know storms in life occur and taken measured steps rather than panicked and tried to solve our problem in 10 seconds, there's a good chance we'd have overcome the storm a lot sooner as our calm, clear thought processes would have steered us away from feelings and closer to the facts of the situation. So take my advice here, the moment you get into a storm in life, take a deep breath and look at what really matters - yes I know it takes time, but this patience could save you a lot of heartache.

So there you have it, five keys to overcome the storms of life and hopefully in the long run, make your life as great as it can be.

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.

What are you spending your time on...

Ok so I've just spent the last few days balancing my bank accounts and working on projects. Yeah I know it's not exciting, but I've put it off for far too long. Much like paying bills last week, it's time to get this stuff done.

In doing all of this though, a very interesting question was brought up. That question is, what am I spending my time doing that I am so busy that I can't do the necessary stuff.

As I thought about it in my head, I realised there were lots of really good things that I was spending my time on and here's a list of them.

• Working on plans to help bring people closer to Christ in their everyday life
• Spending quality time with family and friends
• Keeping fit and healthy
• Taking time out to relax and rewind

There were however also a lot of things that I know would be classified as 'time wasting', including...

• Looking for better versions of current apps to download on my tablet PC
• Spending way too much time on twitter news feed
• Watching mindless TV shows for hours on end
• Getting caught up in reading buzzfeed articles (seriously, they are so inviting!)

Now I don't think I'm alone here. I'm sure if you sat down and did this exact same assessment, you'd find things that you do that are worthwhile and things that really are not worth the time spent on them.

The problem is that even when we realise we are wasting time, it's just so easy to ignore the fact we are time wasting and just keep living life as we are. There's a comfort in doing the same thing over again and not having to deal with the fear of trying new things or changing routine.

This however is counter-productive in our relationship with God and our lives. By dedicating our lives to things of this earth, we don't use the God given talents  and we don't do what he is calling us to do. We also don't get important tasks done and end up either doing things half-baked or just not doing them at all  (such as my backpack that still sit in my parents house full of stuff from two years ago)!

While it is easier to take the wider road and be like the rest of society, as it says in the Bible, we are called to take the narrow road, no matter how much harder it is or longer it takes.

Practically that means that if I see a pile of dishes in the sink, then I should probably clean them, even if it may mean I have to delay watching that TV show for 20 mins - or if I know I have to write this blog, I should do it rather than delay it because I feel that I will be better spent looking at room designs or answering queries on Twitter.

Time is a precious thing and something that we cannot afford to waste. While God has his own time for everything - we still need to value the time he gives us and make sure every moment is used to make the world a better place - either through service, caring or changing lives for the better.

Yes we all need to rest sometimes and spend a few hours watching TV, especially when we are run down - we can't always be 100%. This however is about the excess, about ensuring that the time we have spare outside of our work and rest time is used to not benefit ourselves, but benefit the greater good.

So I ask the question once again - what are you spending your time on this week? Then I ask this - what are you going to do about it?

Till next time...

Lest we forget

Today marks the 100th anniversary of ANZAC Day - a time where we in Australia and New Zealand not only remember the battle of Gallipoli which began on this day back in 1915, but also the many men and women who have fought for our freedom over the many years as part of our defense forces.

It was great to see so many people this morning lining the streets of the local area I live in as those who have fought in combat for us or if they had passed on, their children and grandchildren walked down as part of the commemorative parade.

While this day is all about remembering the battles we've fought in and the efforts of our defense forces - it's not the dates that are the reason we remember. If it was only about remembering the day a battle had happen, the flame would have died out long ago.

ANZAC day is about remembering the values that make us who we are, that have been the building blocks of the two countries the name stands for and which even today we need a reminder about every once in a while.

For starters, there's the idea of sacrifice. Too often in our lives today, we see sacrifice as something horrible that we run away from because it's easier to live in comfort than to help out another or fight for something we believe in. In the lives of our defence men and women however, we see people who see sacrifice as something different.

To them, sacrifice is a beautiful gift of giving of ones self to help a greater cause, to truly show what they believe in and it is something that if required, they will do without question. These men and women and the lives they lead are a great example to us all of why sacrifice isn't such a bad thing and why we should all be more willing to do it.

Then there's the idea of service. We live in a world where everyone, including myself at times is just interested in themselves. We spend our days worrying about money, about how we are going to get what we need to get done and how much others are hindering that progress. In the stories from the war fields however, we see a different perspective on life.

As the Director of the Australian War Memorial, Dr Brendan Nelson said this morning - these men and women are never thinking of themselves first, even in their last moments as they lay wounded on the battlefield, it's always about what they can do for others that's in the forefront of their minds. Imagine if we were all like this, gave to others first no matter the cost, I am sure the world would be a better and happier place. As it says in the bible: "There is no greater love, than for a man to lay down his life for another."

Next, there's the idea of what being a hero is really about. We all have idealistic dreams of being heroes are and there's nothing wrong with that, even the boys who signed to WWI had those - it's probably why many took up the challenge. To us and to them, being a hero means doing a great thing and everyone loving you for it. The truth is though, that's not always the case and in particular was not the case with our ANZACs.

For all the sacrifice they made for their country, when many got home, they weren't treated like they are today with parades and celebration. If you were Indigenous after WWI you were an outcast, if you got ill, you were isolated and if you came back after Vietnam, the country wasn't particular fond of you. While a lot of this was injustice and is wrong, I view it as a great example for all of us in life. That no matter what you do, sometimes the accolades won't come, but that doesn't mean you don't do it anyway. We need to spend more time in life doing things without reward- something I know I struggle with but which in doing so, will lead to greater riches in Heaven,

Finally, the biggest thing I think we remember on ANZAC day is the power of mates. No matter whether what is written in war history is fact or exaggerated fable from fact, there's one thing that does remain true, and that is with all the battles, it has been our mateship that has seen us through. Aussies and Kiwis sticking together to get a job done and supporting each other no matter what has seen us win many more battles than we have lost over the years.

It's the same in life. We will win more battles than we will lose if we do things as a team, work to a common cause and support each other through all obstacles. It's a lot harder to do something by yourself but it's a lot easier and more likely to succeed when others are helping out. This applies to whether you are putting together a bed or fighting in the trenches. Whenever I see our defence personnel out in the field, I am reminded by this and days like today hopefully will instill this message into the generations to come as they read and learn about how these men through mateship overcame all.

May you be inspired by the ANZACs today to keep striving to live life to it's fullest and with an importance on what really matters - helping out others, giving of self no matter the accolades and always knowing that if you believe in what you are going for, it is always worth fighting for.

Lest we forget and till next time..

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...

The real value of Lent - Part 1

Hi everyone,

Firstly, apologies for the delay in this post and I hope that you are all having an inspired Lenten season so far.

Yes, for those who didn't realise yet - we are now in the season of Lent. It's a time where generally
people give up a lot of stuff, then go into a period of mourning over the loss of what they had like they've lost a loved one!

Now before anyone gets offended by that last sentence, I wasn't being serious and it's certainly not the truth. Sometimes however, the way people act during Lent can make it seem like this and to be honest, while it's ok to have some self pity, too much of it, especially during Lent, can take away from the real value of the season.

But wait you might be asking, isn't the value of Lent to give up something so that we can feel pain in our hearts due to the sacrifice we make?

The answer is well, no, it's not. The problem is that this is what we think Lent is all about - however it's about something so much more.

The scriptures say in Matthew 6:16-18

"And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

In this passage, Jesus shows us two things:

1. We need to be humble when fasting and giving in sacrifice
2. There is more to fasting than just the act of giving up something, otherwise Jesus would be telling us to look sad so that everyone could see us.

So if we are meant to act normally when we sacrifice something, then why are we sacrificing at all? Isn't the aim of sacrifice to show how we're giving up something for a greater good?

Well the answer to that is yes, sacrifice is meant to show how we're giving up something for the greater good - but not to others, rather to our own hearts and souls.

I remember growing up at Lent, I use to give up all sorts of things. Gave up chocolate, pizza, ice cream and so much more. I even remember one year giving up being mean to people.

The problem was though, that come Easter Sunday, I'd either gorge on food, or get back into bad habits pretty quickly and to me, it seemed like Lent then became a pointless exercise, much in the same way a person feels after having done six weight loss diets and seeing no result.

The thing that was missing though, was that every time I sacrificed something, I didn't do it with any purpose in mind. I just decided I'd sacrifice something because it's what you do at Lent.

The real value of Lent is that our sacrifice is meant to draw us closer to God, not just through being able to experience the sacrifice Jesus felt on the cross, but through making us focus on areas of our lives that we wouldn't normally take time to focus on when there's other distractions in our lives.

Now that's a big thought there, so let me simplify it a little. Say for example you are fasting from food during days of Lent -whenever you feel hungry, instead of focusing on how hungry you are, you can think about how people around the world have to live like this everyday, or how you value food over things that perhaps have more importance like family or God's will in your life.

The aim of sacrifice for God is not to experience pain, it's to discover that what we have that's earthly is meaningless compared to what God call us to and what he wants us to be. Growing in compassion, increasing in mercy or gaining value in the God given gifts of life are all part of the real value of giving more of the self to God during Lent.

The thing is though, we can't give more of ourselves if we are cluttering our minds with all sorts of stuff from the world. It's why we need times like Lent, to be able to have the idea of giving to God at the forefront of our minds and to take time away to really focus on God and his amazing work in our lives. Even though we might be giving up something small or taking up something more on top of what we have (more on that in weeks to come), what he has in store for us from doing that in a faithful way is so much more rewarding than what we gave up could ever be.

I wish you all the very best for whatever decisions you make during this Lenten season and may God continue to bless you always.

Till next time...