Sunday Inspiration: Short Term Thinking Keeps You from Seeing Clearly

Short Term Thinking Keeps You from Seeing Clearly
by Rick Warren

“His followers discussed the meaning of this, saying, ‘He said this because we have no bread.’ Knowing what they were talking about, Jesus asked them, ‘Why are you talking about not having bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your minds closed?’” (Mark8:16-17 NCV)

You’re going to miss what God is doing in your life if you remain focused on the here-and-now and not what God wants to do in your life long term. When you’re thinking about comfort rather than character, when you’re thinking about your happiness and not your holiness, when you’re thinking about enjoying now instead of preparing for eternity, you’re caught up in short-term thinking, and it will keep you from seeing life clearly.This is what happened with the disciples. Jesus was trying to teach them a lesson about pride by using yeast as a metaphor.

The Bible says in Mark 8:16-17, “His followers discussed the meaning of this, saying, ‘He said this because we have no bread.’ Knowing what they were talking about, Jesus asked them, ‘Why are you talking about not having bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your minds closed?’” (NCV)

Jesus was trying to teach the disciples a lesson about life, and they thought he was talking about lunch! He was talking about the need for maturity, and they were talking about their next meal. That’s short-term thinking.Short-term thinking keeps us from seeing how God is working in our lives. It’s one of the great weaknesses of American culture. It’s hard to think long-term today because everything in our society teaches you to do the opposite. We rob the future to enjoy today. We’re setting up years and years of unpayable debt to future generations so we can do what we want now.Whenever you’re thinking short-term, you can’t see what God’s doing in your life. You can’t see his long-range plans for your character when you’re just thinking about your own comfort.

Sunday Inspiration: Effective Communication

Effective Communication

"I open my heart and mind to be aware that when I am listening to myself, I cannot hear other people."

We are taught that communication is a two-way process.  Consequently, we are not aware that there are three essential elements. There is talking, there is listening and there is hearing. We talk a great deal because we have much to say. In fact, we talk so much we often miss the point someone else is trying to make. Our talk about our past experience is loaded with perceptions and judgments. When we are listening, what we hear gets filtered through the same. We do talk, and we can listen. What challenges most of us is learning how to hear.

If you really want to hear someone when they trust you enough to talk to you, don't listen to the words, hear how the words are spoken. All too often, we cannot hear the words because we come to the conversation with our own ideas about who people are. At the same time, we are determined not to let them see who we are. In order for effective and valued communication to occur, you must believe that you are safe, and you must offer that same safety to the other person.  If you want to communicate with another person, you must hear their fear and not dismiss it. You must hear a person's pain and not overlook it. It is important to hear a person's guilt and not buy into it. You must be ready to hear a person's anger and not fuel it. Most people need to know that they have been heard. Listen to their body. Listen to the volume. Listen to the tempo. If you really want to hear someone, open your heart and listen to their soul.

In the past, you may not have been able to hear what people are saying to you. However, make an effort to close your eyes when you are in a conversation. Hear every word that is spoken through the center of your heart.

Thought for today: 

We know that God washes away our sins. This same God also washes away our tears.

Sunday Inspiration: To Know Where You’re Going, Evaluate Where You Are by RIck Warren

“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” Romans 12:3 (NIV) The first and greatest barrier to change in any area of your life is pride. The fact is, nobody has it all together. I don’t have it all together. You don’t have it all together. The Pope doesn’t have it all together. The Bible says there’s nothing perfect on Earth except God’s Word. Everything on this planet is broken because of sin But we walk around trying to impress people and pretend like we’ve got it all together. The problem is, if you want to have lasting change in your life, you first have to humbly assess your current state and admit that you don’t have it all together. You have to admit you have a problem with your finances, with your health, or whatever area you struggle with in your life. Romans 12:3 says, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you” (NIV). Are you willing to ask the people closest to you, “Where do I need to change?” Do you have the courage to ask other people to be honest about you and with you? Why is this so important? Because you can only manage what you measure. If you don’t know the measure of your faith, you can’t grow in your faith. If you don’t know the measure of your health, you can’t develop and grow in health. If you don’t know the measure of where you are financially, you can’t set goals financially. If you don’t know the measure of where you are spiritually or vocationally or relationally, then you can’t grow in those areas. You can only manage what you measure. It’s also important to record your progress in any goal in a journal or a record or whatever you want to do. If you’re going to set some health goals, financial goals, or any other kind of goal, record your progress throughout the year so you can measure your growth and your progress. Evaluate where you are so that you can know where you should go. Talk It Over Who are the people in your life with whom you can share openly and honestly? What areas of your life do you need to evaluate so that you can set realistic goals for change? What are some ways you can keep track of your growth and progress?

Climatic Conversations

Mentally you take me there. Our conversations are seductively sweet.  Listening to your words sends my mind into multiples.  There is always another thought, another reflection, another confirmation.  Speaking to you keeps my mind active and anticipating your next thrust of words.  Your vocabulary combinations are breathtaking.  I’m constantly striving to need your stimulation attempting to be an active participant.  Sometimes you speak to me and steady while other times it’s more deep penetrating and thought provoking.   I continually want more and i question your manly ambitions and how you prefer to be addressed.  You spread knowledge wide open and change tones to match your demeanor. Each conversation keeps me wanting more and peal back each and every part of you to become closer to you. Deep breaths, relaxed and pleasant.  We are more than this metaphor.

 

M o r e   t o   c o m e …

 

inspiration

spread wide, I allow your desire to indulge me.  the anticipation of your touch hardens my peaks.  the warm sensation of your skin against mine makes me moist with expectancy top of mind.  I can feel your heartbeat with each desire longing to be core to core, centered and totally together.  Each thrust is an additional thought of cumming… together.  I respond to your request while you reply to my body.  The ability to look at you looking at me turns me and you feel the sensation which excites you hardly.  The funk of our sex fills the room and the energy in the room is electric.  My nails to your back holding you close pushing you deeper, legs straddled around with a slight arch in my back.  My breath is hot, my throat dry with your lips and tongue being the most quenching. Our bodies tightly wrapped squeezing in the highest intensity. The timing of thrust grows rapidly. Your body tightens and your words grow limp. Feeling your passion slowly stroll through your lips to my center moistened with the thought of ecstasy approaching and knowing that verbal stimulation is expected…

30 Day Blog Challenge Day #30: A photo of me today and 3 things that have happened in the last 30 days

Three things that has happened in the last 30 days...

I found some new bloggers that I enjoy reading and creating new relationships

Found my inspiration again through be open to new experiences

I have a new crush - we shall see what words come from this...

I guess now that this challenge is over I actually need to write something.  I have a few ideas but Isuppose that I will become alot more open and honest about how I see situations that are currently going in my life.  Many of the new bloggers that I have began following are very honest about their current dealings and I admire that.  I am encouraged to do so.

Kind of Love (Musically Inspired)

kind of love: musically inspired

A RIBBON IN THE SKY that MAKES ME HAPPIER THAN THE MORNING SUN or a FULL MOON that makes me feel like a NATURAL WOMAN

Kind of love.

Feeling your BODY AND SOUL all BETWEEN THE SHEETS TIL THE COPS COME KNOCKIN in our NO ORDINARY LOVE

Kind of love.

SOMETHING IN MY HEART that makes me WEAK because this LOVE WONT LET ME WAIT

Kind of love.

LOVE ME IN A SPECIAL WAY which makes me DANGEROUSLY IN LOVE with you in a SPEECHLESS kind of way when I can do is SAY YES

Kind of love.

CLOSER to my dreams it makes me wanna share THIS BODY THAT LOVES YOU ANY TIME, ANY PLACE

Kind of love

JUST ME AND YOU for ALL MY LIFE that makes me feel as if YOU COMPLETE ME with no RESENTMENT CAUSE I LOVE YOU

Freckles thought for this day

A sister girl shared this with me and it was more than though provoking.  I found this passage to be most appropriate to share. 

Here is to be a you today....

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.

Forgive them anyway.


If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.


If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies.
Succeed anyway.


If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you.
Be honest and frank anyway.


What you spend years to build, someone may destroy overnight.
Build anyway.


If you find serenity and happiness, people may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.


The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow.
Do good anyway.


Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough.
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

spit or swallow?

spit (spt) n.

1. Saliva, especially when expectorated; spittle.

2. The act of expectorating.

3. Something, such as the frothy secretion of spittle bugs, that resembles spit.

4. A brief, scattered rainfall or snowfall.

5. Informal The perfect likeness: He's the spit and image of his father.

spat (spt) v. or spit, spit·ting, spits

1. To eject from the mouth: spat out the grape seeds.

2. To eject as if from the mouth: a fire spitting sparks.

3. To emit suddenly and forcefully: spat out an insult.

Let's spit. Not naturally with saliva or the kind that's on your pillow after waking up from that good sleep but let's SPIT some real or shall we just SWALLOW. Think about it, I'll wait.

Spitting may be one the nastiest things but spit is super for lots of reasons. It helps the tongue by allowing you to taste and even helps begin the process of digestion making things easier to SWALLOW. To SPIT is the act of forcibly expelling from the mouth. Better example, Once upon a time MC's would battle and really spit on the mic. They would share their points of view or sincerely attempt to establish themselves as the best. It was all about the flow, rhyme and delivery. In this tense however there isn't a good beat or a catchy tune. When you spit, you get some shit off your chest. You say all the things that are inside while utilizing your emotions with words. You speak up on your own behalf. Simply Spit when...

When there's something on your mind. When something is on your heart or that something or someone holds your thoughts captive with their lies, deceit, love, hate, passion, desire, and hope (etc). That something that keeps your eyes open while laying in the dark alone watching the minutes the clock change while hearing the seconds tick only to realize the clock is digital. Spit.

When people show you who they are and their lack of need in your life. I mean show you who they really are and not just who they think that they should be or who they think they want to be. That friend that you were a friend to like no other and you never have the pleasure of receiving any sort of friendship in return. When you realize that the space, energy and time invested has become wasted, underappreciated and mistreated. Spit.

When the love that you thought you had ended up not being the love of your life or simply ended up not to even be yours to have in the first place. When the situation is sour, bittersweet and tasteless. When the relationship becomes more complicated than necessary or merely desired. When that person walks into your life in the spring to just exit at the feel of winter not even providing you with the courtesy if saying I'm out, over it, can't deal, fuck you or minimally goodbye. Spit.

When you didn't get that job, that promotion or your big break. Spit. When someone lacks their own identity and feels the need to steal your swag or shine. Spit. When they decide that this is who you are before you have chance to present yourself and you have been misunderstood or misrepresented. Spit. When someone attempts to make you be their option instead of their priority. Spit.

When that security that you thought was your integrity, self respect or/ and dignity makes a stage left and the curtains close concluding the show is over (that went over someone's head). Do you spit or swallow?

When someone attempts to test your gangster (yes, with an ER and not an A). They don't realize that just because you are non confrontational and didn't take the time or energy to address a situation(s) directly and/or immediately that maybe that got away with their unsurpassed fuckery or purely thought that they had gotten over on you. When you are finally at your limit and decide to nut all the way up; they think that you are all kinds of crazy. spit. [In the case of a nut up be sure to choose your words wisely or shall we call this a time to swallow?]

By no means am I encouraging folks to go on some kind of spitting rampage but more so an opportunity to use your mouth to speak up and use WORDS to share your potential point of view upon a subject(s) but choose them wisely as we all know – words have power and once given they cannot be taken back. IF you have a vast vocabulary… you can spit all over one's head leaving them with an uneasy spirit, scratchin' their heads with curiosity while needing a dictionary and a thesaurus ready to perform and operation upon your dialogue. So, why not spit?

Once you develop spit to breakdown the foolishness the next step in digestion is swallowing. SWALLOWING is the intake and consumption of spit (food or drink). It's not always easy to ingest such foolishness and every now and then is an aerophagaic situation and other times it can be helped with a swig of reality in one's cup in order to make them belch their beliefs. Whichever your interpretation may be it is up to you to choose what you swallow.

swal·low ¹ (swl)

v. swal·lowed, swal·low·ing, swal·lows

1. To cause (food or drink, for example) to pass through the mouth and throat into the stomach.

2. To put up with (something unpleasant): swallowed the insults and kept on working.

3. To refrain from expressing; suppress: swallow one's feelings.

4. To consume or destroy as if by ingestion; devour: a building that was swallowed up by fire.

5. Slang To believe without question: swallowed the alibi.

6. To take back; retract: swallow one's words.

7. To say inarticulately; mumble: The actor swallowed his lines.

v.tr.

3. Informal to believe gullibly he will never swallow such an excuse

4. to refrain from uttering or manifesting to swallow one's disappointment

5. to endure without retaliation

6. to enunciate (words, etc.) indistinctly; mutter

When you are truly as wrong as two left shoes in the center of a tub. Crazy, right? When you have done so wrong to someone (intentionally or unintentionally). When you allowed them to use and abuse you but they do not have the decency to acknowledge it and have the audacity not to apologize. Take a deep breath and swallow.

When you set aside your expectations to give into their intentions. Listen to them tell you all the things that they think that you want to hear attempting to pluck your desires like guitar strings. When you indulge the bull for a moment and ride the ride until it's over. Swallow.

IF you have ever been the one to say I love when it wasn't truly meant. Made empty promises as if you were always going to be there to never return. When you didn't realize what you saying or who you were saying it to because you were more concerned with what you wanted, when you wanted it and how you wanted it as if you were a Burger King franchisee. Go ahead and SWALLOW your pride but be careful not to choke.

swallow your pride to accept that you have to do something that you think is embarrassing or that you think you are too good to do

swallow one's pride Fig. to forget one's pride and accept something humiliating.

When life has not gone your way and you find yourself frustrated, overwhelmed and ready to break. When you are taking too much time flirting with the edge knowing that everything costs in this life (not always money) but you know that you cannot afford to pay attention. This is the moment that hopefully you learn that your pride may be in play and you need to learn your own strength. Realize that your strength says that you are strong enough to accept help. SWALLOW YOUR PRIDE.

pride n. (prd)

1. A sense of one's own proper dignity or value; self-respect.

2. Pleasure or satisfaction taken in an achievement, possession, or association: parental pride.

3. Arrogant or disdainful conduct or treatment; haughtiness.

4.

a. A cause or source of pleasure or satisfaction; the best of a group or class: These soldiers were their country's pride.

b. The most successful or thriving condition; prime: the pride of youth.

5. An excessively high opinion of oneself; conceit.

6. Mettle or spirit in horses.

7. A company of lions. See Synonyms at flock¹.

8. A flamboyant or impressive group: a pride of acrobats.

tr.v. prid·ed, prid·ing, prides

Pride is a high or an excessive esteem of one's self for some real or imagined superiority, as rank, wealth, talents, character, etc. It can be a powerful thing. The mere satisfaction of your achievements being your own measure of success is something to have pride about. Do you have pride? On the reverse, it can have a negative connotation that's disliked by Him, the Most High. It is the moment that one sees him/herself higher than they should. It is one of those seven deadly sins – be careful how you handle your pride and that it is not a hard pill to swallow.

All of this to say, we are given the privilege of choice and decision. How awesome is it to impregnate the right choices giving birth to healthy decisions? Sounds good but in the real world it doesn't always work that way although it should. We sometimes get in our own way or have help from those that cause us to spit but let's be honest here. No one really cares for the team that is only good offensively. Sometimes we have to take charge on the defensive side of the ball. You be the referee and make the call. The huddle is officially over and it's time to play on one accord for the next play.

So tell me

do you

spit or swallow?

Break!

Borrowed Inspiration

I was going through some blogs and ran across these to quotes and thought that I would share.

Thank You Vaguely Thoughtful One

and one for extra...

Be Encouraged Today,

Freckles

My Inspiration: Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt."

I was recently asked via email where my blog name came from.  I guess I was not truly aware that people were not completely familiar with this famous quote but I guess it  didnt touch you it was irrelevant.  I came across this one day, I was an English major in college, and I fell in love with Dorothy Parker.  She was a woman with a mouth on her and she was a talented writed.  I respect her work and try to be more honest as I write.  She had a way with words and sarcasm. I inspire to be writer in my own life and hope that I can be so witty and honest.

"Four be the things I'd been better without: Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt."

~ Dorothy Parker ~

Gifted satirist Dorothy Rothschild Parker (1893-1967), best remembered for her uncanny wit, was probably kidding... about the freckles. "I don't care what is written about me so long as it isn't true," she confessed with typical dry humor.  Renowned writer Dorothy Parker was born Dorothy Rothschild in Long Branch, N.J.. Her mother died shortly after her birth, leaving her to be raised by her father and stepmother, both of whom she grew to detest. Her unhappiness at home contributed largely to the literary work she would soon produce.

"There's a helluva distance between wisecracking and wit. Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is simply calisthenics with words."

A homegrown Oscar Wilde with razor-sharp humor, Parker was born to a wealthy Jewish merchant in New Jersey. Nearsighted, she was the one who wrote, "Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses."  She described herself as "a plain disagreeable child with stringy hair and a yen to write poetry." Hired by Vogue and then Vanity Fair, Parker's published words made her a celebrity and she became passionately active in liberal causes.  After being terminated from these positions due to her acerbic writings, she went to work as an editor for the newly founded New Yorker magazine. There she published poems that comically depicted her own failed romances. As the toast of New York, the versatile Parker wrote articles for The New Yorker for 32 years. She created poetry and Hollywood screenplays.

"I'd like to have money. And I'd like to be a good writer. These two can come together, and I hope they will, but if that's too adorable, I'd rather have money," she said.

In 1926, Parker published her first collection of poems entitled Enough Rope, which sold 47,000 copies and was an immediate success. After her divorce from her first husband, Parker was clouded in despair and thoughts of suicide, topics that she freely wrote about.  Parker gave outspoken voice to the time she lived, where women had just earned the vote, journalism was almost exclusively a male occupation, and America's social system was changing to accommodate the equal rights revolution.  "Four be the things I am wiser to know," she said. "Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe." Always bold, stubborn, and radical, she once observed, "Art is a form of catharsis." With deliberate passion, she left her estate to help leader Martin Luther King, Jr.'s cause for civil rights.  Through her suicide attempts, broken marriages, love affairs and heartache, Dorothy Parker captured her pain in her witty poems, short stories, and Hollywood scripts. She died of a heart attack in 1967 at age 73.

INVENTORY

Four be the things I am wiser to know: Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe.

Four be the things I’d been better without: Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt.

Three be the things I shall never attain: Envy, content, and sufficient champagne.

Three be the things I shall have till I die: Laughter and hope and a sock in the eye.

~ Dorothy Parker ~

 

I named my blog this because it reigns true in my spirit.  It was play on words and inspiration.  My life is full ove love, curiosity and plenty of doubt.  Not too mention I have these freckles across my face and most of my body.  They are more prominent on my face and they can't be missed. I can not speak for anyone but me but I have had my moment where I felt that I would be better off with any of those.  Well maybe not the freckles.  I hae embraced them.  In fact, I am not me without them and I am not sure if I would be better without them.  They seem to work for me and encourage my individuality.  They keep me inspired and most of all they keep me close to my daddy... RIP Daddy Freckles

 

So here is a bit more insight about me and where the title comes from.  Thanks for asking. 

Now tell me this,  What inspires you?