Avoid Your Vomit

Sorry about the title. But it will (if you haven't figured it out already) make sense.

As I've stated in the past, you never know where a blogable idea will come from.
In that case it was Proverbs 12:6 and X Men 3 (you can read that here).
Today it's Proverbs 26:11—no movie.

Proverbs 26:11 Like a dog that returns to it's vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.

Now I've read that verse before and never thought much about it. However, this time I read it and thought "Ohhhh! Wait a minute. That's talking about me".

Before I give my line of thinking, here is an oft used quote attributed to at least three different people (mostly Albert Einstein) and a Chinese proverb.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".

So, I read the verse and thought of the quote and kind of put the two together and started thinking of "different results" that I would like to see in my life. How I've done the same thing over and over (returning to my vomit) and of course got the same results.

In my last post (New Years Eve) I talked about things that I want to do more or less of this year, and I now see this as kind of a continuation of that thought process. Stated simply, if I want to see different results, I will need to do more or less of certain things as they pertain to that result. A simple example would be: if I want a healthier diet, I need to eat less sugared cereal and more vegetables. A fool returns to his Sugar Puffs. (which by the way I have not had a bowl of sugared cereal this year)

Identifying The Vomit–

I started trying to think of things that people foolishly return to and as a result don't get different results—aka the vomit in their lives.

–Not following through or finishing what was started. (my biggie)
–Getting caught up in the day to day and not getting the big things done. (again me)
–Bad eating habits. (of course if your not after different results then don't worry
about it)
–Not exercising. (ditto)
–Going to bed later than I should to get up when my alarm goes off. (oops, did write
that in first person?)
–Wanting a better, more loving relationship with your wife (spouse) and keep
treating her the same way as always.
–Not do anything about the great ideas you have. (I'm looking to make big strides on
this one)

You get the idea. I'm sure there's a lot more that could be said in relationship to this and maybe I'll write on it more in the future. Who knows, maybe I'll come up with enough for a book. . .

I can see it now, a whole rack full right as you come in the doors of Barnes and Noble and on the cover of each of those books, in big bold print, Avoid Your Vomit - how to keep from regurgitating the messes in your life.

Killing Time

I was walking through the aisles of the grocery store the other morning and heard one employee say to another that they did something the other night and referred to it as just "killing time".

I suddenly had thoughts about that phrase that I've never had before and the more I thought about it, the more I felt that it might be a good blog idea, and some good inspiration (for me if for no one else) heading into the new year.

To start with killing is, at least generally speaking, a pretty negative term. It has associated with it the idea of waste—as in the waste of a life cut short when someone is killed by a drunk driver. I realize that "killing time" can also be used to describe something positive—"I had some time to kill so I folded some laundry"—that sort of thing, however for the sake of this topic that's not what I'm referring to.

We can all think of times (if you're like me probably today) when we can look back and see time that we have truly killed in the wasted sense of the word. I for one think that if I only have a few minutes available, I might as well look at the weather online again or something just as useless, when in fact I could take care of the dishes on the counter, empty the dishwasher, or any number of other things that really don't take all that long.

Another thought I had relates to how much time do we spend with thoughts, attitudes, words, actions, etc, that are negative and unproductive in our relationships, our reactions to situations or events—just stuff in general. For the sake of this entry, I'm thinking that we could refer to the time spent in that state as "killing time". Time which could be spent uplifting, hoping, loving, encouraging, etc, is instead being spent "killing" with actions and attitudes that are opposites of what I listed. Which brings me to the phrase I would like to replace "killing time" with—(drum roll please).

"LIVING TIME"! Pretty clever huh? Came up with that all by myself.

Just to clarify, in reference to actual use of time, while "killing" to "living" can certainly apply to unproductive to productive (an area I need work) it doesn't specifically need to be related to accomplishment (at least in the "I got this done" realm). One example could be: instead of watching more youtube videos that are completely unrelated to what I was looking at in the first place, I could play with my kids. All it takes is a five minute pillow fight and I've gone from "killing" to "living." Just this evening I watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas with my youngest daughter snuggled in my lap—stroking her hair. I got "nothing" done, but that was really living! The examples that could be used here are pretty endless so I'll let you come up with your own.

In reference to the thoughts, attitudes etc. I'm not going to give specific examples, but instead point out what I think is a good guide line for living in a "living" and not "killing" way. Galatians 5:22-23 says "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." That's a sure recipe for making anytime "living time" instead of "killing time".

I know myself well enough to not make new years resolutions, however I am making a list of things I want to do more and less of in 2009 which, if I look at it regularly, (my plan) will hopefully, help me to do more "living" and less "killing".

More: love my wife and kids, read, eat vegetables and so on.
Less: hurt my wife and kids, frivolous computer time, eat sugared cereal and so on.

MC said it was hammer time—I say it's "LIVING TIME" and I invite you to join me on a journey to fill 2009 with more living than ever.