Tag: mindset

Posted in Family, friends, life, priorities, Scripture, thankful, Trials

Sigh…It Happened Again

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Philippians 4:8b

Sigh…it happened again.  Well, twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall, they do it. They are whoever is in charge and the what is messing with our clocks and minds. They call it “daylight savings time” or DST but they ought to call it “time to mess with your mind.” You know the drill.  On the second Sunday of March they (whoever they are) tell us to set our clocks forward one hour.  That means several things.  First, it means no matter what you try and do you are going to lose an hour of sleep.  It also means that just when sunrise was going to occur at a decent hour, it doesn’t.  And finally, it also means that a bunch of people are either late for church or miss it entirely.  Like I said, “Sigh.”

Part two of all of this occurs in the fall…in November.  It used to be in October but to further confuse everyone they moved it to November.  Now I must admit that coming off of DST is easier than going on.  In the fall, we gain an hour of sleep though by this time we are so used to the new time, the old time seems more like a nasty neighbor than an old friend.  I know, I know—we have more daylight in the evening with DST and besides all that—who gets up that early anyway?  Pause. I’m raising my hand.

Oh, and then there is the other deal.  I know I’m a bit different, but I have a zillion clocks in my house and each one must be reset when the time changes. Now this is when springing forward (that is supposed to make the losing an hour of sleep more fun) is better than falling back.  The bottom line is it is easier to move the hands forward one hour than to stop each clock and then wait for the old time to catch up with the new. I think we might just be better if they would just make up their minds one way or the other and leave things alone.

I was watching the Weather Channel Saturday morning before “time to mess with your mind” day and they did a feature on what happens when you disrupt people’s sleep.  Well, they had this expert lady on the show, and she flat out said all this clock changing is a bad idea. She said it can cause several kinds of social disruptions including car accidents and other end of the world scenarios.  Well, she didn’t actually say that part, but I thought I would add it in.  But I think we do need to make up our minds and let that sleeping dog lie.  And speaking of sleeping dogs, I wonder if DST messes with them too.  She did say it affected pets. Hmmm.

Well, there is a lesson mixed up in all of this.  While it is true when changing the time on our clocks, it is definitely true in life too. Moving forward in life is always better than falling back…you know, falling back into bad habits…falling back into bad relationships…falling back into bad attitudes…well, you get the idea.  As we do life, we need to intentionally choose to move forward.  If you have one of those older clocks that still has hands, there is usually a small knob on the back.  To move the hands forward, you simply turn that knob.  To move life forward, we simply need to keep making the next right decision.

That also means to keep doing what we have been doing that was moving us in the right direction. That might include restarting good habits, reestablishing good relationships, and thinking about how we think. Minding our mind is one of the best habits we can have.  Paul, the guy in the Bible, said so in a letter he wrote to the folks in Philippi.  He said, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Boom…what great advice.

Well, since I am writing this on Sunday, the day we changed the time, I think I will probably go and take a nap and try to catch up on that hour of sleep. Now that the first “time to mess with your mind” day is over, I have 239 days till the next one.  But, hey, who is counting? Smile. I’m sure glad my Dearest Daddy doesn’t do this “mess with your mind” thing.  He is steady like clockwork—no pun intended.  Don’t worry…He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, Grace, gratitude, life, Scripture, travel, Trials, wisdom

Joy in the Journey

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4

It just depends.  My wife Judy and I recently returned from a trip out west.  It was a trip that would involve flying and driving.  It was also a trip with one purpose…to get away, to relax, to enjoy.  It is not uncommon for us to take a trip and encounter some less than perfect weather.  We have learned to say, “Oh well, at least we are still away.” Away…that’s a good thing.  You see, the purpose of a journey can often determine the success of the journey.  Set your sights too high and too narrow and you will often find frustration and stress.

Let me explain.  The first leg of our journey was simple…get to Colorado as quickly as possible.  Because that was the goal…we flew.  Also, because that was the goal every delay caused me to have a stressful moment.  Long check-in, stress.  Long security, frustration.  Flight delay, double both.  You see, the point was to get there…not to enjoy the journey.  When I was much younger, just the thought of getting to fly was exciting.  I would always ask for the window seat so I could watch the world go by.  The joy was the journey, but now, alas, it is just a means to get somewhere, and the wonder and joy have slipped away.

Leg two of the journey was different.  It was a hybrid of experiences. Renting a new and different car to drive, driving in a new part of the world, and going at a pace that better enabled me to enjoy it. Usually. But honestly, there was still a battle to be fought…an alligator to be wrestled to the earth.  I had to determine if the destination was the goal…or was it the journey?  I mean I know that there is always a destination but if that becomes obsessive, the joy quickly slips away.  It was my call—enjoy the journey or race to the destination.

You see, if I am racing to the destination, then put me on an interstate highway where the roads are wide, and the speed limit is high.  Out in Wyoming, the speed limit on the interstate was 80 mph…Katie bar the door.  Oh, and those long, straight two-lane roads—yup, 75 mph.  That fit my destination minded mindset just fine, thank you.  But then there were the times that we were in the Rocky Mountains on a curvy, mountain road just driving.  There really wasn’t a place we had to be—we were just driving and that changed everything.  If there was a slower driver in front…that was fine. We would just sit back and enjoy the scenery as it slid by the windows.  The journey was the destination and joy was the result.

But here is what I discovered.  As soon as there was a “gotta be there” destination and mindset then that same road and that same slow driver became a stress point.  The only thing that changed was the pressure to get there.  That same scenery was an ignored blur as the only thing that mattered was looking for a passing zone so I could get there—wherever there happened to be.  The end of the day often told the story—tired and stressed or refreshed and blessed—the way I traveled seemed to make all the difference.

There will always be a destination to get to and there will always be slower drivers and unexpected obstacles to keep us from getting there, but joy in the journey changes everything.  Jesus knew that His destination was a Roman cross, but He never let the that stop Him from enjoying the day and loving those around Him.  He loved the joy of the journey.  I can just imagine Him smiling as He changed the life of a leper or blessed a small child…all joy in the journey.  Paul, one of the guys who wrote a large part of the New Testament, said, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”  In other words have joy in the journey…no matter what that journey looks like.  He did that really well.

So, when you find yourself on a winding, two-lane road, enjoy the journey.  Take a moment to watch the beauty around you slide by the windows.  See what God has allowed to come into your world that day and the destination will come soon enough.  And when you find yourself backed into a rushed corner, there’s a couple of things you can do.  First, plan a little better when you can and then use that extra time to talk to the Father about that day or maybe relax in Him because, “He’s got this.”  Bro. Dewayne