Rick Osborn | Life Coach, Nutrition Consultant & Graphic Designer

Many times, small decisions can have big consequences. Living without understanding, moving beyond boundaries, operating without knowing the truth, making choices without conviction - all can get you into trouble. Up front and out loud, let me get straight to the point -

Look before you leap!

Watch your step!

Guard your heart!

There, enough said. If I thought that just mentioning these clichés would keep someone from making stupid decisions, I’d stop right here. Unfortunately, most of us are hard headed and willful, myself included. The cruel truth of the matter is that many times it’s the bad choices that we make, along with their unpleasant consequences that teach us the best and most valuable lessons in life.

We’ve got to be vigilant, watchful, careful, guarded, etc. with the decisions that we make every day. One misplaced step - one wrong decision - one unfiltered calculation can land us in the mud and even destroy our lives. So, how do we know? How do we keep from falling into a pit in the midst of life?

The answer lies in our filter. My question for you is - what kind of filter do you have?

Picture for a moment the best cup of coffee that you’ve ever had. Pouring hot water through savory, fresh, roasted coffee grinds produces a rich aromatic brew of coffee that engages the brain and body. If you’re like me, there’s nothing like enjoying a great cup of coffee in the morning. But, imagine for a moment what that cup would taste like without using the right filter. It would either be too weak, too strong - full of grounds and taste like gritty mud - not too appetizing.

This is much of what our lives are like when we don’t use the right filter. A filter is used to keep out the bad stuff. It’s that simple. If we simply allow anything in, then our lives become polluted, sludgy, messy, stinky, filthy with severe consequences that we’ll have to struggle to overcome. Even worse is the fact that our bad decisions and involvements can negatively affect others, especially those whom we love.

Now, I’ll ask you again. What kind of filter are you using for your life? Do you even have one? Have you ever even thought about what you’ve allowed into your life? Furthermore, how is it affecting you? How’s it affecting the ones that you love?

Even if you have a filter, it’s a worthy question to be asked. Examine it, try it and test it. Make sure it’s the right one for you - the best one that will help you move positively forward from this point onward. It may be that you’re dealing with circumstances as a result of not having a filter or of using a faulty one.

Use God as your Filter

The first step towards putting the right filter in place is to understand the truth about yourself and your situation in relation to God’s wisdom.

Christ stated in John 8:31-32, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

My Suggestions for Adjusting Your Filter:

1. Ask God to reveal His truth to you on a daily basis.
2. Seek to know God in a personal way through prayer and studying His word.
3. Pray that God will transform you with His truth and wisdom.
4. As you learn more about God, allow Him to transform your life, creating the right FILTER for you.
5. Rest in the fact that you’re protected daily, because your choices and decisions are in line with God’s truth - a filter that He created because He knows what’s best for us.

Before your life leads you somewhere you don’t want to be, check your filter. Learn God’s truth, apply it to your life and live in freedom.

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Descartes wrote it long ago - this philosophical statement designed to describe how the very act of thinking indicates the existence of self. Many quote it today, myself included, almost in jest as a means to sound like an erudite. In my estimation the statement, “cogito ergo sum - I think, therefore I am” is nothing more than one philosopher’s pursuit to understand reality. That’s pretty much all I care to say about it here. In fact, the only reason I even mention it is because the phrase “I think, therefore I am” is easy to remember and can be used to positively move us in the right direction if we keep in mind, with a couple of adjustments. With that in mind, let me delineate how this phrase can be used to keep ourselves on track in the midst of making difficult and right decisions.

What we think about ourselves makes us who we are.

Labels and words - we all use them - for everything. Using labels and words to categorize and compartmentalize things gives us a sense of comfort and wards off ambiguity. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that labels have a proper place in our lives, helping us to identify things and people and to put them in proper perspective.

However, words and labels can also be very detrimental with regards to successful and joyful living, as well as towards achieving our full potential in life. Let me explain. For the purpose of brevity, I’m going to get right to the point. We’re all guilty (at one time or another) of using names and word descriptions to degrade or insult others. In fact, the very words that we utter do one or two things - they can either edify or destroy. In my opinion, words and labels have the power to create or to kill. My purpose here is not to reiterate the obvious - that words and labels (wrongly used) can hurt others. My point here is to show that our thoughts, which become words which become labels, applied to ourselves, can either help or hurt us. They quite literally, create who we are. With this in mind, let me just give a couple of biblical references about the power of thoughts/words/labels.

It really comes from the heart. Christ stated in Matthew 15:18-19,

“But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man unclean. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.”

How do you talk to yourself?

For a moment, imagine how the above verses apply to the way that you talk to yourself, that is, the thoughts, language and words that you use to label or describe yourself. And, I don’t necessarily mean the way that you describe yourself to others, but to you. More to the point, ask yourself this question,

What do I tell myself about me?

Let me rewrite Descartes’ phrase “I think, therefore I am”, and make it more applicable and practical. If you will, think of it this way:

“I think _________________, therefore I am ___________________.”

How would you fill in that phrase? Maybe it’s something like this:

“I think I’ve made so many mistakes, therefore I am a loser.”

Or, maybe you don’t say things like that, but maybe you’re constantly down on yourself saying things like,

“I’ve made so many mistakes, I’ll never get any better.”

My point is this - your thoughts, your self-talk, the words you use internally about yourself, become your actuality, your reality.

If you want to succeed, if you want to get past your current circumstances, if you want to be a winner, an overcomer, a survivor, a thriver, then you must begin to change the way you think about yourself.

“I think I am capable and smart, therefore I am a success and a winner.”

“I think (GOOD, POSITIVE THOUGHTS), therefore I am (A SUCCESSFUL, HAPPY, THRIVING PERSON).”

On the other hand, when you constantly are focusing on the bad, the negative, on what’s wrong with you, you’ll continue to have a bad, negative, pathetic reality.

When you think of yourself a certain way, when you label yourself a certain way, when your self-talk is a certain way, your actions will become what your thoughts already created. This was very much the point of my last blog entitled “Begin Each Day with the End in Sight.”

Before you act, before you react, before you respond, before you even move in any direction, stop and already see yourself in a positive light, where you want to be. Visualizing yourself in a good positive light will lead to actualizing yourself in a good, positive, successful light.

Next time, I’ll write about how to make an inward change (the heart), which will make the outer you - your reality, much better - how to clean up your act from the inside out and positively affect your future.

 

 I Think, Therefore I Am [5:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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An Exercise in Visualization to Gain Perspective and Achieve Goals

Sometimes in the midst of life, we tend to become overwhelmed with the difficulties of the moment, to the point of being paralyzed with fear and confusion.

Perhaps this is the case with you. Maybe all you see right now is problems and not solutions -

• the stack of papers that need to be reckoned with on the edge of your work desk,
• bills that are ever mounting and need to be paid,
• family and personal issues that are growing by leaps and bounds,
• clothes that fit too tightly due to recent weight gain or being overweight.

It’s summertime and you feel miserable, but there is hope. It takes focus.

Think of it this way. You’re like a submarine - perhaps too deep down in the dark water to even raise your periscope to look above and beyond where you are.

Whatever your problem is right now - and God knows we all have problems - I’d like to offer you some encouragement for staying on track and moving towards solutions for your life.

Try this little visualization exercise -

1. Stop what you’re doing right now, just for a moment, and close your eyes.
2. Imagine you’re a submarine deep in murky water.
3. Mentally, turn your engine off.
4. With your eyes still closed - take in a deep breath and hold it.
5. Allow yourself to be perfectly still and fully absorb where you are for the moment. (Feel all the pain of your current situation.)
6. Exhale slowly.
7. Now inhale again and as you do so, imagine your periscope beginning to ascend through the dark water towards the lighted surface. Higher and higher it goes - eyes still closed, body relaxed.
8. Imagine your periscope breaking the surface of the water into the sunlight and turning towards a beautiful island. The breeze is blowing, the palm trees are swaying. (refer to image above)
9. With the above site fixed in your crosshairs, exhale slowly.
10. As you exhale, envision starting the engine on your submarine. With that island in view and in focus through your periscope, imagine your vessel moving upwards to the light surface and forward towards the island.
11. Inhale as you keep the island in sight and exhale, allowing the escape of air to propel you towards your destination.
12. As you reach the island, your vessel surfaces and the top door opens.
13. Step out onto the beautiful beach, inhale the clean air and take in the landscape of paradise.
14. Open your eyes and begin your day.

Read the keywords below and plug them in to the above visualization scenario to make it practical for your situation.

Keywords

Deep, murky water = problems, tasks, issues, fears, frustration, being overweight, personal issues, etc.

Submarine/vessel = you

Periscope = your mind, your soul, your spirit

Crosshairs/view/sight = your focus, your intent

Raising of the periscope = planning, praying, setting goals, strategizing, etc.

Island/destination/paradise/beach = goals, end results, rest, hope, relief, where you want to be

Engine = work, mind, intelligence, wisdom, talents, synergy

Breath/Inhale = inspiration, fuel, knowledge, empowerment, balance, spark, ignition

Exhale = expelling the negative thoughts, problems and emotions; propels you forward and helps fuel your engine

Now that you understand what the above keywords represent in this visualization exercise, apply them to your particular situation. If you have trouble doing this, feel free to contact me and I’ll help you. That’s what I do. If you’re confident to do it on your own, write down what each particular part of this exercise involves for you and allow it to bring your vessel back to the surface and towards your dreams and goals.

Don’t worry about tomorrow or the next day, but focus on today. Focus on what you can do today to make a difference. Focus on getting to this one island today, because getting there will bring you closer to the mainland - where you want to ultimately be. It’s not your final destination, but this island - now in the crosshairs of your periscope, is where you can get to today. Once you have it in view - once you have in your mind what you can do today, you’ll begin to move through, past and upwards towards your dreams and goals.

Designate an island for each day. You’ll do a bit of island hopping until you get to the mainland, but if you follow this strategy with good planning, you’ll eventually get there.