Bloom because you can...

If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.

Proverbs 24:10

This poppy 'resides' in our front yard.  And not because we planted it there, or because we have encouraged it to stay.  In fact, very little actually grows in our yard, including grass!  Our yard seems to be a death sentence to all things green, except dandelions and this poppy (and a rhubarb plant that I planted to prove that things just don't grow in our yard...and it too pops up every year).  I don't know a whole lot about plants or gardening, nor can I explain why this particular plant only blossoms once a year while looking like an unwanted weed the rest of the year.  In the winter, the plant appears to die off completely, and on several occasions I have made considerable effort to completely remove the plant, roots and all.  Yet every year, it pops back up and produces these beautiful blossoms.  

I have decided that this plant lives on because it wants to live.  It knows what it is capable of accomplishing, and will not settle for less.  Regardless of the unfavorable conditions, adversity, and the cruel 'gardener' who keeps cutting it down, this plant continues to not only survive, but thrive and produce beauty.

There is a great lesson for all of us in this poppy's success.  Adversity IS NOT a reason to fail.  Adversity instead makes our success all the more incredible.  No matter what the world hands you; no matter what others say, think, imply, or expect of you; No matter what you have or have not accomplished in the past, BLOOM because you can!  There is a truth that is both essential to our eternal progressions and undeniable: You are a child of God, and as His child you not only can, but should Bloom!

'How can I do that' you ask? 

Try the following, then let me know about your incredible success!  Your success story will be a great strength and beacon of HOPE to others (including myself!).

The 'I am' List

Prepare an 'I am...' list.  The purpose of this list is to remind yourself of who you really are AND who you really can be.  Society and outside pressures often tell us who we are, and when you hear something enough you begin to believe it.  The 'I am' list is a great tool to 're-write' who you are from the inside out!  I have used this in the past, and I still use this today.  I have known many great leaders and mentors who use this type of technique to make those changes in their lives that most would consider impossible.  I will give some examples of what you can put on this list, then explain how to put this list to use.  Think in terms of personal, family, spiritual, and business/career.  What are your strengths, and how can they be improved upon?  What are your 'future' strengths (what pessimists might call weaknesses)?  

• I am... a loving husband and father.  I lead my family in kindness, gentleness, and patience.  I am a Man of God, and as such I work everyday to learn His will for me, and make changes in myself to become who he wants me to be.  
• I am... an inspired leader, who leads with a positive attitude and by example.  I maintain my hope and vision by reading GREAT books and associating with positive people who lift me up and inspire me to be GREAT!  And I do my part to inspire and lift up others EVERY DAY.
• I am... HIGHLY self-motivated to succeed in all worthy endeavors (spiritual, financial, family, personal, etc..).  I know I can accomplish great things, and I know I have friends, family, and most importantly God on my side.

There are so many things you can put on this list, it could be PAGES long, but I suggest you keep it to a few short sentences.  Put those things that are most important to you, and that you most want to be/become.  This list both can, and SHOULD, change every few weeks or months as needed to reflect the 'new' you and the new challenges in your life.  You can write this on a small card, or into your planner, or put it right into your smart-phone/i-pad.  Here is the 'how' of the list: Read this list to yourself every morning when you first get up and going, and every night before you lay down.  You may even want to record yourself reading that list and listen to it several times a day (wear headphones if you don't want to attract too much attention, but realize that people will notice the changes you are making in your life!)  And visualize yourself BEING those traits on your list, because that is WHO YOU ARE!  Carry this list with you and read it several times throughout the day, and I promise: You will start to become who you tell yourself you are, instead of who 'the world' tries to convince you that you are.  And you are AWESOME!

WARNING! HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS!

It is nearly impossible to see such excitement and enthusiasm and not start to feel the same way!  This is our 2nd child (she is now 10, so this was a few years ago), and still she can let her energy flow out and lead others along.  I guarantee that you know people like this.  Wherever they go, people begin to act and feel like they do!  That can be either a great experience or a brick wall, depending on how they feel at any given moment.  I get to travel a bit, and meet new people almost every day.  I met a lady yesterday who was everything that the above picture is NOT! There was no enthusiasm, no positive attitude, no HOPE, no silver lining.  In fact, I can best describe her attitude as a Black Hole of Despair!  I gave a bit of counsel, shared some hope and humor got some smiles on her face, and then....CRASH!  She fired up the black hole again and all was lost! (and she did so ACTING and TALKING as if she was continuing the positive conversation I had begun, OUCH!)
 
When was the last time you smiled BECAUSE you wanted to be happy, instead of waiting to smile UNTIL you were happy?  When was the last time you shared your excitement and enthusiasm with others BECAUSE you wanted to be motivated, instead of waiting to be hit in the head by the club of motivation? By the way, the only real and lasting motivation is SELF-Motivation, and self-motivation comes from....wait for it...wait for it....YOURSELF!  Smile to BE happy!  Laugh to BE joyful!  Pray to BE spiritual!  Start doing and being what you want to do and be, and don't wait for the in-existent fairy of good fortune to visit you in the land of make believe and magically turn you into the YOU you want to be.

Psalms 32:11

 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

Liberty (and the crashing kite)

I spent a few weeks just outside of Washington DC last year on a work assignment, and decided to spend a day seeing the sights of our Nation's capital before heading back home to Montana.  On the side of the Robert Taft Memorial Bell Tower, was the above inscription (Liberty has been the key to our progress in the past and is the key to our progress in the future.  If we can preserve liberty in all its essentials there is no limit to the future of the American People).  Compared to the Washington and Lincoln memorials, the Robert Taft memorial is a bit obscure and off the beaten path (it's tucked in the trees between the capitol building and Union Station), and you don't hear an awful lot about Senator Robert Taft, but I found this statement to be rather profound and insightful.
Liberty, which can also be referred to as freedom (of choice, of religion, of government), has so many levels and meanings.  How well I remember being 18 years old, and wanting freedom to mean I could do whatever I wanted and be happy as a result.  Yet, the more I did what I thought I wanted, the less 'free' and happy I felt.  In a struggle to be 'free' from God, commandments, rules, guidelines, and restrictions, I had really missed the bus completely.  I was like a kite wanting to be free from the string, altogether unable to understand that it was the string that was allowing me to fly!  And like a kite cut free from the string, I was doomed to fall to the ground.
So what is Liberty?  How can we be truly free?
When God created this earth (what, you mean it wasn't a big bang and evolution?), and put plant and animal life upon it, He did so with a plan.  And a central part of that plan was Free Agency (the ability and responsibility to choose) for His children.
So like Peter Parker (spiderman), we have a great power bestowed upon us and a great responsibility.  The power to choose for ourselves what we will do every day, how we will act, how we will treat others, and whether we will strive to change for the better.  But it gets a bit tricky (of course, can't be too simple or it might not be fun!).  Since we 'choose' what we will do, we also accept the consequences of those choices (whether good or bad).  And our Nation was set up after a similar manner.  The laws governing our Nation, our States, and our local communities give us choices.  The law says, don't steal, don't kill, don't make fun of President Obama (some of these are easier to follow than others...) and if you CHOOSE to obey the laws, chances are you will not see a negative consequence.  However, if you decide that freedom to choose (liberty) gives you the right to take the life of another (or his car, wallet, etc..) then you also choose to loose other freedoms/liberties.  Like freedom to go to work in the morning.  Or freedom to travel, collect guns, be a professional snowboarder, or any number of other things that you cannot do from behind bars.
Now that example was a bit more extreme than most of us will likely encounter personally (but if you have been there, you know how real that loss can be).  Even the 'little' choices we make can have a huge impact on our future!  Choose to use vulgar, offensive language and soon you have a hard time thinking happy and positive things! And just try sincerely communicating with God when your mind is filled with vulgarity, it's worse that trying to make a phone call after dropping your cell phone into a port-a-potty that should have been emptied weeks earlier!  Choose to 'steal' time from your employer, or complain constantly about how much you hate your job, and you will likely find that either you don't have a job to complain about (or steal time or anything else) from or you wonder why your peers are getting promotions, raises and bonuses and you are not!  The choices we make, make us who we are!
Now the BEST part is, WE CAN CHANGE!  We can change who we are by beginning to make better choices.  We perform regular self-inspections, and pick out those areas that we need to change or improve, and begin to make different choices to become who we truly want to be.  We can become who God wants us to be.  And luckily, we are never too young or too old to make wonderful changes in our lives!

A little Liberty Math for you:  Liberty + Bad choices = less liberty!   Liberty + Good Choices = More Liberty!

 '...if we can preserve liberty in all its essentials there is no limit to the future...'