Grow to Be Like Our Friends

One thing I've noticed about people, is if you want to figure out who they are as a person, check out who their friends are. If you're around unkind/angry people, you'll generally begin to grow those traits. In general, I believe you need to find friends who you admire their strong traits, and spend time with them. And over time, those traits will rub off on you. So a couple thoughts, number one, find older mentors who you can befriend and glean wisdom from. They have already proved themselves. They have spent way more time in this world, having already fought through the battles that young ones like us go through. Number two, be a good friend. Don't look for perfection in your friends. Try to rub off some of the good character/gifts that God has given you on them. But don't be the one always looking for the ultra weak/those with terrible character, "Bad company corrupts good character." — 1 Corinthians 15:33 

Evil rubs off easier, just purely because of the fact that our hearts are wicked and tend to want to do evil. As my grandma says, "If more of them is rubbing off on you than you is rubbing off on them, get out of there/leave."

So Much to Do

Lately, I get up and see so much to do. And yet I have so little time to do it. I'm starting to feel old. I know, old isn't exactly the word I should be using, but I look back at the last 21 years of my life and wonder what in the world I've been doing. I have skills in a few areas, because of the work I've done over the past 9-10 years, but why am I still standing where I am? I don't compare myself to others, because I've learned that's a recipe for disaster. But still. I could have done so much more if I had gotten serious about life 5-6 years ago.

I have this conversation with myself too often..

Daniel: "I've floated too much.. And why?!"

Conscience: "BECAUSE YOU'RE LAZY."

Daniel: ".....

Yeah.

What else?"

Conscience: "YOU HAVE LITTLE TO NO VISION... ^_^"

Daniel: "Anything else?"

Conscience: "You don't love God."

Daniel: "That's a serious problem..."

Conscience: "I'm glad you recognize that fact, now go do something about it."

And that's been the conversation my conscience and I have, way too often.

So I know you're asking the question, Daniel are you still sitting in this quite sad state?

Well, sometimes. But less often now than before. ^_^

A few things that have helped me are these:

Writing down plans with general action items. This is kind of my vision for the week, month, year. It's really something I do on a more weekly basis. I haven't really done monthly and yearly goals, except for a possibly long project.

Then, I move on to a daily task list. I've been trying to also add my fun activities as a to-do list item. I think I find that when I add them as a to-do, I enjoy actually doing a to-do list rather than constantly dreading working through it, day to day.

Work isn't always fun and easy. People tell you to do something you love, and I do get to do what I love, but at the same time, it's not always a picnic and party. There's a reason it's called work..

I read my Bible more consistently than six months ago, and study more good books. I'm really trying to replace my free reading fun books with more insightful books that are really building me up. I'm reading through Practical Religion by Ryle. Which I was actually going to read back in April, but yeah... I didn't.

Really, I could sum this all up in two words. Live purposefully. When we waste time, we always regret it. Those who are wise will live with purpose. Just because we're well taken care of in the sense of having a good job, a cozy house, and a beautiful family, doesn't mean we are to sit back on those accomplishments and chill. We'll regret that four hours we wasted every night watching the tele, when we could have been out starting a business or ministering to orphans or widows. I still waste a good amount of time, but I've become convicted of this and am working my way towards a more purposeful life, with the Lord's help. 

Good night. ^_^ Biking in 5 hours. o.0

Working

Working is about grinding over the hard tasks and pushing the easy ones over quickly. Don't procrastinate on the hard projects. Otherwise you'll dawdle on the easy ones.

Respect and Honor Your Dad

Parents are very important in your life. They bare you. They feed you. They raise you. They cry over you. They give you a kick you in the pants, when you need it.. They clothe you. They house you. They teach God's Word to you. They talk to you. They give you counsel. They love you.

Honor them. Your parents are the parents God gave you. If you think they are messes, well look at yourself and you're a huge mess. God gives children the first commandment with promise, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." ~ Ephesians 6:1-3. And then God says those who curse their parents will have their eyes plucked out by ravens. "The eye that mocks at his father, and despises to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young vultures shall eat it." ~ Proverbs 30:17

And I realize that all of us don't actually care what the facts are, because we're emotional beings. But these blessings and curses are very real. God isn't really one you want to mess with because you'd rather disrespect your parents to feel good about yourself/do whatever makes your heart/body feel good. 

I've jumped off and on honoring my parents way too much. I'm not a good son. But through God's grace I'll become better at it. Here's a couple things I've been learning.

Once you start serving others, honoring your parents will be a gazillion times easier. I notice that as I've gotten older I become more self-focused trying to make money or trying to "become my own man." And sure, defining yourself and making money aren't wrong, but they can tend to be incredibly self focused. Young people don't understand how worthless money really is, especially when you're dead early on in life.. And their defining themselves is usually just jumping into pop music and watching crappy movies...

When you love God, you'll love His words, and therefore you'll love honoring your parents. Otherwise, honoring your parents is going to really give you headache.

Anyways, that's it. I needed to talk to someone, and seeing everyone's in bed/I'm editing a radio show you guys can read my random thoughts.

And as I side note, I found this video from an old blog post, and I've been addicted to it for the past half hour.. >_<