Ask yourself this, what am I waiting on to finish? Why am I not pursuing? When I have an idea, I am so vigorous until i can’t sleep. I’m constantly planning and writing in pursuit of my idea! The idea becomes my topic in every conversation and it becomes a major focus for me. I chase it hard! I educate myself about it! I even communicate with people that may be able to help me bring the idea to life! But somewhere down the line, I would always veer in a different direction. My drive would be short lived and I would eventually stop pursuing.
My mentor, Pastor Deona Benson, has written a book entitled, “Get Finished.” -GO ORDER IT!- Thinking about the title of the book, I’ve asked myself how many tasks have I left undone…how many projects have I picked up but placed them back down, UNFINISHED? I’ve learned that the problem is not getting started, its getting finished. We have so much motivation in the beginning but as time goes on, we find ourselves slowing down more and more. Ultimately, we just stop all together. Our motivation fades, discouragement kicks in, and our big idea becomes a distant memory. We have a bad habit of starting but never finishing. I need you to keep pursuing. It’s not too late for that idea. What do you want to do? What’s your goal? What’s your dream? Have you stopped pursuing? Pick it back up and run with it!! Stay motivated. Stay confident. Stay in motion. Get finished!
To order your copy of “Get Finished,” visit : http://www.deonabenson.com
Growing up, many times I got it backwards. I put my social life before my family. I put fun before responsibility. I put appearance before actual substance. I even put church before God! Now, before someone calls me, I’m not saying church isn’t important- I’m simply saying that I thought it was more important to be at church on Sunday than to actually have a relationship with God outside of church. I was majoring in the minors and didn’t even know it! I was more concerned about looking like someone important than actually being important. I majored in the minors for a loooong time and truth be told, I still find myself doing it. How many times have we made a big deal about being betrayed by so called friends but we forget to love and appreciate the family members that are there? How many times have we overspent to buy a certain brand of something but we neglect to make sure we have gas money? How many times have we wasted valuable time and energy trying to make a point to someone who shouldn’t even have a voice in our decision making? We spend time trying to prove, trying to impress, and trying to be- and we end up missing the big picture! We start looking at who don’t like us and what someone thinks about us. When we make these things major, we find ourselves altering our mindset and our daily habits according to their opinions of us. Or, we find ourselves getting caught up in shallow stuff like the latest trends and the hot topics of society, when in reality, those things change with the wind! Don’t major in the minors and lose focus on what really matters! In my photo, both jars are full but one contains all of the elemens and the other appears to have the bigger objects on top because they wouldn’t fit in the jar! Your life is the jar, once you place the bigger objects inside first, the smaller elements will fit around the bigger and everything will fit! But because the smaller elements were put in the jar first, that left little to no room for the bigger elements which in this case, represents the major!
I’ve always been big on setting goals. Some goals have been reachable but then others have been VERY unrealistic! My mind wonders a lot and sometimes I trick myself into thinking that I can jump off of buildings and pick up cars! Not literally, but you get the point. I dream big! I visualize big! I plan big! I think big! Although sometimes my big plan may not play out exactly the way I imagined it, it puts me in motion! I find myself researching more. I start looking for people that are skilled in that particular area. I develop a sense of tunnel vision because my drive is so strong at that point. That is until I become distracted by something or I become discouraged because my big dream isn’t coming together. Instead of refueling the fire, I just let it burn out. I give up on the big dream and I just go back to the normal default everyday mindset, which is go to work to get a check and go home to rest from work. I convince myself that my life is fine, I have enough, and they’ll be times in the future for big dreams and plans. Then It happens! Complacency kicks in! I develop this contentment and this mind set of, just be thankful for what you’ve already accomplished and stop chasing the impossible! Ah, that contentment.
Have you ever had a moment when you’ve been so offended by a person or situation to the point that you’re unable to forgive? I’m talking about being so offended until you convince yourself that the person doesn’t deserve to be forgiven? Yes, I’ve been there. I felt as if I was so wronged by a person until forgiveness was not even an option for them, especially from me. In my mind, I wondered, “Why should I forgive them just so they can see how much of a ‘push-over’ I am, then mistreat me again?”