Been too busy to write like I use to, but going to try to at least get into the habit of doing a M3D (Monday Morning Mind Dump) tossing out anything that was left in my head on Sunday morning but just did not make it into the message.
We wrapped up Renegade Churche's current "Games People Play" series Thanksgiving weekend with Trivial Pursuits. Here are the two main points I wanted everyone to walk away with.
First: Remember being “Thankful” and “Other-Centered” is a choice.
We can choose to be self-centered, spending our time looking at what other people have, wondering why other seem to work less and make more, have the house/car/clothes/spouse/kids we don’t, don’t have health problems we have, or just seem to be luckier. If we do that we wind up discouraged, resentful, negative and miserable. Not someone people want to be around.
OR…
We can choose to focus on those around us who are in need, those who have truly hit hard times, those who are really struggling in life and when we do we find ourselves counting our blessings and being thankful for what we do have.
Which one of these attitudes did you have over Thanksgiving?
The choice is yours. That’s right… you choose consciously or unconsciously which one of those attitudes you carry with you each day. Make a conscious choice to be other-centered.
Second: How do you know if something is a Trivial Pursuit?
A "Trivial Pursuit" is something that you feel once you have it/accomplish it you will be truly happy, everything will be great, that life will be complete, that all your problems will be solved.
Finding the right spouse, getting your degree, the right job, having kids, getting a promotion, getting a new car or your own home are all good things, but if we are not carful we can base our happiness on obtaining them. And when we do get them we are happy…for a short time, but then they let us down and we go after another one thinking that the “next thing” will make us happy.
The simple truth is that anything we chase after to fill that God shaped hole in our life with to make us happy and fulfilled is a Trivial Pursuit.
