Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 56 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

A Cowboy’s Guide to Life

Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 56 of our Trek, and as we consume the daily nuggets of wisdom we need to realize that wisdom does not come from formal education. In fact, most of the time, those who are wise have learned wisdom from everyday living.  Today we are going to look at “A Cowboy’s Guide to Life.”

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our yard sale today went pretty well, and we got rid of some of the larger items. But there are still a lot of “things” that we desire to depart with, so we will probably do it again next Saturday. It should be easier next week since most items have been sorted and made ready. We will probably put additional stuff in the pile next week.

As mentioned in the introduction, today we are going to look at some practical wisdom taken from the life of a cowboy. While I have never been a cowboy myself, I still love a good western movie or TV program.  We also lived in Kingman, Arizona for about 15 months a few years ago while working with our friends and business partners Charles and Alison Mecom, so I was able to experience some of the western lifestyle. We have the privilege of working with the Mecoms again on a project that is just starting in Mesa, Arizona.

While in Kingman, I took many weekend treks into the hills and mountains surrounding the city.  I really enjoyed the desert environment, which is so different from the lush green hills of the east.  I must admit that by God’s grace, we have been able to find contentment in each situation.

So, let’s head out on our trail today over the Rocky Mountains and into the western deserts, where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day.  As I read through “A Cowboy’s Guide to Life” with no additional commentary, just sit back and enjoy the humorous sage wisdom and practical advice. Some of them are pretty funny, and all of them have real meaning. So, pull up a log, and let’s sit a spell around the camp fire and listen to Wild Bill share his wisdom.

A Cowboy’s Guide to Life –

1. Life’s tough. It’s even tougher if you’re stupid.
2. Don’t interfere with something that ain’t botherin’ you none.
3. Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
4. The easiest way to eat crow is while it’s still warm. The colder it gets, the harder it is to swaller.
5. If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
6. If it don’t seem like it’s worth the effort, it probably ain’t.
7. The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with watches you shave his face in the mirror every morning.
8. Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.
9. Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.
10. Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight, and bull-strong.
11. Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
12. A bumble bee is considerably faster than a trotting horse.
13. Words that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.
14. Meanness don’t jes’ happen overnight.
15. Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.
16. Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
17. It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.
18. You cannot unsay a cruel word.
19. Every path has a few puddles.
20. When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
21. The best sermons are lived, not preached.
22. Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.
23. Don’t judge folks by their relatives.
24. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
25. Live a good, honorable life. Then, when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.
26. Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
27. If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.
28. Don’t worry about bitin’ off more’n you can chew; your mouth is probably a whole lot bigger’n you think.
29. Generally, you ain’t learnin’ nothing when your mouth’s a-jawin’.
30. If you ridin’ ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it’s still there with ya.
31. Good judgement comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgement.
32. Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back.
33. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back into your pocket.
34. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
35. Don’t squat with your spurs on.
36. Always drink upstream from the herd.
37. Never spit in the wind.
38. Don’t eat yellow snow.
39. There’s two theories to arguin’ with a woman. Neither one works.
40. There’s three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation, and the rest of them have to tinkle on the electric fence for themselves.
41. My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people – those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me try to be in the first group. There’s less competition there.
42. It don’t take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.
43. Never kick a cowchip on a hot day.
44. Never slap a man who’s chewin’ tobacco.
45. When you give a lesson in meanness to a critter or a person, don’t be surprised if they learn their lesson.
46. When you’re throwin’ your weight around, be ready to have it thrown around by somebody else.
47. After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. A hunter came along and shot him. The moral – When you’re full of bull, keep your mouth shut.
48. Life’s a whole lot easier when you live it one day at a time
49. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Do the next indicated right thing.
50. Work as hard as you can, and leave the rest to God.

Live a good, honorable life. Then, when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.

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These simple, yet profound statements bring to mind three verses from God’s Word. Consider their wisdom.

Psalms 19:7, “The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.”

Psalms 119:130, “The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand.”

Proverbs 1:4, “These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young.”

I hope you have enjoyed these practical and usable tidbits today. If you would like a PDF copy of these 50 tips in a professional layout, click on the image below or find it in the Free Resources section of Wisdom-Trek.com.

Well, that will finish our podcast for today. If you missed any of our previous podcasts, please check out Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud or Wisdom-Trek.com. Tomorrow we will take a look at “Why Change Is the Only Constant in Life.”

So, please join us at our “camp” tomorrow for another day on our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you enjoy our daily doses of wisdom, I encourage you to help us in the following five ways:

1. Leave your name and email address on our website in the bottom right hand corner of any page in the side-bar or on each daily journal page. This will allow us to update you with special information about Wisdom-Trek.
2. Leave us feedback about the podcast on Wisdom-Trek.com.
3. Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.
4. Leave a rating, so we can gain exposure for Wisdom-Trek.
5. Encourage your family and friends to journey with us on our Wisdom-Trek.

Thank you!

The journal from this podcast can be found at Wisdom-Trek.com, where we also have pictures, tweetable quotes, wisdom nuggets, and free resources.

As we take this Trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy the Journey, and Create a Great Day! See you tomorrow!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 55 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Turn Stress into Success

Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 55 of our Trek and, as we consume the daily nuggets of wisdom, we need to apply that wisdom to know and understand ourselves better. As we looked at yesterday, the proper management of stress, not the stress itself, is paramount. As we grow in wisdom, we will learn the lessons needed to manage our stress proactively before it causes illness or death. Today we will learn how to move from “Stress to Success.”

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We are getting ready for our large yard sale, which will be the same day as this podcast is originally released. My plan today was to actively assist in organizing and preparing but during the day, I was not able to. Instead, the software technical support that I provide for one client filled the entire day. I am very thankful that I have the skills and opportunity to be utilized in this manner, but as we learned yesterday, when our expectations and plans are stifled it generally results in one outcome…

Stress!

Stress is a normal part of contemporary busy lifestyles.We all have our share. Ignore it, and it will take years off your life. Accept it and deal with it creatively, and you too can turn your stress into success.

How can you do this?

First: Realize that some stress is actually helpful. It provides you motivation. For instance, if it weren’t for the stress of having to pay your bills, you may not want to go to work.

Second: Be aware that stress is only troublesome when it continues for too long or if there is too much of it at one time.

I read recently about a ten-ton bridge that had been serving a community very well for over fifty years. During the course of those years it had carried millions of tons of weight. But one day the driver of a logging truck ignored the ten-ton load limit sign. The bridge collapsed. Life is like that. All of us can carry our ten-ton load day after day, year after year, but only one load at a time. Overload us and we collapse too.

You may be familiar with the research Thomas Holmes has done on stress. He found that too much change at one time was the greatest cause of stress. An accumulation of 300 or more “life changing points” in any one year may mean an overload of more stress than an individual can carry. On his scale, death of a spouse equals 100 units, divorce 73, marital separation 65, marriage 50, and so on. If you would like to see and take this “stress test” for yourself click on the image below or find it in the Free Resources section of our website.

Third: The next step in turning stress into success is to recognize symptoms as early as possible.

As mentioned in yesterday’s Wisdom-Trek, Fred Stansberry talks about “stress-related diseases such as cancer, arthritis, heart and respiratory diseases, migraines, allergies and a host of other psychological and physiological dysfunctions which are increasing at an alarming rate in our Western culture.”

Other symptoms of stress have been listed as, “fibromyalgia, tense muscles, sore neck, shoulders and back, insomnia, fatigue, boredom, depression, listlessness, dullness, lack of interest, drinking too much, eating too much or too little, diarrhea, cramps, flatulence, constipation, palpitations-heart skip, phobias, twitches, restlessness and itching.” This list sounds like the side effects of most modern medicine..

Fourth: Identify causes. As already mentioned, change is one of the chief causes of stress. An accumulation of life’s everyday annoyances can also build up a significant level of stress, perhaps even more than one single traumatic event. As the old saying puts it,

“It’s the little things that bother us,
And put us on the rack;
You can sit upon a mountain,
But you can’t sit on a tack.”

Fifth: Seek a practical cure. I will expand a little on our list from yesterday and provide you with 10 ways to turn “Stress into Success.”

1. The starting point to turn stress into success is to lighten your load. Eighty percent of the cure can come out of writing down all your cares and responsibilities in order of priority, then eliminating the least important.
2. Remember that Superman and Superwoman exist only in comics and films. Everybody has a breaking point, so recognize yours and call a halt before you reach your limit.
3. With stress comes pent-up feelings. Get them “off your chest” by sharing them with a trusted friend or counselor. This brings immediate relief and helps you to think and plan more objectively.
4. Stop fighting situations that can’t be changed. As one father told his impatient teenager, “If you would only realize and accept the fact that life is a struggle, things would be so much easier for you.” Learning to live with and get on top of struggles is what helps us grow and mature.
5. Try to avoid making too many major life changes during the course of a single year.
6. Remember that Superman and Superwoman exist only in comics and films. – Yes, this is repeated for good reason.
7. If you hold a resentment towards another person, resolve your difference right away. As Ephesians 4:26-27 puts it, “And don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.”
8. Make time for rest and relaxation. Learn to “come apart and rest a while before you come apart completely.
9. Watch your diet and eating habits. When under stress, we tend to overeat, especially junk food which increases stress. A balanced diet of proteins, vitamins, and fiber, with minimal white sugar, caffeine, too much fat and carbs, alcohol, and nicotine is essential for limiting stress and its effects. Also, be sure to get plenty of physical exercise, which keeps you healthier and helps burn excess adrenaline caused by stress and its accompanying anxiety.
10. The ultimate answer to turning stress into success is to learn to trust God and live in harmony with his will for your daily life. Philippians 4:6-7 says it this way, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

God’s peace comes through accepting and trusting God with those circumstances that can’t be changed however difficult they may be. Perhaps this is what Christ meant when he spoke of taking up our cross daily and following him. Certainly He fully accepted His cross and trusted his situation to God and, thereby, was totally vindicated.

Jesus summed up on how to turn “Stress into Success” in Matthew [11:28]-30,

“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.’”

Well, that will finish our podcast for today. If you missed any of our previous podcasts, please check out Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud or Wisdom-Trek.com. Tomorrow we will take a look at “A Cowboys Guide to Life.”

So, please join us at our ‘camp’ tomorrow for another day on our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you enjoy our daily doses of wisdom, I encourage you to help us in the following five ways:

1. Leave your name and email address on our website in the bottom right hand corner of any page in the side-bar or on each daily journal page. Doing so will allow us to update you with special information about Wisdom-Trek.
2. Leave us feedback about the podcast on Wisdom-Trek.com.
3. Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.
4. Leave a rating, so we can gain exposure for Wisdom-Trek.
5. Encourage your family and friends to journey with us on our Wisdom-Trek.

The journal from this podcast can be found at Wisdom-Trek.com, where we also have pictures, tweetable quotes, wisdom nuggets, and free resources.

As we take this Trek together let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy the Journey, and Create a Great Day! See you tomorrow!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 54 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Dealing With Stress

Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 54 of our Trek. As we consider the daily nuggets of wisdom, one result that we should see in our lives as we grow in wisdom is learning how to manage stress more effectively. Today and tomorrow we will look at some of the causes, benefits, and dangers of stress.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. It is good that we are going to look at stress for the next couple of days. Our client workload this week has had many more interruptions and challenges than we had anticipated.

Any time our expectations are not achieved, then we will start to experience stress.

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I am certainly not immune to stress although my stress is usually not visible externally. I do find that as I grow in wisdom and maturity that I am better able to manage stress.  I am trying to understand and put into practice the ability to relax when I have a situation that is not within my control. This practice then frees up my energies to focus on those situations that are within my control. My problem is delineating when it is under my control and when it is not, as I tend want to control everything. Another aspect of stress that is hard to come to grips with is that stress is usually caused by our own selfishness. Life is not going as we expect, and we don’t like it.

One good way to look at stress is to ask yourself, “Will this really matter next week, next month, next year or ten years from now?” Another question that we need to consider is…

If you knew that you only had 6 months to live, would you be stressing over this issue?

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As we looked at a couple of days ago, there are no guarantees in life. I understand that planning and preparation are important. But, let us strive to focus on those areas that are most important, like gaining wisdom and insight while creating your living legacy each day. Or, as Bob Marley put it, “Don’t worry. Be happy.”

So, on our trek of life today and tomorrow, let’s look at some of the causes of and cures for stress. Just as it can be stressful on a hike when we become lost or when we spot mountain lions or bears, many issues can cause us stress.

Stress can also be caused by carrying small burdens for too long. Let’s use the analogy of a glass of water, which weighs slightly more than ½ pound. Do you think you could hold that glass of water out with your arm extended to the side? Most of us could easily do that.

The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If you hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If you hold it for an hour, you’ll have an ache in your right arm. If you hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it’s the same weight, but the longer you hold it, the heavier it becomes. That’s the way it is with stress management. If you carry your burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, you won’t be able to carry on.

As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When you’re refreshed, you can carry on with the burden.

So, before you settle in for tonight, put the burden of work or the day’s activities down. Don’t carry it at home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you’re carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can.

It is well known that too much stress is a “killer.” Writing in Eternity magazine some time ago Fred Stansberry warns about “stress-related diseases such as cancer, arthritis, heart and respiratory diseases, migraines, allergies and a host of other psychological and physiological dysfunctions which are increasing at an alarming rate in our Western culture.”

Stress is pretty much common to us all in today’s pressure-cooker world. It is our responsibility, however, to do what we can to lessen the stress factors in our life wherever possible. To do this, the following 9 tips can help.

1. Know what your limit is and limit yourself to what you can handle.
2. With stress comes pent-up feelings. Learn how to express these creatively, calmly, and completely.
3. Accept the fact that some things can’t be changed.
4. Limit major life changes to as few as possible in any one year.
5. Resolve all resentments immediately. Don’t carry grudges or burdens, they will weigh you down.
6. Make time for rest and relaxation, and make sure you get sufficient sleep.
7. Watch your diet and eating habits. Eat healthy and smart. Don’t overeat.
8. Maintain a regular physical exercise program.
9. Ultimately, however, we need to learn to trust our life to God in all circumstances.

Never underestimate a good long walk away from the fray. Put the analogy of life being a trek into practice. When stress mounts, if you are physically able, get out in nature and enjoy the solitude or appreciate the companionship of spouse or close friend. Just relax.

Take time to enjoy the journey, smell the flowers, and appreciate the creator’s handiwork.

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Think about the question, “How did Jesus handle stress?” Christ often went to a place of solitude during His ministry, sometimes by himself and other times with a few of his close friends.

Mark 1:35 – “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.”

Mark 3:13 – “Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones he wanted to go with him. And they came to him.”

Mark 7:17 – “Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used.”

Luke 5:16 – “But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.”

Stress is the opposite of peace. With peace comes thankfulness. Even if our stress is self-inflicted, God will provide us the strength that we need when we need it.

Colossians 3:15 – “And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 – “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

And that means even for stressful situations.

Well, that will finish our podcast for today. If you missed any of our previous podcasts, please check out Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud or Wisdom-Trek.com. Tomorrow we will learn how to “Turn Your Stress into Success.”

So, please join us at our “camp” tomorrow for another day on our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you enjoy our daily doses of wisdom, I encourage you to help us in the following five ways:

1. Leave your name and email address on our website in the bottom right hand corner of any page in the side-bar or on each daily journal page. This will allow us to update you with special information about Wisdom-Trek.
2. Leave us feedback about the podcast on Wisdom-Trek.com.
3. Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.
4. Leave a rating, so we can gain exposure for Wisdom-Trek.
5. Encourage your family and friends to journey with us on our Wisdom-Trek.

Thank you!

The journal from this podcast can be found at Wisdom-Trek.com, where we also have pictures, tweetable quotes, wisdom nuggets, and free resources.

As we take this Trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy the Journey, and Create a Great Day! See you tomorrow!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 53 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

The 10 Tenets of Mother Teresa

Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. The nuggets of wisdom that we consume each day provide us with the nourishment for our minds that allows us to think differently, to change our lives, and to impact the lives of everyone that we have contact with.  Together these three elements allow us to remain on the trail of Creating a Living Legacy.  This is Day 53 of our Trek, and today we are going to review the 10 tenets of Mother Teresa, along with other wisdom nuggets that she left as part of her legacy.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This week finds us preparing for a sizable yard sale on Saturday. While I am not a garage or yard sale person, we do have the need to declutter our house and garage of some of the things that we have collected over the years. At least we will make a small dent in it.  We are also preparing to sand the wood floor in our eating area, and hopefully I will be able to seal it with polyurethane this weekend.

On our Trek two days ago, we were unexpectedly caught in a violent storm that washed out the trail before us. We learned that we have to deal with the issues of life as they are, not as we expect or desire them to be. Yesterday we were able to construct a crude bridge over the chasm because we had planned properly and brought the tools needed. We learned that there are no guarantees in life, but we do have to plan the best that we can so that when the storms of life do hit, we can weather them with minimal long-term impact.

Let’s continue on today helping each other along a trail that is now much rougher than it would be otherwise due to the storms. As we lend a hand to each other, mile after rugged mile, I am reminded of another person that helped so many with her sacrificial life – Mother Teresa.

As I have studied a little bit about her life, I have found that most of the reports of her work indicate that she led a life of self-sacrifice and pouring into others. As with any of us, she was not without detractors, but she did not allow those things to dissuade her.

As my virtual mentor Zig Ziglar puts it, “Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember ~ the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.”

The only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you, Zig Ziglar.

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Personally I am a protestant and was not raised as a Catholic, therefore I may not agree with some of the Catholic teachings, but I have come to understand that our service to God is one of the heart and not one of following certain denominational practices. Mother Teresa certainly was known best for her sacrificial love and helping others in the slums of India.

Mother Teresa was described on Biography.com in the following manner, “For her unwavering commitment to aiding those most in need, Mother Teresa stands out as one of the greatest humanitarians of the 20th century. She combined profound empathy and a fervent commitment to her cause with incredible organizational and managerial skills that allowed her to develop a vast and effective international organization of missionaries to help impoverished citizens all across the globe. 

However, despite the enormous scale of her charitable activities and the millions of lives she touched, to her dying day she held only the most humble conception of her own achievements. Summing up her life in characteristically self-effacing fashion.”

She was also known for her down-to-earth, practical wisdom, and sage advice. Today we will look at her 10 tenets and a few of her other profound quotes. As I read through these, take time to ponder them, to consume them, and to allow their truths to permeate your life and make a change in how you interact and treat others.

1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.  Love them anyway.
2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.  Do good anyway.
3. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.  Succeed anyway.
4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.  Do good anyway.
5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.  Be honest and frank anyway.
6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.  Think big anyway.
7. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.  Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.  Build anyway.
9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.  Help people anyway.
10. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.  Give the world the best you have anyway.

These 10 tenets are some great points to consider and put into practice in our lives.   Here are a few more thoughts that are worth considering:

• We must never get into the habit of being preoccupied with the future. There is no reason to do so. God is there.

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• To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.

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• If you spend your time judging others, you don’t have time to love them.

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• Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

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As we compare the life of Mother Teresa with Scripture we see that her life reflected the teachings of Christ. I feel the passage that best describes this is 1 John Chapter 2:7-11, which is titled “A New Commandment.”

“Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.

 If anyone claims, ‘I am living in the light,’ but hates a fellow believer that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.”

Now, for two final thoughts from Mother Teresa. Observe how closely they align with the Scripture above.

• “It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.”
• “Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor… Let no one ever come to you without leaving better or happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile; kindness in your warm greeting.”

Well, that will finish our podcast for today. If you missed any of our previous podcasts, please check out Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud or Wisdom-Trek.com. The question for tomorrow is  “How heavy is your glass? The Consequences of Stress.”

So, please join us at our “camp” tomorrow for another day on our Wisdom-Trek Creating a Legacy.

If you enjoy our daily doses of wisdom, I encourage you to help us in the following five ways:

1. Leave your name and email address on our website in the bottom right hand corner of any page in the side-bar or on each daily journal page. This will allow us to update you with special information about Wisdom-Trek.
2. Leave us feedback about the podcast on Wisdom-Trek.com.
3. Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.
4. Leave a rating, so we can gain exposure for Wisdom-Trek.
5. Encourage your family and friends to journey with us on our Wisdom-Trek.

The journal from this podcast can be found at Wisdom-Trek.com, where we also have pictures, tweetable quotes, wisdom nuggets, and free resources.

 As we take this Trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy the Journey, and Create a Great Day! See you tomorrow!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 52 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

There Are No Guarantees

Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. As we consume these nuggets of wisdom each day and apply the principles to our lives, we gain wisdom and understanding that transforms how we think and the choices we make.  This is Day 52 of our Trek, and today we are continuing on our trail and looking at how to handle life when there are no guarantees.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. When I look out my office windows on this beautiful sunny day and see all of the different types of trees that surround our home, it makes me think, ‘What type of tree (or person) do I want to be?”

There are a few evergreens, poplars, hickory trees and several varieties of large maples and oak trees. Paula and I are too fugal (i.e. cheap) to actually buy additional trees, so we have nurtured several trees from saplings that spring up in the yard each year. Very few remain after the squirrels and the deer have their way with them. Through our experience, we know that the oak trees are the hardest to get established. They grow slowly, but yet they are the largest and strongest of trees on our property.

So, would you prefer to be a pine tree that grows fast with wood that is soft and has limited use or the mighty oak that take decades to grow but has wood that is nearly indestructible. Through the wisdom and insights that we gain each day on Wisdom-Trek, let us emulate the mighty oak trees that last for many generations.

On our Trek yesterday, we found ourselves trapped by a storm, much like the storms of life.  We could not very easily go back because our destination was ahead of us nor could we travel forward as the tail ahead was washed out by an unexpected flash flood that hit without notice. So, we were left with a choice to make – where do we go from here?

When we set out on our trail yesterday, we fully expected to reach our destination without any major difficulties, but unexpected events do happen. There are no guarantees in life, so we must do our best to plan and prepare for the unexpected. We may have avoided this situation by checking our weather a little closer, but popup summer storms are very difficult to predict, even with the best analysis.

The old idiom “The best laid plans of mice and men oft times go astray” is certainly true, but we should plan and prepare as best as possible.  Once we have prepared, then we need to be ready and accept the detours of life that will come up.  The better we plan and prepare, the less impact these diversions will have on us.

“The best laid plans of mice and men oft times go astray.”

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Fortunately, on this Trek, we planned ahead enough that all of our food was sealed in weather proof containers, and we brought along adequate tools. Although it will delay us some, we are able to gather sturdy limbs and build a crude bridge over the chasm ahead of us.  We have determined a suitable course of action that has provided a solution to our dilemma. We are now across the ravine and on our way again.The trail ahead is slippery and muddy with additional obstacles that were not expected, but we can be fairly certain that we will eventually arrive at our determined destination.

While there are no guarantees in life, we still need to be diligent in our planning and preparing on a daily basis. None of us have the guarantee of tomorrow, but we should all plan as if we will live forever but live as if we will die today.

As part of my meditation and devotional time this morning, I reread Ecclesiastes Chapter 11 verses 1-6. This passage covers the same topic as our Wisdom-Trek today.  Let’s break it down into segments for discussion.

¹ Send your grain across the seas,
and in time, profits will flow back to you.

Be willing to take some risks in order to achieve rewards. Understand that a return on your investments in skills or money will not be achieved instantly but over a period of time.

² But divide your investments among many places,
for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.

Don’t risk everything you have in a single endeavor.  Throughout your life build multiple sources of income.  This is one practice that Paula and I have built into our consulting business with different types of clients in different market segments.  While the type of services we provide for our clients are similar to  narrow our focus, we are not dependent on one type of market.

³ When clouds are heavy, the rains come down.
Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls.

Learn to interpret the signs of the times in your personal life and in your business or occupation and understand there are some basic principles that are true and accept them.

⁴ Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.
If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.

Take action. There will never be perfect conditions for your life. Fear melts when you take action towards a goal you really want. Life is too short to waste. Dreams are fulfilled only through action not through endless planning to take action.

Fear melts when you take action towards a goal you really want.

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⁵ Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

Realize that there are many situations in life that we will never understand or fully comprehend.  Don’t allow that to become an excuse.  Keep moving forward, and choose to enjoy the journey.  We need to accept by faith that which we do not understand with knowledge.

⁶ Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another — or maybe both.

Work hard and keep busy with productive activities.  As you grow diversify your efforts so that you will have more opportunity to prosper overall. Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant. Don’t expect instant gratification for your activity.  Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.

Well, that will finish our podcast for today. If you missed any of our previous podcasts, please check out Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud or Wisdom-Trek.com. As we continue our trek tomorrow, we will figure out a way to move forward on our trail, realizing that there are no guarantees in life.

So please join us at our “camp” tomorrow for another day on our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you enjoy our daily doses of wisdom, I encourage each of you to help us in the following five ways:

1. Leave your name and email address on our website in the bottom right hand corner of any page in the side-bar or on each daily journal page. This will allow us to update you with special information about Wisdom-Trek.
2. Leave us feedback about the podcast on Wisdom-Trek.com.
3. Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher.
4. Leave a rating, so we can gain exposure for our Wisdom-Trek.
5. Encourage your family and friends to journey with us on our Wisdom-Trek.

Thank you!

The journal from this podcast can be found at Wisdom-Trek.com, where we also have pictures, tweetable quotes, wisdom nuggets, and free resources.

As we take this Trek together let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy the Journey, and Create a Great Day! See you tomorrow!