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Creating a Legacy ™

Day 301 – 9 Moments of Daily Happiness

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Wisdom-Trek2800

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 301 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

9 Moments of Daily Happiness

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 301 of our Trek, and yesterday we explored the Wisdom of Silence. Through it, we discovered that there is much to be learned from silence and that it is not necessary to be speaking unless it is both encouraging and relevant.

Today on our trek, we want to search for 9 different moments each day that will bring us happiness. Thank you so much for coming along with me each day as we explore and consume these “nuggets of wisdom.”  These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy.

While some of our daily treks are multi-part series, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on. If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and Google Play, so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

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We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This episode will originally air on Easter Sunday, which is the most special day in the Christian calendar as it is the day that Christ rose from the grave which allowed us access to God through Christ. We should all take some time to reflect on this.

On Saturday, our three oldest kids, their spouses, and their children came over for dinner and a great time of fellowship together. They have other plans for dinner on Easter, so this certainly was a special time for us to get together. Being able to have all six of our grandchildren with us at the same time is always a special treat for Granny and Gramps. Kip will be staying with us here at The Big House again this next week since it is spring break at his preschool. Buddy and Chelimo both have to work during the day, so it gives us an opportunity to invest another week with Kip. This certainly builds on our legacy we desire to live each day and brings happiness and joy into our lives.

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Speaking of being happy, it is time to break camp ad head up the trails for us to search for the 9 moments that should bring us happiness every day. Let us discover how we can infuse into our lives the…

9 Moments of Daily Happiness

Success and happiness aren’t easy to achieve. It takes a lot of time, hard work, and choosing the right attitude to get there. That’s why, along the way, you’ve got to take advantage of moments — those brief periods of time each day when all can be right in your world. As I have said several times, “Happiness is a journey, not a destination.” Throughout our daily trek of life, here are nine moments worth experiencing every day.

1. A Moment of Laughter

William James said, “We don’t laugh because we’re happy – we’re happy because we laugh.” There’s physiological evidence that shows that laughing puts you in a better mood. Take time every day to laugh and you’ll find it’s both contagious and uplifting. Surround yourself with funny people, find opportunities to laugh at yourself, and laugh your way to success in any area of life.

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2. A Moment of Celebration

This is how Tony Robbins puts it, “Say to yourself, here is an opportunity for you to celebrate like never before, my own power, my own ability to get myself to do whatever is necessary.” We don’t take the time to celebrate small successes enough – or even big successes. At the end of every day take at least one moment per day to celebrate the good in your life. Even if they are small situations.

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3. A Moment of Reflection

Marcus Tullius Cicero said, “It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, the force of character, and judgment.” 

We all lead such busy lives. It’s important to be able to take at least one moment each day where we do nothing but think. Put your phone away, get somewhere by yourself, and simply reflect on the day. Take the good from those reflections and determine how they can be applied to decisions in the future.

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4. A Moment of Stillness

Yesterday we invested our time on how it is wise to be silent at times. Morgan Freeman put it this way, “Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen – that stillness becomes a radiance.” There’s reflection, and then there’s true stillness – the ability to shut off everything, including your mind, and get into a meditative state. The busier your life is, the more valuable it is to practice moments of stillness. Prayer, yoga, and meditation are the most popular ways to get into a state of stillness if only for a moment. Stillness brings us in touch with God as it says in Psalms 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”

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5. A Moment of Pride

A lot of people associate the word “pride” with something negative. But you have so much to be proud of. God made you special, you are completely unique. King David wrote in Psalms 139:14, “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” You can afford to take a least one moment each day where you sit back and appreciate all that you have done and the good person that you were able to bring into the world. Take pride in the little things you’ve accomplished in the last day.

Michael Crichton says, “All your life, other people will try to take your accomplishments away from you. Don’t you take it away from yourself.”

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6. A Moment of Humility

Pride in your accomplishments is great, but so is a moment of humility in which you appreciate your tiny role in the profoundly large universe around you. When we take a moment to appreciate the amazing world around us, it’s hard not to be happy for all that we have. The popular quote by C.S. Lewis sums it up, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.” 

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7. A Moment of Connection

Humans are made in God’s image, and we desire fellowship with each other just as God does with us. Take at least one moment a day to connect with the people around you – your spouse, friends, and family. Hold someone’s hand, or give someone a hug, or cuddle with someone. Your happiness isn’t just about you, it’s about others. Dean Ornish said, “The need for connection and community is necessary, as fundamental as the need for air, water, and food.”

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8. A Moment of Joy

Laughter is great but joy is even more powerful. Take a moment to experience the joy of your kids or family, the joy of your spiritual connections, or the joy you can find in play, or music, or dance, or work. Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians 4:4, “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!”

Ralph Marston writes this way, “If you so choose, each day can be filled with even more joy than the one before. If you so choose, even the most seemingly random events can work in your favor.”

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9. A Moment of Gratitude

Finally, take a moment each day to express gratitude for what you have, for the people in your life, the experiences you’ve had and will have, and the world around you. You can’t physically feel angry or upset and grateful at the same time, so just taking a moment of gratitude will make you happier. Make a habit of writing down all that you are thankful for. Ephesians 5:20 says, “And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

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Along our trek for today, we stopped to ponder 9 moments that will bring us happiness each day if we take the time to consider them. Tomorrow we will hike on the trail and look for the 9 ways to stay young. So, encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

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That will finish our podcast for today. As you enjoy your daily dose of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person so they can come along with us each day.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

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

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

Day 300 – The Wisdom of Silence

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Wisdom-Trek2800

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 300 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Wisdom of Silence

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 300 of our trek, and yesterday we compared the trails of inheritance versus legacy.  We discovered that although many people think of them as the same, there are distinctive and important differences between the two.

We have crossed over the 300-day milestone, and we are excited as we continue toward completing a full year of Wisdom-Trek.  Thank you so much for coming along with me each day as we explore and consume small “nuggets of wisdom.” These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy.

While some of our daily treks are multi-part series, you can join us at any time and start along with us from that point on. If you would like to listen to any of the past episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and Google Play so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

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We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. As we have been observing our pair of hawks, we have settled that they are Red Shouldered Hawks based on their coloring and calls. We do not believe that they have laid their eggs yet as both of them remain very active working on the nest, flying around and eating small rodents. We will keep you updated as we observe more.

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It is great as I enjoy watching God’s creation and being able to see spring wake up, all while standing in silence at my computers and doing what I love, including creating these journals for our daily Wisdom-Trek. There is wisdom in being silent and observing.  This brings us to our trek today as we explore…

The Wisdom of Silence

Today let us discover the art of Learning to Talk Less and Say More.

You know who I really appreciate? Those people who aren’t uncomfortable with silence. Those people with whom you can sit at a table and have a delicious meal and not feel uncomfortable when none of you has anything to say. I love people who can communicate with one another not just with words but also with silence.

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As we hike onward today, I will mix some quotes, proverbs, and some good practical “horse sense” about the treasure of silence. I am sure that you have experienced being with someone who just could not stand a moment of silence, so they filled every gap of silence with speaking even if it was not relevant. Some people are convinced that to be a good conversationalist that there has to be a verbal conversation going on.

Life is a series of balances. Extremes on either end of the spectrum are usually not prudent. As a Swedish Proverb says, “Fear less, hope more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Hate less, love more; And all good things are yours.”

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I am sure all of us have done the same where we have been in a situation when we have talked too much or have said something that was either inappropriate or irrelevant. There are times we just talk and talk without actually saying anything. Maybe it’s because we want to feel that we’re heard and that people acknowledge our presence and existence. But, is that really the way to go about it? Wouldn’t it be wiser to talk less and say more while at the same time immersing ourselves in those moments of silence and allowing them to just be? Those individuals that habitually talk too much are usually a victim of a low self-image or a puffed up ego, which are two sides of the same coin.

Plato described it this way, “Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.”

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It seems to me that a lot of times we talk just so we won’t keep quiet, thinking that silence is something to be ashamed about, something to be avoided. But, it’s not. There’s nothing wrong with silence. I don’t know how we got this idea that silence is awkward and that it should be avoided at all costs. In fact, two verses that I enjoy from the book of Proverbs address this issue bluntly. Consider these verses the next time you are ready to open your month.

The first one is, Proverbs 17:28, “Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.”

The next on is Proverbs 10:19, “Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.”

These two verses should give us pause when we feel compelled to open our mouths and share our “wisdom.”

a5598f0297494c4505ad8adcc0117aabSilence is a precious gift. In that space between our words is where we find ourselves. When the mind is quiet, when there are no thoughts and no words to be said, we can hear our own heart talking to us. We can hear our own soul and our own intuition. These are the times that God can really communicate with us as Herman Melville explains exactly what I mean, “God’s one and only voice is silence.”

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When we allow ourselves to be quiet, to breathe in and breathe out, without the need to force ourselves into saying another word or thinking another thought, that’s when we can hear God’s voice, our inner voice, our heart, and intuition. That’s when we can experience our spirit being united with God’s Spirit. This is where we are able to discover our own beauty and perfection that we are within God’s economy.

I have learned more from being quiet and from embracing silence than I have learned from thinking and from talking. Silence is my greatest teacher, whispering things in my ear and helping me know things that I won’t be able to discover from anywhere else.  Francis Bacon said it this way, “Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.”

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The reason why so many of us are under so much stress is because we haven’t yet learned how to quiet our minds and embrace silence. We haven’t yet learned to appreciate and see the value and the wisdom that come from being quiet.

Who says that you have to be thinking and you have to be talking all the time? Who says that it’s not okay to have moments when you just don’t have anything to say? Who says that you should be talking nonstop even when you don’t have anything valuable to say?

The Roman poet Ausonius said, “He who does not know how to be silent will not know how to speak.”

silenceLearn to talk less, but say more. When you use your words, use them because they will brighten someone’s day and because they will teach and impact people with something valuable. Don’t just use words for the sake of using them. Use them because you have something to say.

Do you believe that we can only communicate by using words? Do you think silence is something to be avoided? When you are alone with someone, if there are moments when none of you has anything to say, does that silence make you feel uncomfortable?

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Some of the most precious times that Paula and I have is the comfort that we can have being together and not saying anything. Knowing that our love for each other is always there, even when nothing is being said. Become comfortable with yourself.

As we continue on our Wisdom-Trek each day, take time to be silent and reflect on life. Remember that God spoke to Elijah in a gentle whisper. Tomorrow we will hike on the trail and look for the 9 moments of happiness. So, encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

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That will finish our podcast for today. As you enjoy your daily dose of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person, so they can come along with us each day.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

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

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

Day 299 – Legacy vs. Inheritance

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Wisdom-Trek2800

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 299 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Legacy vs. Inheritance

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 299 of our trek, and yesterday we remained at camp around the campfire and explored the importance of investing time to relax and recharge as part of our life. I do struggle with this on a personal level but am committed to making a little R&R part of my regular schedule.

Today we will head back out and compare the trails of inheritance versus legacy. While there may be some cross over, they are distinctively different. Since we started our trek on day 0, today is our 300th day on the trails of life. Thank you so much for coming along with me each day as we explore and consume small “nuggets of wisdom.” These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy.  If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen and read the daily journal. You can also subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Spreaker, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and Google Play, so each day’s trek will be downloaded to you automatically.

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We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We have had some real beautiful spring days this week, the daffodils are in full bloom, and watching our pair of hawks outside our office window as been an awesome sight.  I have also included a couple of pictures from the refinished library in today’s journal.  We will have to let the polyurethane on the floor dry solid before moving the furniture back in this weekend.

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It is now time to break camp and head out to explore a couple of trails that are similar but can be drastically different. Since one of the objectives on our Wisdom-Trek is to create a living legacy each day, we want to make sure that we have a clear understanding of the difference between:

Legacy vs. Inheritance

So often we tend to equate legacy to inheritance, but in fact, they are very different things. Inheritance is about money and possessions but legacy is about the person. Let’s think about it in these two descriptions.

Inheritance is something you leave. Legacy is something you place in them.  An inheritance is something given to a person. A legacy is something done in a person. When you leave something behind as an inheritance, the recipients are temporarily happy and satisfied. But when you leave them a legacy they are permanently transformed.  If you have been on our Wisdom-Trek over the past 300 days, you know that one of our primary focuses is not just to leave a legacy when you die, but to impact everyone each day through a living legacy that will change eternity.

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The truth of the matter is that we need to be much more concerned about our legacy each day than the inheritance we will leave some day. Sure, we need to make sure our wills and other financial areas are in place and protected for the next generation. The Bible mentions inheritance nearly 60 times, so it does have an importance in our lives, such as is mentioned in Proverbs 13:22, “Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth passes to the godly.”

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Even with its importance, legacy goes far beyond the time the money or stuff runs out. Legacy is eternal. Inheritance is gifts received. Legacy is values imparted into someone else. Inheritance is a temporary reward. Legacy is an eternal reward. One day we will all die, and we can’t take anything with us. That is why it is important that we live with our eternal impact in mind. That impact is the one thing that will last forever.

We need to first be sure our eternity is secure and that we have dealt with the reality of sin in our lives. We will stand before God and give account. We need to be sure we are ready for that meeting and that we have dealt with the things that will keep us from an eternity with Him. Then we need to be focused on living our positive legacy that will impact others for eternity. We all will leave a legacy. It isn’t optional. It happens because of the way we live. We need to make sure we are living in such a manner that it is creating the kind of legacy we want to leave. Examine your priorities. God wants to live and leave a legacy through you each day of your life. He wants to put value in your life. He wants to put something that is forever in your life.

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As stated, the fact of the matter is that we create a legacy while we live. It isn’t something that magically appears as we pass from this earth through death. It is something we create intentionally while we live. This is why it is important to have a life plan based on your purpose for your life. So our life plan becomes the foundation for our legacy plan. As we live each day, we are putting our legacy in place. The people we touch, the things we teach, the moments we create, the love we share…they all go into creating our legacy.

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Inheritance leaves behind a monument, but legacy is a movement that continually perpetuates. An inheritance can help us to expand our legacy, but it is not our legacy. Our living legacy is a success that is continually going on. With a monument, it will be destroyed over time, but with a legacy it is a movement that will never die. The impact of our lives can last if we make sure to do the things that matter most while we are living.

What does your living legacy look like? That is how it will impact eternity. How intentional are you today in creating your legacy for tomorrow? If you died today, what would your legacy look like? I have more work to do, so I’m not ready for that. I doubt you are either. We need to get ready today because we don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we can know who holds tomorrow! Let us use Ephesians 5:1-2 as a basis for creating and living our legacy each day, “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.”

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As we hike our 300th day on our Wisdom-Trek, let me read the vision which is on the Wisdom-Trek.com website.  Our vision is that together we will create a legacy of wisdom and seek out discernment and insights to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before and live long and prosper as a result.  Tomorrow we will hike on an interesting trail as we discover the Wisdom of Silence. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

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That will finish our podcast for today. As you enjoy your daily dose of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person so they can come along with us each day.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

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

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

Day 298 – 9 Tips to Relax and Recharge

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Wisdom-Trek2800

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 298 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

9 Tips to Relax and Recharge

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 298 of our trek, and yesterday explored our final trail of the total of 18 trails on the trek we call the Principles of Spiritual Growth. It was quite an extensive trek and was a little different than our previous treks that we have taken. I trust that you found this information valuable in your own life, regardless of where you happen to be on your faith trek.

Today we will remain at camp and sit around the campfire as we invest some time exploring ways to relax and recharge. I struggle with this on a personal level, as there are always more projects to work on than there are hours in a day. I do realize that time for proper sleep, rest, and relaxation are an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. I am certainly trying to learn these lessons as we explore them. We have covered many different types of terrain on our nearly 300 daily hikes, so if you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen and read the daily journal.

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Relax and Recharge

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We are making good progress on both our client workload and renovations. I have completed the library woodwork and floors, so we will be able to move the furniture back in this weekend. Paula is going to paint the back wall of the built-in bookshelves in the library before we move all of the books back in. It is the old plaster walls and they could use a good coat of paint. I will post some pictures in the journal later this week. Although it is difficult work doing the renovations, I also find it a relaxing time away from constantly being at my standing desk in front of a computer.

It is time to share 9 tips to relax and recharge around our campfire today. I learned these tips from one of my virtual mentors, Brian Tracy whose courses I have learned much from over my business career so far.

9 Tips to Relax and Recharge

Most of us realize that regular relaxation is essential for a long life and personal effectiveness. The question is, if we know that, why don’t we make it a priority in our lives. I certainly am pointing my finger at myself on this one, so let us digest these nuggets of insight together. Here are some techniques for relaxing physically that are used by the most successful people in our fast-paced society of the western world.

1. Take Time Off Every Week

First of all, work only five or six days per week, and rest completely on the seventh day. Every single study in this area shows that you will be far more productive in the five or six days that you work if you take one or two days off completely than you ever would be if you worked straight through for seven days. Of course, God was the original designer of this concept as it declares in Genesis 2:1-3, “So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.”

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2. Get Your Mind Busy Elsewhere

During this time off, do not catch up on reports, organize your desk, prepare proposals, or do anything else that requires mental effort. Simply let your mind relax completely, and get busy doing things with your family and friends. Maybe work around the house, go for a walk, engage in physical exercise, watch television, go to a movie, or play with your children. Whatever you do, discipline yourself to shut your mental gears off completely for at least one 24-hour period every seven days.

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3. Get Away on Mini-Vacations

Take one three-day vacation every three months, and during that time, refrain from doing any work. Do not attempt to catch up on even a few small things. If you do, you keep your mental gears in motion, and you end up neither resting nor properly doing work of any quality.

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4. Take Big Chunks of Down Time

Take at least two full weeks off each year during which you do nothing that is work-related. You can either work or relax; you cannot do both. If you attempt to do a little work while you are on vacation, you never give your mental and emotional batteries a chance to recharge. You’ll come back from your vacation just as tired as you were when you left.

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5. Give Yourself a Break Today

If you are involved in a difficult client relationship or situation at work that is emotionally draining, discipline yourself to take a complete break from it at least once day per week. Put the concern out of your mind. Refuse to think about it. Don’t continually discuss it, make telephone calls about it, or mull it over in your mind. You cannot perform at your best mentally if you are emotionally preoccupied with a person or situation. You have to give yourself a break.

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Take Breaks When Life is Stressful

6. Go For a Walk in Nature

Since a change is as good as a rest, going for a nice long walk is a wonderful way to relax emotionally and mentally. As you put your physical body into motion, your thoughts and feelings seem to relax all by themselves.

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Go for a Walk

7. Eat Lighter Foods

Also, remember that the process of digestion consumes an enormous amount of physical energy. Therefore, if you eat lighter foods, you will feel better and more refreshed afterward. If you eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain products, your digestive system will require far less energy to process them.

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Lighter Foods

8. Be Good to Yourself

Since your diet has such an impact on your level of physical energy and through it your levels of mental and emotional energy, the more particular you are about what you put into your mouth, the better you will feel and the more productive you will be. We know now that highly processed foods, carbs, and sugar are not good for your body. The lighter the foods you eat, the more energy you have.

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9. Three Action Exercises

Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

  1. First, plan your weeks in advance and build in at least one day when you will relax from work completely. Discipline yourself to keep this date.
  2. Second, reserve, book, and pay for your three-day vacations several months in advance. Once you’ve paid the money, you are much more likely to go rather than put it off.
  3. Third, decide that you will not work at all during your vacations. When you work, work. And when you rest, rest 100% of the time. This is very important. It is nearly impossible to do both at the same time.

I trust that you see the value and have enjoyed exploring these powerful and yet simple to implement tips that will help you and me to relax and recharge completely. I plan on putting them into practice, what about you? Tomorrow we will hike up an interesting trail to discover the difference between a legacy and inheritance. So, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

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That will finish our podcast for today. As you enjoy your daily dose of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person, so they can come along with us each day.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

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

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

Day 297 – Principles of Spiritual Growth – Continuance

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Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 297 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Principles of Spiritual Growth – Continuance

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 297 of our trek, and yesterday we hiked on the 17th trail of this trek, which was the Trail of Cultivation. Today we will explore our final trail where we will learn how valuable it is to continue on our overall trek each day as we hike the Trail of Continuance.

There were a total of 18 trails on the trek we call the Principles of Spiritual Growth, which is adapted from a short book written by Miles J. Stanford. These practical lessons were instrumental in my spiritual growth as a young man seeking to create and live my legacy. As we complete our overall trek, I trust that you have found this information valuable in your own life, regardless of where you happen to be on your faith trek. Each of the trails that we hike builds on the previous one, so if you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen and read the daily journal.

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Trail of Continuance

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. The new Air Conditioning and Furnace were installed on Monday and Tuesday, which replaced the furnace that had a crack in the heat exchanger. This was quite a large and unexpected expense, but as we mature we realize that things break down. And life does not always go as we expected or hoped. Regardless of what happens in life, we must continue on. Another Big House related task, we are continuing to make progress on the woodwork in the library as we balance that with our client workload.

Just like every area of our lives, our spiritual growth is one of continuing on each day. It may not always be easy or enjoyable, but that should not prevent us from living the rich and satisfying life that Christ has given us. It is now time to continue on for one last hike on our current trek called the Trail of Continuance. This is the 18th  and final trail, which makes up the trek we call…

Principles of Spiritual Growth – Continuance

As with most new initiatives in life when we first start out on our spiritual trek, we are hungry and enthusiastic to serve God. We feel like we are making extensive progress, and yet we have barely begun. As our Lord takes us along through the years, it slowly dawns on us that there are vast, almost infinite, areas of development through which He must still lead us.

Many of these development areas are like a dry desert—no noticeable spiritual activity, no service, little or no fellowship with God or with others. We feel like our prayers are forced and sometimes dropped altogether for months at a time. Bible study finally grinds to a halt; everything seems to add up to nothing. It is during these necessary times that the Christ follower often feels that God has ceased to carry out His part and that there is little or no use in seeking to continue on. When we are honest with ourselves, even during these dry times, there is a hunger deep within that will not allow him to quit. Truths like those found in 2 Timothy 2:19 helps us to carry on, even when we don’t feel like it and life does not make sense, “But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and ‘All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.’”

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Are we to love and trust and respond to God only when He seems to be “blessing” us? What sort of love is that? Self-love? Our Father may strip everything away from time to time in order to give us the opportunity of loving and trusting and responding to Him just because He is our Father. He knows what the cross is going to mean in our lives. He knows the death-march that lies ahead of us so that there may be resurrection life. He knows the barren, bleeding hearts to whom He must minister through us—hence, He may bring us to the place where we don’t care what happens. He is all that matters! After all, God was willing to give up his own Son. Romans 8:32 states, “Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?”

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In the beginning, we are mainly taken up with the externals of our Christian life, and the Lord allows this for a time. Then, in order to get us and our externals out of the way so that the Lord Jesus Christ can be our all, our Father begins to take away much of what we thought we had. Here begins the long cross-centered transition from “doing for Christ” to “being like Christ.”

All this illogical progress—the way up being down—has a strong tendency to make us feel that the Lord is not with us at times. This is simply a weapon of the enemy, easily deflected by letting God be God in the scriptural knowledge that He is our Father.

God’s relentless processing, or sifting, will discourage and baffle us if we simply want heaven when we die. But if we want what He wants, all that we are taken through, including the desert, will encourage us. Then we will continue because we know that He continues to work in and through us that which He began and finished on our behalf in our Lord Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

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If our hearts are really true to Him, we may be assured He will lead us on to the knowledge of Himself just as fast as we are able to advance. He knows how much we can take in, and He does not fail to feed to us the very food that is suitable to our present need. We may sometimes feel inclined to be impatient with ourselves because we do not make more rapid progress, but we have to learn to trust the Lord with our spiritual education. If our eyes are upon Him, and we follow with simple hearts as He leads us, we shall find that He leads us by a right way and brings us through all the exercises we need to form our souls in the appreciation of Himself. It is then that we will be ready to receive what is promised in Ephesians 1:3, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.” We have to trust His love as we continue on with Him each day.  Life, including our spiritual journey, is a trek. Put one foot in front of the other and enjoy your journey.

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Today concludes our rather lengthy trek on the Principles for Spiritual Growth, which included 18 different trails that are needed for healthy spiritual growth. Every trail that we hiked will help us to create and live our legacy each day. After such a long and detailed trek that we just finished, tomorrow we will stay in camp and explore how we can relax and recharge – a topic I certainly need to apply better to my own life. So, encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

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That will finish our podcast for today. As you enjoy your daily dose of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person so they can come along with us each day.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

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

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