27 Considerations For Life – October 7, 2022 (309-311/365)

These items are from an Instagram post by @showerfeelings. I encoded these but I seem to have lost track of the original post, but as I recall it was supposed to be advice for people between 20-40 or something like that. Right up my alley, I said… I thought I’d share it all with you and throw in some of my own responses for each item.

1. Ideas mean nothing. Zero. Zilch. Execution is the only thing that matters. It’s not what you thought about doing, it’s about what you did.
   • I see myself agreeing to this. And it’s more apparent now that people want to claim credit for what they claim to have thought of first. It seems as if people who act on their ideas are becoming a minority, and this could be worked to our advantage.
   • Christ is in all the ideas that remains as ideas, and Christ in all the ideas that make themselves into action, halfway, all the way, or no matter where I am in the process.

2. Do not watch porn. It kills your energy. It numbs your ability to feel. It’s a life killer.
   • Totally agree with this. I’m not one to overestimate things in this world because in my mind if you give more thought to something than you ought to, you’re worshipping it. Not the case with porn, especially in my case. It’s been a constant thorn in my side ever since I saw my first dirty magazine, way before society told us we were allowed to. Will not explain.
   • Christ’s love and life is far superior than porn or anything else that I think gives me pleasure.

3. Never let anyone get comfortable with disrespecting you.
   • But even when you do need to rebuke someone, remember that there is always a better way and a better time to say it. You respect yourself and the other people disrespecting you with a gracious rebuke. Rebuke as you have been rebuked, correct as you have been corrected.
   • Christ is my comfort that allows me to graciously handle anyone who disrespects me.

4. Be selfish with your time. A lot of people don’t deserve it.
   • But see here, who DOES deserve the time, which by God’s grace has been granted to you? I say be thankful for the time that you have. Celebrate your time, because you didn’t deserve it.
   • Christ is my Savior, who is beyond time and space; His eternal and infinite nature is alive in me right here and right now, even if I don’t deserve it. This is what I have in mind when I think about where my time is best given.

5. Share your progress, not your goals, and you’ll always be motivated.
   • This was something new, I’ll admit. Any idiot with just ideas can share goals and visions. Execute, and immediately progress – oftentimes you wouldn’t even have to intentionally share it. If you know you progressed, then you know; and the more you keep at it, the more you’d be motivated even further, and in the momentum, it is inevitable that people will notice.
   • Christ is with me in my progress, whether I share it or not, and He is certainly with me no matter what the outcome is, no matter how close or far it is from the projected goal. More than being motivated, I am at peace first.

6. Every second you spend comparing your life to someone else’s is a second spent wasting yours; so stop comparing and create your own definition of success instead.
   • Respect yourself and respect these people you tend to compare your life to. Honor them by way of forging your own path, not necessarily copying everything they do (well, you shouldn’t – that’ll be pretty insulting to everyone involved), but instead drawing inspiration and motivation to succeed in your own defined terms.
   • To compare my life to someone else’s is having severe near-sightedness, not recognizing just how wonderful and glorious our own lives are in Christ. He who won the victory is the best person to ask for what success means to us.

7. Smile often. Smile so much others think you exist in a world of optimism and positivity. Because you do.
   • Something I’ll never forget from my Mom – the power of the smile. Also, something I’ll never forget from Dad – the power of a good, loud, laugh. Smile, because in Christ is the only reason to be optimistic. Smile, because Christ is our positivity in even the most negative of situations. He is good, and especially in the bad times, He is good. Smile often. Laugh often.

8. You grow rich when you seek new experiences, not material things.
   • I suppose I’ll have to take note of this one. It’s a new perspective. Christ is with me no matter what I see as ‘new’ – riches, experiences, or material things. He is the peace that allows me to handle all of it with His grace.

9. Learn to say no. Respect your time and energy. Don’t be so nice that you yes man yourself into not  having space or time for yourself.
   • I have a sticker on my phone casing from the folks of the Seek Discomfort movement – It says, ‘Say Yes More’. And I think the main lesson here is not necessarily to agree or to adhere or to address every statement, every mandate and every issue thrown your way, but to maintain respect. If you say ‘yes’ to something but feel as if you’re losing much more in the process, then you may have said ‘yes’, but you did not have any respect for yourself, which means you have less respect for the other parties involved. There are times when you respect yourself and everyone else by saying ‘no’.
   • While we do have the unlimited and eternal Christ on our side, it’s not to say that we are as infinite and eternal, but He is the best person to direct us as to how we respect our own time and energy best. This would eventually direct us to discerning when it is best for us to say no, and when we are saying yes a little too much.

10. There’s a difference between being patient and wasting your time.
    • It’s worth being patient and waiting for something to happen, or someone to respond, but learn to understand when you’re waiting too long – that’s wasting your time.
    • The eternal Christ assures us in the times we ought to be patient, and He gently corrects us as we realize when we are wasting our time.

11. You spend your entire life inside of your head, make it a nice place to be.
    • Apparently you project what’s in your mind to yourself just as we are so aware of how we project to everyone else. With that said, it’s not to say that we ought to be positive, or full of reinforcement – No, people see you trying too hard, and you know when you’re pushing something too hard as well. As Christians, this is why it’s important for us to realize how, indeed, we have the mind of Christ – that is, His infinite and eternal wisdom not necessarily dominating us but infused with us – for us and not against us. That’s why our literal minds are peaceful places to dwell, and people are drawn to this.

12. In today’s digital-first world, the greatest skill you can leverage is the power of focused attention, and the way to build it is through daily meditation.
    • I don’t think we need to state what’s been made obvious in this day and age – focus is a dwindling commodity. Apps want our attention. Websites want our attention. People want our attention. Our own thoughts demand our attention. Nothing gets done when we shotgun our attention to all of these things. I haven’t done much meditation according to how the world defines it, but I believe one reason why I don’t hold off on working out is that’s my way of meditating. More than the obvious physical benefits to exercise, there’s the prospect of meditating.
    • Prayer is also fantastic meditation, in that you hit two birds with one stone; Involving Christ in your deepest thoughts and in your focus is the best thing to do with your minds when time allows; and in this case, you certainly hit a whole flock of birds with one stone.

13. You have to believe in yourself before anyone else does. That’s the cornerstone upon which real confidence is built.
    • As Christians we can say that believing in Jesus Christ eventually has us realizing that He believed in us first, which is why He was so willing to lay everything, from His divine glory to His earthly life. He loved us so much that He believed in us, and He believed in us so much that He loved us. When we have trouble believing in ourselves, or loving ourselves and others, let’s remember that – God loves us, and He believes in us. Infinitely superior to anything and everything else in creation, He is the Cornerstone upon our real confidence is built.

14. If you can’t find a good person, be one.
    • This has the same notes as when we say, ‘If you have nothing good to say, don’t say anything’; This challenges us further: If you can’t find a good person, you have all the right to leave, but STAY, and be the good person you wish to see.
    • Take note that as you bring Christ to every situation, and just as He is righteous, so you are righteous – not necessarily according to the world’s perceptions and definitions of what is good, but righteous without a doubt, made so by no less than the blood of Christ.

15. Stay curious, question everything, and if you want something, ask for it.
    • It’s not too hard to come to this state of curiosity. Merely remembering Christ and His finished work brings me personally to a state quite similar to awe and wonder, opening my mind and setting me free of any thoughts that shut me in. To understand the extent of the freedom Christ brought us into would, indeed, have us freely coming to the throne of grace, asking God for something  before anyone or anything else.

16. The life you experience is simply a reflection of your mindset.
    • See #11

17. Consistency > Intensity.
    • Consistency is greater than intensity in the sense that by consistency we are brought to understand where we need more intensity. Consistency also keeps us on our toes, and also allows us to transition a whole lot more smoothly when intensity is actually needed.
    • We’re thankful for the Holy Spirit who directs us in our consistency, and reminds us of when it serves us best to be intense. Christ was consistent in many ways, and He absolutely showed peak intensity as He took charge and performed the ministry of reconciliation.

18. You don’t only live once; you life multiple lives within one.
    • We had a Christian psychologist over as a guest last September, and one of the lines that stuck to a good number of people is when he refuted the idea of YOLO; He said, ‘You only DIE once, you live every day”. I thought this was witty enough but to think that we don’t just live one life, but many lives – well, that’s a good challenge to face, realize and address. What lives would these be? Would we be meaning multiple roles when we say we live multiple lives?
    • I suppose we also live in other people’s heads – and while I’m sure this is never totally under our control, there’s always a way for us to influence who we are, and the life we live in other’s minds. As such I am just thankful that Christ has guaranteed our protection, even from things like this – He will always be true to His word, that the enemy may not snatch us from His hand.

19. Master your emotions. A calm mind can handle every storm.
    • This isn’t to say that we suppress our emotions. JP Sears once said in a rare non-satire video, that we should ‘feel our freaking feelings’, and I agree with this one hundred percent…. It’s just that there’s a right time and place for it. I still believe that there’s a weakness that is certainly exuded whenever we allow our intense emotions to leak in the wrong time and place. To stay calm when the rest of the world is emotional is a superweapon.
    • Empty your emotions to an eternal and infinite Savior who can take it all, and He will fill us with peace beyond understanding, a peace that is power no matter how strong the storms may be.

20. Don’t be lazy. Do the work. You won’t grow from easy.
    • See #1. Your ideas stay as ideas because you’re lazy… and now that I mention it, you’re mostly lazy because you’re comfortable, and you’re scared to lose said comfort. When you’re lazy to do anything, at least try to find the motivation to give thanks – and in your being grateful, it couldn’t be avoided that you think about God, and Love, and Christ. That’s where you start and finish the work.

21. You will never lose, if you never quit.
    • This is especially true when you work out. I found it helpful to count reps in sets of 5, if not 10. Also, say I hit a number in the multiple of 5; I do a little extra so I’m already ahead in the next set. Sure, you’ll never lose if you never quit, but more importantly, you’ll eventually win if you never quit. This is true in any venture, and it does take extraordinary will to pull of extraordinary wins.
    • Christ was close to conceding; rather, He was being emotional, but He never once thought of quitting, being appreciative of the Father’s will, and in the process of His death and resurrection, so we were guaranteed that we would never lose, because His win was for all time.

22. There’s a big difference between people who are smart and people who get good grades.
    • People who are smart know that it isn’t the grades but the credentials that matter. Also, look at what’s in common to see what’s different. Both want to exceed expectations, only the smart person knows that good grades aren’t the only way to do it. This is implying that smart people think in more ways and approaches than one.
    • The Christian can also come to the same way of thinking – while we do acknowledge that Christ is the ONLY Way, Truth and Life, we are no longer bound by the religiosity that plagues how we ought to suffer in the way, constantly be seeking what was said to be an enigmatic truth, and to be upright in life. We understand that this same Savior that we have is, as I have mentioned earlier, nowhere yet everywhere – He is anything and everything, and we are no longer bound to make the same condemnation we used to dole out in the past, knowing that the grace of God tutors us (1) to say no to sin, and (2) to resist any temptation to make the assumption of who ascends to heaven or who descends to hell.

23. Money comes and money goes in life, but time only moves in one direction.
    • Thankfully Christ moves decisively in all directions all at once; He is nowhere yet everywhere, beyond the movement of time and money. Okay, religiosity aside, you can easily replace money with any other sort of physical resource, and even some that are conceptual, as they are under the strain of time. This is to say that our time is more valuable than money, sure, but it also tells me that as such, you do not treat money the same way you treat time, and vice versa.

24. Keep you standards high and don’t settle for something because it’s available.
    • Duly noted. This, I suppose is also in line with when we talk about asking for something we want. But that’s the thing. What’s to say that our standards, high as they may be, are the right standards for us? I say that because we are in Christ, who has proclaimed and subsequently met all the standards of righteousness, we are humbled to a point that we are thankful for whatever does make itself available. And it’s not like we pounce on anything and everything that’s brought under our power; No, more than it being available, what’s more valuable is that Christ is our Wisdom in handling all of it.

25. Never expect to get back what you give or you will always be disappointed.
    • When you give, give. When someone asks for something, give. When someone insists on borrowing versus just asking, then lend, but do not expect a return. Finally, save yourself and whoever stands to receive anything from you from any sort of disappointment if you do have any sort of expectations.

26. Accept people for who they are and not who you want them to be.
    • The verse that came to mind here is 2 Corinthians 5:16, where it tells us not to judge anyone according to the flesh – that is, according to our own perceptions, separate from God and all He teaches us. Remember that we came to Christ as we were; in fact, He came to us, no matter who we were, at the time where we were who we were; He knew the best for us was undoubtedly Him, and no additives. This is why He did not hold back in laying everything down – not only has He accepted us, but in His love, He fought for us.

27. The best revenge is no revenge. Improve yourself and forget they exist.
    • Best to just focus on the second sentence. The Lord said that vengeance is His. All we’re to do is to continue to celebrate in His love, and be thankful for our existence.

And that’s what it is, really. Throughout all of these 27 items I could just squeeze all of it together by saying that very last sentence in the very last item: All we’re to do is to continue to celebrate in His love, and be thankful for our existence.

To be honest I’m not so sure this brings me any closer to my decision as to what to share this coming Sunday afternoon. I have a lot of candidates in mind but I have to consider a lot of things; I know, through all of it, that Christ not only gives me wisdom; He IS my Wisdom, alive and present in my thoughts just as He presents and projects His thoughts in my life and my presence. I merely wanted to record all of these 27 items, as they were all presented in picture format on Instagram – not the easiest thing to extract. In the process, I’ve come up with my own thoughts on each item, and, again, it all just leads back to Christ.

I hope this helps someone today. Until the next post, God bless us all.