From the Creators of Advent Conspiracy

Questions

Am I doing the things that make me happy?

Are my thoughts of noble character?

How can I simplify my life?

What are my talents?

Does my work satisfy my soul?

Am I giving value to my existence?

How can I improve my life?

(By philosopher Alfred Montapert)

Beware the Thanksgiving Killer

Thanksgiving. Perhaps the greatest feast of the year. A day full of turkey, ham, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, rice and gravy, cream corn, dressing, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, and broccoli casserole, mmm, mmm. And don't forget desserts like red velvet cake, pecan pie, coconut cake, fudge, and chocolate chip cookies.

It is a day of food, family, reflection, and gratefulness. A day to celebrate the past and dream about the future. It is definitely one thing the government got right. A day designated for citizens to stop and be grateful for all of their blessings.

Then the Thanksgiving killer arrives. Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving when Christmas shopping officially begins. Some stores open at 3 AM. Three o'clock in the morning!

Why is Black Friday the Thanksgiving killer? Because on Thanksgiving Day, we think about all that we have and we are grateful. But on the day after Thanksgiving through the rest of the holidays, we focus not on what we have but on what we want.

The Thanksgiving killer is the Christmas commercialism that says we need more. Just when we have a day to be thankful for all of our blessings, the Thanksgiving killers show up and tell us that we will not be happy until we have something more.

Someone wrote, "Half the world is unhappy because it can't have the things that are making the other half unhappy."

Author Steve Brown wrote, "The most unhappy person in the world is not someone who didn't get what he or she wanted. The most unhappy person is the one who got what he or she wanted and then found out that it wasn't as wonderful as expected. The secret of a happy life is not to get what you want but to live with what you've got. Most of us spend our lives concentrating on what we don't have instead of thanking God for what we do have."

Our problem is that we are looking at the Christmas catalogs focusing on what we want rather than looking at our photo albums and rejoicing in what we have!

Beware the Thanksgiving Killer. Don't give in to its temptations to make you believe you need more stuff in order to be happy. I am discovering that less is more.

What about you?

12 Reasons to Always Have Hope

1. God is always with you. (Hebrews 13:5)

2. God loves you as his child. (Romans 8:15-16)

3. God proved his love for you at the cross. (Romans 8:32)

4. God's power is available to you. (Philippians 4:13)

5. God can exceed your highest expectations. (Ephesians 3:20)

6. God understands you and your problem. (Matthew 6:8)

7. God promises to supply all your needs. (Philippians 4:19)

8. God's grace is sufficient for you. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

9. God works all things together for good. (Romans 8:28)

10. God uses trials to produce maturity. (James 1:2-4)

11. God uses trials to display your faith. (Philippians 2:15)

12. God's will is good, acceptable, and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

from H. Dale Burke, How to Lead and Still Have a Life

Introducing - A New Way to Stay Organized in 2011

 

I've always been a pretty organized person so you can imagine my frustration over the last couple of years as I've tried to keep my calendar, to-do lists, journals, etc. in 5 different places. Before I got my smartphone, I used a standard DayRunner-type system. The Samsung Blackjack II (pictured below) has been my calendar for the past several years. I back it up on Google Calendar.. My phone is definitely handy and portable but it has limitations. 

I have 3 other things to keep me and my thoughts organized. In the picture at the top, the book on the left is my main source of organization. This book (a blank journal I picked up at Office Depot on clearance for $7) is primarily work-related. It includes my to-do lists, reminders, and other things to remember like notes from important phone conversations, contacts, etc.

The book in the middle is another journal I keep for my writing projects. It includes ideas, thoughts, websites, to-do lists, etc. Anything regarding writing goes in this book.

The third book (far right) is my journal. It includes occasional entries, diaries from trips, and quotes from books that I read or messages I hear. A lot of the quotes that I tweet come from this book.

I've been frustrated as I juggle all of these different things. I haven't found anything on the market that would accommodate my needs. Daily planners (e.g., DayRunners) have too much unnecessary stuff for me and they don't give you a lot of room for journaling. What to do?

I created my own book - Lifelines: A Planner & Journal

I wanted to put everything in one place so I created my own planner/journal. With Lifelines, I can combine my calendar, daily planner, reminders, to-do lists, goals, and journal in one book. A place for everything and everything in its place - all in one place! Whether it's something I need to do before the end of the day or something I want to do before I die, I can keep it here.

It features a monthly calendar spread over two pages with a coil binding so it will lay flat. There are pages for your to-do lists, quotes, annual goals, even your bucket list. Most of it is lined pages for journaling.

I realize that there are plenty of digital tools to use out there like RememberTheMilk.com and teuxdeux.com but I'm not always online. Sometimes it's still easier just to write things down.

I look forward to trying it out in January! How about you? Does this sound like something you could use? I'd love for you to give it a try and let me know. I'm sure that next year I'll tweak it some. For now, it's ready to go for 2011.

Maybe it would make a great Christmas present for the organized people in your life?

A Proud Dad

I've always been proud of my kids but this weekend I've been especially proud. Cliff, my 23 year-old, went without shoes for the past two weeks to raise awareness for Soles4Souls. You can see the fruit of his labor here. His church participated in this ministry event which culminated yesterday and, based on the picture, I would say it was a huge success! If you scroll down below the picture on his site, you can read his entries regarding his shoeless days and the things he learned in the process.

On Friday night, we got a text message from Bailey, our soon-to-be 21 year old daughter. She reported that she would be sleeping outside in the "quad" at her college campus to raise awareness for the homeless. Last Friday night was probably the coldest night of the season so far here. It's even colder where she lives. She just got over a cold this week and the mama and daddy in us thought, "Please don't get sick again," but the missionary spirit in us said, "Go for it!"

I love seeing what God is doing in our kids. They aren't perfect, of course, but it's cool to see them thinking of others instead of themselves. It's the greatest challenge we will ever face, i.e., to let selflessness reign over selfishness. I love it when I see my children take on that challenge.

Thanks for letting me gloat!

Do We Really Need More Stuff?

The following is an excerpt from an article by Judith Fertig titled Less Stuff, More Happiness: How to Transform the Modern Shopping Dilemma. I was especially interested in the history of how we moved from an agrarian lifestyle to a consumer lifestyle.

Keep this in mind as the holiday shopping season nears. We need to seriously ask ourselves if our purchases are wants or needs. Do we shop for sport or for survival?

I took the liberty to bold some parts.

Americans experienced a major paradigm shift in the early part of the 19th century with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. Basically, we changed from an agrarian economy, in which most people produced what they consumed, to a manufacturing and services economy, in which people are mostly just consumers.

According to the online Encyclopedia of Earth, the present-day “worker as consumer” worldview was fully entrenched in the United States by the 1920s, when the labor movement stopped advocating a shorter workweek to instead focus on securing better wages and working conditions. The goal was to guarantee more buying power for workers, so that they could purchase more than just the necessities of daily living.

After World War II, this idea got a boost from economist Victor LeBeau, who in 1947 declared, “Our enormously productive economy… demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.”

It’s perhaps not coincidental that, “Our national happiness peaked in the 1950s,” as related by Annie Leonard in the compelling video The Story of Stuff, just as television began spreading the new philosophy of what Leonard calls “work-watch-spend.” We work to make money, then come home and relax as we watch television. On TV, we see ads that let us know that we could do and be a lot better—if only we had the right product. So, we begin to feel less worthy, go shopping and buy that product that we hope will make us do/become/feel better, and the cycle repeats.

Today, shopping has become firmly entrenched in the American lifestyle. It is used as an antidote to boredom, a substitute for socializing and a quick fix for a disguised emotional need. We continue doing it even when we’re aware that we are buying things we don’t need and can’t afford. The more aware among us also understand that all the stuff we buy and store, and cause to be manufactured and distributed, creates a negative impact on people’s lives and the environment—which leads to even more stress.

You can see Judith Fertig's entire article here.

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