8 Keepin in Check

Being in control of your temper can be a really hard thing to do. You might be able to keep it for a while, but if you keep holding it all in, you will eventually explode on people, even people who possibly had nothing to do with your issue. This is never good for a friendship. We feel as if we should be able to stay in control of our emotions at all times, but that is rarely the case. Normally, emotions will get the best of a person.

I was watching a game earlier today. It was a pretty good game too. One of the players started trash talking and started getting excited. The opposing player stayed calm and collected. On the next play, the excited player got a foul called on him. He almost went crazy. He kept trash talking the calm player and then started to trash talk the referee. The referee was not going to take this. He gave the player a technical foul.

I said all of that to say that if you do not keep your temper in check, it can get you in some serious trouble that is very easily avoidable. So for the next week at least, I challenge you to think about what you are going to say before you say it. It could cause some very bad damage to friends and it could cause trouble that you do not want also.

7 Honestly?

How many times has someone told you a "little white lie" and you realized it? How many times have you caught yourself telling one? Even better, how many times have you told one and not realized that you told one till after the fact? That is a harsh realization that I have just come to recently. You may think that they are harmless, but sometimes they really can hurt people. You should know this if you have caught someone telling one to you. It makes you want to question their friendship. It makes you wonder what else that they have told you that is a lie. You begin to quit trusting in them and start questioning everything that they tell you.

I am sending this as a warning and to remind you to keep a check on yourself about telling "little white lies". This past week i had the viewpoint of a fly on the wall in a white lie situation. It made me think about myself. Right off hand I would have said that "no, I don't lie", but as I thought about it, I realize that I do tell little white lies, or that I don't tell the complete truth. This felt like a stab in the gut. I do not like knowing that I have not been a completely honest person. Eventually it will come back around and possible stab me in the back and then I will be in a worse situation than I started out in.

Just remember that the next time that you start to tell a lie to someone, try to think ahead and see the outcome of what you are about to say. It may look fine and dandy to you, but look at it from the other persons point of view. Put yourself in their position, and try to feel the emotions that they would feel if they knew that you were lying to them.

6 Lost and Found

This week has been a rough week for me. I knew that it was coming, and was dreading it and kept trying to ignore it...it finally came anyway though. My best friend left for Iraq yesterday afternoon. Before he left, he called me and we talked for a few minutes. That was one of the hardest conversations that i have every had. I guess one thing that made it even harder was knowing that I might never talk to him again. He has always been there for me whenever I needed to talk to anyone. He was always the first person that I would go to. That was really hard to grasp last night because he was not there last night when I needed a shoulder. He had already turned his phone in and I knew that.

I felt as if I had no where to turn to. My roommate was asleep so I did not want to wake her up, I really did not want to talk to anybody back home about it just because I did not want to have to explain what was wrong with me over the phone (it would have frustrated me even more), and I did not want to talk to anybody here about it because I knew that they would not know the story and would not understand. I called his grandmother. You may think that this is weird, but Grandmama is one cool lady. She realized what was wrong with me and started to calm me down. After she finished that, she told me what she had just finished doing right before I had called. She told me that she had just finished reading Psalm 91. I knew that a lot of his friends and family were starting to read this chapter for him every day that he was going to be gone, but it had never occured to me that I needed to read it until Grandmama pointed this out to me. It was exactly what I needed.

She pointed to the one Person that I needed to go to in the first place. The one Person that I was avoiding going to...God. After we hung up, I went and read Psalm 91. It helped me so much. It made me realize that God was in control and would take care of everything in His own time and will. So by losing a friend temporarily, I have gained a Friend that will never leave me and will always be there for me.

5 Bootcamp For Me (PT)

Since coming here, my physical training has gone down tremendously. At home I had people that i would run with or work out with. Here, I have been trying to do those things on my own and lost my motivation. I have to have someone to compete with, not to prove that I am better than they are ( which would be nice), but to push me on, motivating me, making myself think that I can and am able to do more than my body is wanting to do.
Last night I was talking to my friend that is in the Marines and was telling him my predicament. He has decided to put me in "boot camp". He has given me goals to reach and a time limit to reach them in. They are not unreasonable goals, but they are challenging. He also has given me dates to have a "progress report" turned in help keep me accountable. If I did not want to be physically fit, there would be no way that I would even attempt to do this.
I know that by deciding to do this, I will defiantly get back into the shape that I want and used to be in. The main point for writing all of this though, was to say, don't lose your motivation for whatever you are trying to do. If you do lose it, figure out some way to get it back. It is a hard and gruesome process to go through life without motivation. When you do get motivation, use that to help you to accomplish your dreams in life.

4 A Purpose for Life

One of my best friends is a Marine and he came home this past weekend for the last time before he ships out. One of our discussions was about life. He told me that he is ready and prepared to die. He is no longer afraid to die. He is not suicidal or anything, but he has accomplished everything on earth that he has wanted to and is prepared to die.
His point of view really shocked me. I had never seen life in that perspective before. It made me reflect on my own life and I realized that if i had to die right now, I would not be ready to go. I am a Christian and say so proudly, but I do not feel like I have accomplished everything that God has wanted me to accomplish. Even simple things, such as being upset with someone and never being able to tell them my last thoughts or that I had forgiven them and love them. I would not be able to go without having any regrets and that is not a good feeling. I know you have probably heard this before, but you are NOT guaranteed the next breath. I was taking simple things such as that for granted. If you really think about that, it can be a scary thought.
I want to challenge you to start learning to not take simple facts of life for granted. Your whole outlook on life will change. Be prepared for your time to go. Don't go around being paranoid, but be aware that it is possible. Live life to the fullest, love God, find your purpose, and fulfill it.