It's Saturday: power

My nephew-in-law was on a Zoom call last week. He told a joke and nobody laughed. It turns out he’s not even Remotely funny!

Do you like the feeling that you are a 2^nd grade student and someone is your 2^nd grade teacher instructing you all the time? Of course we don’t. Do you like it much better when someone empowers you by telling you to take care of it; you are in charge; you have complete control of all the decisions? I have confidence in you. LuckieEddie says—It’s a great feeling when someone empowers me; puts complete trust in me in that I can do it. It is very stimulating even though I don’t always like it. When you are empowered you have to deal with the consequences of your decisions. Yikes! But it really makes a person feel good as well. That situation could be a boss, parent, co-worker, neighbor, friend, spouse, business associate, etc. It gives a person great confidence. Folks really like it. Think about empowering someone instead of micromanaging a person. It could make a stronger and more powerful relationship. It doesn’t have to be a huge thing, even something small to start with. It’s a great teaching method. My opinion! And remember what my deceased friend told me—Decisions have consequences; and guess who gets to make the decisions! MissPerfect says—Soooo life is easy, just make good decisions like buy low and sell high! Nuttin tooooo it!

Many folks say, I have no power. I say bologna tooooo that. We are just kidding ourselves if we think that. Folks, we have the muscle brain power, yes we do (i.e. we all have it, yes we do)! A friend, Harlan, through his writing, wrote this—"We have more choices, options, decisions, and opportunities than ever before in the course of human history. From what we want on our burgers to the composition of our homes, from how we travel to how we take care of the planet. We have the personal power to decide.” Wow! now that is power folks! Don’t kid yourself! We have the power to make personal decisions, yes, we do. And our decisions will really affect our lives. Yes they will. Suck it up cupcake and let’s get going! Or as a friend tells me—erv, let’s get going; We’re burning daylight!

SusieQ says—I have the power of doing what I want to do when I want toooo. BUT I seem to say I will do it today tomorrow someday! SusieQ, I think the best time to do most things is NOW! Quite putting it off. Sooo throw those chips away and get your butt off the couch! A friend says he really likes change but you go first!

I have had some breaks in life, some really major breaks. Maybe not as many of breaks as some of you it appears as it appears that many of you “get all the breaks.” Sooo why is that that you get “all the breaks” and I don’t? I have no idea! BUT I do know that I have received a huge massive break this year that will affected my life forever. Bingo! But remember folks—Life ain’t fair, the only thing that is fair is the Butler County Fair and that is in June!

Oh the power of engaging. Talk is cheap but it takes action for something to happen. I see and hear a lot of talk but not much action by some folks. Some folks are really good at the talk part. They are just fake, full of bologna. A lot of talk talk and more talk (i.e. full of wind). Bill, anybody can be a Bill, says--Can you imagine an aspiring soccer player who read countless books on skill development but never actually practiced? They may know all the proper footwork but never know the feeling of making a pass, scoring a goal, or even stepping on the field. Evangelist and teacher Oswald Chambers wrote, ‘One step forward in obedience is worth years of study about it.’” The organization sponsoring the mission trip I was on a.k.a. World Renewal of the Christian Reformed Church sent me a thank you note along with this sticker. I like it. Oh, the power of giving someone hope and not just talking about it. Anybody can talk about it and/or send $5.

Soooo my neighbor boys (i.e. three of them maybe ages 10 to 6 who are all boy) were selling lemonade and their mother’s cookies. I bought a package of cookies from them for $5 and then gave each of them a dollar tip. The youngest boy said to me—It’s only a dollar! Booker T. Washington said, “Success in life is founded upon attention to the small things rather than to the large things; to the everyday things nearest to us rather than to the things that are remote and uncommon.”

The Golden Rule is to treat others as you want to be treated. My mentor used to say to me—erv, the world’s golden rule is, whoever has the most gold rules! ItchieBitchie says--Oh, there is power in the gold let me tell ya; don’t kid yourself. I asked a person who is in charge of a division a pretty large company what his biggest challenge is—I have a lot of pressure as when the business shuts down, it cost the company $6,000 each hour. If folks work for a non-profit organization, a little shut down doesn’t mean much but this is a for profit company and it makes a huge massive difference. Money changes the climate a lot if we like it or not! It’s powerful!

We all know how powerful bombs and guns are. Is war always about power? But we really can’t measure how powerful love is, but we know it is very powerful. A friend says many folks are going to starve this coming year because of the war going on. He said that is what he reads and understands. I don’t know what he reads, I didn’t ask him. Maybe he’s right and maybe he’s wrong; time will tell. But common sense tells us that there will be some problems with food production, food purchases and food distribution. It can’t be any different. Saturday question—Will love be powerful enough to overcome starvation? Saturday question—What does history tell us?

CoachB says—"Hard lessons of life are the things that really teach us (i.e. very powerful). They are sorta kinda tough but they get us where we are to be. Yes, they hurt but are powerful. Sometimes they are lessons we must learn.” I have learned a lot of lessons through tough situations and assume you have toooo. It ain’t much fun. Saturday question—What is the most powerful lesson you have learned from a hard lesson? I have elected recently not to participate in an invite as it is negative to me; it rives up my engine in a negative way because of a past tough lesson. It’s best I do not participate as I really don’t want to regurgitate it again. I see no potential for a positive result and would be spending my wheels and it would affect me negatively again. I have learned my lesson from the hard lesson before.

How about the power of an encouraging word! Rick says—"Today would be a good day for each of us to take the initiative to pass along some pleasant words and encouragement to others. We might not be able to change the environment of the marketplace in general, but we can make a difference where we work and spend many of our waking hours.” I was with a friend recently who did just that to me. You know who you are my friend. Thanksamillion! We all need encouragement. Here is a little encouragement for you--Think about the first person to fly across the Atlantic, ride a rocket to the moon, or go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. They were no doubt nervous, but after assessing the risks, they decided to go for it.

Dr.J wrote this—"Robert K. Greenleaf, born in 1904, spent four decades working in corporate management for one of America’s largest telecommunications companies. Toward the end of his tenure there, he became disenfranchised with corporate management philosophy. He saw it as a top-down, authoritarian, and power-based approach. So he resigned and founded a non-profit to research the idea of servant leadership. His work planted seeds of change that continue bearing fruit to this day. The style of leadership Greenleaf reacted to—authoritarian, top-down—was the style Jesus identified in His day among Gentile rulers: They “lord it over” and “exercise authority over” their subjects (Mark 10:42). But Jesus demonstrated a different style: He came not to be served by others but to serve those He came to save. Look for ways today to lead by serving. It’s a simple but powerful way to show Jesus to the world.” What do you think of that? That is what I thought!

It appears that everyone has good and bad that comes their way (i.e. I do and have in my past). But the filters we have that let good in or bad in our minds is up to us, my opinion. Our expectations are filtered by us (i.e. it’s how we filter our expectations). That filter is determined by us and is very powered by each one of us. If we expect good things, we more than likely will get good stuff and if we expect bad things then more than likely we will get bad stuff. Soooo we have the power to choose. That’s my opinion.