Perceptive Distortion

Two sets of eyes gaze at the same painting; but behind the lenses and lashes, two quite diverse messages are derived from the same visual representation.  An accident investigator takes the testimonies of a number of eye witnesses, those whose firsthand accounts would inform the powers of safety and justice - each story a bit askance of its fellows.  A couple recounts tales from their recent vacation, one correcting the other lovingly, met with surprise-adjacent reactions from either teller.  Why is this - that we can experience and encounter life and its elements so diversely? 

I was thinking of this because I'm still new in my glasses-wearing, and now contact-lens-wearing life.  Also, the set of eyes whose stance is often alongside my own just had his sight rechecked yesterday.  Thirdly, and the reason I've finally found myself at the keyboard again in order to ponder the perceptive distortions between people is a painting - a parrot painting.

Five years ago this very month, I went to one of those charming establishments so popular in recent times - a paint and sip place - with two of my dearest friends.  The painting on this particular evening (also my first) was a parrot with a slice of lime in its beak, perched atop a margarita with a sea sunset in the background.  The three of us, along with the couple dozen strangers also in attendance, all had the same set of instructions, the same access to paints and brushes; yet every last bird seemed to be "of a different feather."  Mine looked like some sort of ethereal Phoenix-parrot in a tropical setting, while my friends both painted far more solid, bold lines.  Each of us began with a blank canvas upon which each of us crafted our own interpretation with varying pressures and scale. 

In case it wasn't obvious, mine's on the right.

Yesterday, in a Salvation Army store, with the aforementioned set-of-eyes-having companion, I spied the same painting (in someone else's hand, of course).  It naturally made me laugh as I recalled my experience with fondness.  Tonight, my own fowl-adorned-canvas (believe me, it's accurate on many fronts to reference it as such) is in the front seat of my vehicle, waiting to be delivered to my unsuspecting companion.  I'm hoping it will bring a bit of comedic relief to what has been a trying day from his perspective.

As I went to place the libation-perched-parrot into my conveyance, I heard a chirp to the right of my gate.  Shifting my eyes, I saw a round-breasted robin, the first sign of spring, I'm told.  The robins all look so robust at the beginning of the season, before the turf-wars begin with the other territorial songbirds.  Soon enough, however, the bright plumage and proud stance will bear evidence of moving violations, battles lost and won.  This is another way the same visage shifts - over time, whether it's our fickle memories or the matter of facts that literally change the view.  Either way, we are here to behold it all and calibrate our individual lenses so that we can see with greater clarity, using that sense of vision to align with the art of life.  We each come to see things as we do for a number of reasons, including personal experience, faith background, access to differing levels of information, academic scholarship, socioeconomic status, and any combination of variables too lengthy a list to compile here.  While we may not have the whole picture, we are each owners and onerous of the distortions with which we form and revise our perception of the world. 

Jotting with Johnna:

• What have you noticed you see issues and items differently than you once did?
• How did your perception shift, or was it an entire paradigm which altered your views?
• Where do you need greater focus or maybe to "pan out" to ensure you perceive accurately the world around you?
• Who might be helpful to discuss such sight-correction?
• Do you have someone with whom you can ensure accountability to stay aligned with truth?

Remember:
To clarify, I'm not writing political commentary.  That's certainly not the sort of thing I want to do in this space.  That stated, a quip oft attributed to Anaïs Nin reads, “We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.”  You have the power at any moment to clean your attitudinal lenses as needed.  Especially in an election year, given the vast number of information sources and devices, it can be difficult to see beyond the haze of agenda-spun stories; but a bit of humility and consideration for those who see things in another way might just help us reach common ground where it may be had.  Like the robins, we may get a bit worn before the season changes, but it doesn't mean we cannot show our best colors in the process.

Stay tuned.  Stay focused.  Stay well.

It's Elementary, My Dear Wellness Scribe

We've been gathering clues to discover the chazown - the vision - for life.  It's unique to each person; yet Craig Groeschel's program, as described in the book and on the resource-packed website, provides guidance for the quest.  This post will conclude the exploration we began a few days ago, but the book holds much which makes it worth procuring and perusing for yourself.  This is really just an introduction, an opportunity for introspection I hope will foster further delving on your part.

Image sourced via Google, un-secure site destination

Having explored the three circles, you'll know by now what the author/pastor means when he writes:

• Your core values are the handful of values that you are most passionate about and stood for above all else.
• Your spiritual gifts are your special abilities, the things you do noticeably well - and love to do.
• Your past experiences are the events and seasons in your past (both pleasant and unpleasant) that have shaped who you are today and prepared you for God's plan for your future.

The place these three overlapping circles of self-evaluation and godly revelation converge is a "sweet spot" in which all those life dimensions operate at their greatest strength.  A few questions below will help to dig for the jewels.  For now, we'll press forward.

Groeschel warns that this truth-finding mission is not for wimps, urging to expect discomfort because "God's vision for you is bigger than you can imagine and impossible for you to do on your own."  This reminds me of Henry Blackaby's reference to God-sized tasks in Experiencing God.  God intends to receive glory from your joining Him in His work; and that cannot happen when you're fully capable in your own power and with your own resources to do it all.

Because this mission God has for you is vast in comparison to your own power, wisdom, and resources, it is wise to seek counsel as you embark on defining and fulfilling that purpose.  God will not contradict His Word, the intercession of fellow believers is priceless, and God has already facilitated your access to wise believers whose guidance can be crucial - especially when it comes to being accountable.

Groeschel defines a mission statement as a "one sentence version of God's chazown for your life expressed in words that greatly motivate you to pursue it for Him."  You can start with a lengthy, rambling draft, of course, and then revise and reduce it to a concentration that is powerful and strong, relevant to you.  Those questions I mentioned earlier - the ones you'll find below - will really help with that first draft.

Intention and vision and mission statements are great things unless they are as far as you get.  Putting the God-sized task into a plan of action galvanizes and catalyzes dreams into destiny.  We are to walk by faith (Galatians 5), and some of that faith is creating a plan for moving into the mission (Proverbs 14:22-23; 33:11; Matthew 16:21).  The author mentions the efficacy of short term goals which contribute progress toward the long-term outcomes, citing the concept of SMART goals.  While goals are helpful structure, excessive worry over this step can lead to actions becoming drowned in intent; so take the very next step, insisting the power of your faith over the grip of fear.

Finally, and essentially, the spokes of your proverbial wheels must be balanced and strong for the long haul - a practice which requires vigilant and willful attention.  Those spokes deal with:

• Your time with God
• Your relationship with other people in your life 
• Your financial stewardship and wellbeing
• Your physical fitness
• Your work life - whatever that is that occupies your time, whether it's paid or volunteer

Jotting with Johnna:
It's finally time for those questions posed by pastor Groeschel - consider, pray about, and seek wise counsel as to these questions.

• What have I always considered important?
• What values permeate me to my core?
• What have I always seemed especially gifted to do?
• What have my experiences revealed about me and my purpose?
• If money were inconsequential, and I could do anything I desired for the rest of my life, what would I do?
• Aside from providing love, care, and ministry to those I cherish, what's the foremost thing I believe God wants to accomplish in this life through my action?

Remember:
You were born on purpose with purpose.  It will be outside your own strength - it'll even stretch you - but you are uniquely gifted with talent, experience, and a set of values to accomplish that big vision with God's backing for His glory.

Stay tuned.  Stay focused.  Stay well.

Pit Stop

While I know I've been in a book for several posts now, I'm diverting to refuel and change tires, a pit stop of sorts.  The reasons include a wondrously wacky canine at my feet whose paws just walked alongside me to the home I'm selling down the street.  Also, the book I have been extrapolating for you Scribes happens to be in my bedroom, and I'm in the study at the moment.  Yeah, weak reasons, but sometimes those hints come from Higher Office; and I've learned to listen even if it sounds silly.

Image source:  https://i8.ventures/case-study-the-ferrari-pit-stop-and-the-value-of-shared-goals/

Last year, I was writing lines as they came to me in a simple, inexpensive, week-at-a-glance planner.  I wrote about it in this post.  It is from these scribbles from which I hope to scratch out a bit of wisdom and wit that may stimulate your wellness script-writing.

Old things must pass away so new things can grow.  I spent some time on Monday working on the aforementioned former abode.  I have quite a bit of garden on that tiny bit of landscape, and all of it is perennial.  There's spearmint I've planted around my mailbox, which is such a verdant green and boasts some sweet pollinators in the heat of summer, when many other sources have begun to go dormant.  When dormancy is near, I trim the spearmint back a little and then let it protect the tender new leaves of gloriously aromatic mint as they come up from their winter slumber.  Monday, I ensured sun exposure for those same tender sprigs as spring teases at my imagination.

We do well to release ways of thinking and being in the world when those ways prove themselves faulty, obsolete, or harmful.  As so eloquently put in Hebrews 12:1, let's "cast off" whatever is holding us back, hindering progress, or causing us to stumble in running our own race!  Compost is always intentional and it's often an inconvenient and smelly process; but organic compost causes garden vegetables to thrive.  Composing the "new things" of the garden variety and the glorious all the same requires giving up what is beyond or behind us to be relegated as potential soil.  If you read yesterday's post, you'll find this thought familiar.  Indeed, composing healthy new things is best executed in the compost of the past, clearing away the dried brambles to ensure that light gets into the new things God has planned (Jeremiah 29:11-13; Isaiah 43:18-19).

I've moved from one home to another.  I don't live there anymore; but I'm grateful for the place where I got healing - the physical address and the spiritual access alike.  It's time for another dweller's life to happen there, person(s) for whom I am preparing the place in that vacancy.  What once was is no more; and with thanksgiving, I release that home to the market.  It won't be helpful to keep gripping tightly to things which no longer contribute to my growth or my good; and in fact would be detrimental.

Jotting with Johnna:

• To what might you be holding on, and why?
• Is there a way to remember and reverently release that person, place, pursuit, or possession?
• How might your load be lighter - light enough to run the race set before you - without that weight?

Remember:
Sometimes it is wise to stop carrying something simply because it is heavy and no longer contributes to the abundant life won for you by Christ.  You are so very worthy of the act of releasing that which keeps you from living that life - it came at great price. 

In the words of Jesus, Himself:

"The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy.
I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]."
John 10:10
https://my.bible.com/bible/1588/JHN.10.10  

Stay tuned.  Stay focused.  Stay well.

The Past is Part of the Path

Days ago, I began digging into Chazown, a book by author and pastor, Craig Groeschel of Life.Church.  The posts involved are in succession, each setting the stage for the next and so on; so if you're new here, please visit this post first.  In the book whose mission it is to assist believers in finding their chazown - their vision - after the composition of one's own epitaph, the next begins explaining the three circles, beginning with the circle of core values, explained in this post.  The next circle is exploration of what gifts and talents one has, as explained here.  The final circle deals with past experiences and how they can help reveal what God has designed the individual to accomplish.

What happens to people and what they do with what happens to them determines the trajectory of the remainder of their days.  As such, while one might stiffen at the idiom, "everything happens for a reason," we can safely assert that we are able to find meaning and purpose to galvanize us when we are willing to allow God to shift our perspective and see the potential.  It shouldn't take long for a reflective person to look back on his or her life and see where events that seemed random at the time were more obviously catalysts on an individual or collective basis.  This applies to both the pleasurable outcomes and the painful ones.

Groeschel asserts that, "your past often holds the key to unlock your future."  Grief and loss can foster empathy, wisdom, and compassionate effort.  The ability to provide comfort relevant to each loss is not to be underestimated.  Painful experiences change us in unique ways, like a chisel creating a masterpiece and a mess all around it all at once.  With what I've personally experienced, I can find joy in the junkyard as easily as on a playground - its resilience and strength I could never have known had it not been for the walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

Image source:  https://www.magiceye.com/portfolio-items/pegusus/

Groeschel used the "magic eye pictures" to illustrate the point that a shift in focus makes all the difference.  These pictures seem to be nothing but random colors and shapes on a canvas; but with the proper focus, a depth of meaning can be conceived with the same eyes, now opened anew.  Ask God to give you eyes to perceive His purpose in both the good and bad - even the ugly - pictures of your life. 

Life can only be lived forward; and while the past is a precious resource from which to learn and grow, we will never be able to run the race with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1-3) if we cling to what no longer is.

Jotting with Johnna:

• What do your painful and your pleasurable/positive experiences have in common (or in stark contrast)?
• What do you think your experiences have done within you to prepare you for future pursuits?
• How have you changed - and should your response be challenged afresh?
• What potent experiences (hurtful and helpful alike) might God want to use?
• Regarding the next chapter of your life story, what possible title(s) come to mind as you consider the past behind you and the path before you?

Remember:
Notice all kind of experiences, denoting blessings and obstacles you have faced.  You are so very worthy of the vision quest which will reveal their use in your future.  Romans 8:28-29 encourages all believers that God does indeed work all things to the good of those who love Him and are called according to His good purpose.  That's me and that's you; but that's not always in the timing we would see favorably.  One of my favorite movie quotes of all time is from The Shawshank Redemption (1994).  Morgan Freeman's character, Red, tells Tim Robbins' character, Andy, "...get busy living or get busy dying."  Let the past be what it is where it is, let God redeem it; and let's get busy living.

Stay tuned.  Stay focused.  Stay well.

Viewpoint and Vision

In a previous post, I began exploring a book by pastor/author Craig Groeschel, Chazown:  A Different Way To See Your Life (2006).  On Groundhog Day, we considered what might become our epitaphs, beginning with the end in mind.  Next, we introduced the three circles:  core values, spiritual gifts, and past experiences.  The convergence of these overlapping circles is likely to reveal the chazown, or vision for the remainder of one's days.  Core values were contemplated, and now we'll look at spiritual gifts.

Image source:  https://www.changeview.org/3-powerful-steps-to-find-vision/

There are gifts in my living room, still wrapped in Christmas gift paper, bows attached, just resting there around my little Christmas tree.  Yes, I know it's February; but the intended recipient of the gifts has been overwhelmed at work and it's delayed our gift exchange to nearly Valentine's Day.  I don't mind the wee tree there with its Peanuts-cartoon-themed ornaments still in place; but as I consider gifts, it's the moment of transfer that makes the actual gifting valid.  Also, I am excited just imagining his reaction when the wrapping falls away from each item, carefully curated just for him. 

We must realize and actively receive most gifts, and I imagine God's delight when we are finally on the precipice of pursuing the reasons those gifts are chosen specifically for each of us.  Until we utilize them, they are merely latent talents, and many will actually atrophy for lack of use - use it or lose it, as they say.  The talents in Matthew 25;14-30, Jesus' parable of the talents, are a form of currency; but I think it is fitting that Jesus used the particular measure of wealth that He knew would eventually show up in English translations with the same word, talent.

We are uniquely equipped to fulfill the vision for which we were created.  Romans 12:6-8 lists a few of these spiritual gifts, stressing the imperative to use them.  They come straight from God, almost like a form of software that must be activated.  1 Peter 4:10-11 again admonishes believers must use their gifts, adding that they will benefit others as well as glorify God and draw others to Him.  1 Corinthians 12 & 13 further explain this giftedness and the appropriate attitude with which to employ them, with love.  Your awareness and application of your artistry, prowess, interests, and areas of strength will yield great insight as to your own chazown.

Jotting with Johnna:

• Do you know your primary spiritual gifts?  There are many spiritual gift inventory lists and quizzes, including one on the Chazown program website.  
• What do you enjoy and look forward to doing?
• What do you do that seems to significantly impact those around you?
• What do you believe in your heart you can do but haven't attempted yet?
• What gifts do you have that you're not currently putting to use?

Remember: 
You are gifted with something that can change the world, whether on a local or global scale; but the gifts you have are not meant to remain wrapped and tucked away in a corner of your life.  Rip open the package and look for ways to utilize each gift as only you are able.  The world is waiting for what you have to offer!

Stay tuned.  Stay focused.  Stay well.

Mind What Matters

What begun in a previous post continues in this one.  I'm exploring the book, Chazown:  A Different Way to See Your Life.  Having planned one's epitaph, then Craig Groeschel says the next step toward a chazown (personally relevant vision/purpose) is determining what goes in the "three circles."

Core Values

Spiritual Gifts

Past Experiences

Image source:  https://www.websystemer.no/five-steps-to-ethical-ai-for-businesses

In my career with the United States Air Force, one of the first things I was taught is one of the central themes around which I was to operate in and out of uniform:  the USAF Core Values. 

• Integrity First
• Service Before Self
• Excellence in All We Do

These core values keep us strong, safe, and steady through all manner of circumstance.  We each rely on one another to practice the core values as stalwart wingmen on and off base.  This set of values or guiding principles for personal and professional conduct work on an individual and collective basis.

Each person has something drawing him or her toward action.  We each have personal priorities, passionate pursuits, and things we would do if money was immaterial to the decision.  Those things are informed by our core values.  Some values are moral convictions, often informed by our spiritual upbringing and understanding.  Others came to us through life experiences, watching what happens when a certain set of standards is met or unmet.  Aforementioned pastor and author Craig notes, "what you cherish at your core is what you aim at with your life."

Jotting with Johnna:

• What causes light you up internally?
• What do you believe strongly should be upheld?
• What thrills your heart to do or dream of doing?

Remember: 
You are "fearfully and wonderfully made" for more than mere existence (Psalm 139), imbued with a creative mind and engineered with a heartfelt passion which draws you toward action.  You are worthy of the steps it will take to fulfill those hardwired aspects of your calling.

Stay tuned.  Stay focused.  Stay well.

20200202 Casting Shadows

It's Groundhog Day, the second day of the second month of 2020.  Apparently, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, indicating an early spring (quick cheer from here).  The way I've written the date since my days on the flightline working on F-16C/D model fighter jets [YYYYMMDD] makes it a fun date to my pattern-loving mind:  20200202.  If you flipped the digits, they'd still be 20200202; it's a palindrome date.  Yep, I'm a total nerd, and I'm fine with that - it's part of my own unique wiring, my divinely designed framework made "just so" to equip me for God's purpose in my life - my chazown.

Image source:  https://www.foxnews.com

Chazown is a Hebrew term translated as:  vision, dream, or revelation; and it's the title of the book to which I'll be referring today and in the next posts which follow.  Specifically, the title is, Chazown:  A Different Way to See Your Life (2006) by Craig Groeschel, senior pastor of LifeChurch.  The key verse for the book and its accompanying resources is Proverbs 29:18, because without chazown, without vision, without purpose, we creatures fail to thrive, miss out on the joy and peace provided by a meaningful dream, die even as we live...we perish.  That's my own wacky interpretation of the verse, but I think you get the point.

In the first chapter, Groeschel describes the awkward difficulties people often have when talking about death, especially the death of a loved one.  I've seen this far too many times up close; but my family has buried so many in such a short span, that I've developed quite a skill at articulating emotions, experiences, and all manner of encounters with grief and loss.  Practice makes proficient, I suppose.  Thing is, pastors have these conversations often with those whose deceased were difficult to describe, their lives a blur of activity by no acclivity to indicate a lasting legacy.

The first task suggested by the pastor/author is to write your own epitaph.  My mind went on a few larks when I read this, I confess.  The first is not nearly as noble as the last...  Tombstone Pizza commercials from the 1980s and 1990s posed the question, "What do you want on your tombstone?"  Now that my frivolous tangent is confessed, the other hailed to a course I took during my military career on the Covey material, Seven Habits, the second of which is to "Begin with the End in Mind." 

I don't want to live any default story this world will pen for me in the void left by my lack of intentionality; just as I believe about wellness, I also believe we each have the opportunity to write - or at least influence - our own life scripts.  There are things we'd probably all love to edit, mistakes and mishaps and misery we would expeditiously "white out" or "backspace" over (remember White Out, anyone); but those past experiences are for a future post exploring this book, so we'll let that stay there and move forward...  In order to facilitate this beginning mindful of one's own ending, the composition of an epitaph, I'll present questions the pastor/author utilized as he wrapped up chapter one.

Jotting with Johnna:

• Consider these for yourself:
• The thing I placed highest priority on in my life...
• Folks who knew me comment that I "stood for" this...
• I impacted my sphere of influence and the world at large in these ways...
• God received glory from this action, attitude, or attribute...
• Others perceived my love for them because I did or said these things...
• When I'm "on the other side," I hope God will say "well done" because of this...

Remember:
Your story is still being written; and you are at the proverbial keyboard with no [Backspace] button or correction tape or [Ctrl/Alt/Delete], because life can only ever always be lived forward, whether you choose to focus ahead of you or avert your gaze.  You are so very worthy of the blessings which come from a life thoughtfully and intentionally lived; and it starts with a mindful contemplation of the end.

What do you really want on your tombstone?

Stay tuned.  Stay focused.  Stay well.

12 of 12: A Dozen Days of Twelve Step Concepts

It's a full dozen now - the final post in a series of twelve on the original Twelve Steps as applied to general wellness.  If you missed the first of twelve, you can find it here, along with links and context to which I refer in the other posts of the series.

Step Twelve

"Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, 

we tried to carry this message to other compulsive overeaters, 

and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

Image source:  https://www.rtor.org

Modified for use in Overeaters Anonymous (OA), and offshoot of the original twelve step program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), this is the final step to examine.  Each person's life is unique, but most are relatable in some way, especially considering mutual weaknesses.  Sharing one's story of recovery can empower and encourage both the speaker and hearer alike.  There's something about shared struggles that can make folks feel less isolated and more equipped for recovery - more hope.

Advantages to sharing stories abound:  renewal of one's own resolve, perception of meaning and purpose in one's struggles, and generally making the world a kinder place for those beginning the journey of recovery quickly come to mind.  Humans are inspired by those who overcome, especially when the obstacles vanquished look much like our own.  As social creatures, the esprit de corps (translated from French to mean "group spirit") found among those with common goals generates a sense of belonging, of safety, and of determination to accomplish both the aims of the individual and the success of the collective at once.

Since I've never been part of a Twelve Step based organization, I can best relate to this esprit de corps with my military career and life as a retired service member.  Unified purpose and individual effort keep a group strong.  Despite our apparent rivalries, this spirit of comradeship extends across all branches of the military regardless of other factors of diversity.  We all took an oath to serve, no matter how we came to service.  Each of us had to individually overcome many things to endure rigorous training, regardless of length of service or the nature thereof.  Those of us who have left home to fight for freedom on foreign soil have another level of mutual regard - one that can only be earned.  This is one reason I'm a Life Member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW); my brothers and sisters in arms at my local VFW Post and across the country have, by definition, served overseas.  When it comes to life post deployment, we "get it" like others cannot, and we support one another as a family of choice.  When one of us shares a story, the others share the hurt &/or humor in it with respect and reverence for the experience of the sharer, (even while we banter), and we offer relevant service to military families and civilians alike.

Jotting with Johnna:

• Whatever you've overcome in life, you have a story and there's someone out there who needs to hear it; with whom might you share your story today?
• How might you ready yourself to share your personal testimony of recovery?  Perhaps make a list of bullet points to help guide you through the process concisely and enter it into your smartphone or carry it in your wallet.
• Is there someone who comes to mind right now you think might benefit from the wisdom you've gleaned along the way?  How might you contact them and start the conversation that might just be key to helping that person toward a healthier tomorrow?

Remember:
Although it may not be evident at the time, we can find purpose even in the most dreadful hardships when we find a way to help others.  You are worthy of an audience for your own redemption story, and the recipient of that testimony will appreciate it.

Stay tuned.  Stay focused.  Stay well.