Skip to main content

Living Intentionally



I was just contacted by one of my very first clients, a wonderful family who had originally invested with me during the throes of the Great Recession. We have certainly faced difficult times together before, but today is different. The wife has been battling cancer, had it beaten into remission, but then it came back. The husband reached out to me today, letting me know he needs help getting his wife’s affairs in order.

I knew things had not been going well but I was not ready to hear that today. His wife has been a fighter through this whole process. She beat it once, and I know they haven’t given up yet, but it’s looking very bleak. Absolutely devastating.

I am soberly reminded how precious and fragile life is. This woman is fighting so hard for each and every moment, facing incredible emotional and physical pain. Every day is a battle, sometimes every breath. And she is not alone. There are millions of people out there literally fighting for their lives and would be willing to give anything and everything for your problems.

Life demands that we live intentionally, to live deliberately and determined. It is far too valuable to live any other way. Your life is not an accident and you can’t afford to wake up and start each day like it is, wandering aimlessly and complaining like most everyone else. You must absolutely believe you were placed on this planet for a purpose and every day that goes by with you ignoring that fact deprives others of what you have to give.

We let our lives get so busy with meaningless activities and then complain we don’t have the time to do what matters. Your life doesn’t have to go like that but making the switch won’t be easy and it won’t happen on accident. We are not in control of the number of our days but we can certainly increase the value we bring to each of those days.  We must choose to make a conscious, concerted effort to live intentionally.

Not one of us is promised another breath. Do not put off until tomorrow the good you can do today. Also, if you would, please say a prayer for Donna.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Toxic Humility

We have all seen false humility: the guy who tries to hide his arrogance with feigned modesty. It’s usually pretty obvious and always obnoxious. But there is also another variation of false humility out there: toxic humility. This is often displayed in self-deprecating talk and a lack of self-confidence, belittling or undermining one’s own talents and abilities. The danger in this kind of behavior is twofold: it is too often accepted as true humility and like a virus, it spreads doubt and disbelief. To clarify, it is not that the bearer of this toxic humility isn’t honest about his view of himself. That is the very issue: he absolutely believes he has little value or utility. He thinks downplaying his own worth is humility but I disagree. CS Lewis said it best when he wrote, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.” His point being, true humility is not an ever-present raincloud of self-doubt that follows you around. It’s a focus on...

The Art of Intentionality

  “Intentional living is the art of making our own choices before others’ choices make you.” – Richie Norton   I am not even sure who Richie Norton is, but I love that quote! I imagine a ship drifting out to sea, pushed around by the wind and the waves. No course of direction, yet the captain is frustrated when the ship ends up dashed against the rocks, trapped on a sandbar or marooned on an inhospitable island. It is easy to complain when life takes us where we do not want to go. But who is really to blame if we have never set our sails to align us along an appropriate course? Do we blame the waves, wind and the weather? Or should we blame the captain of the ship? It is our life and our ship. We must set our sails with intentionality and determined choices. Otherwise, we are doomed to aimlessly drift along according to the choices and decisions of others. 

Flower Among Thorns

About six or seven years ago, my wife was around three months pregnant as we eagerly anticipated the birth of another child. One night, as I lay sleeping, I had a dream that our baby was born. It was a beautiful little girl with thin, wispy hair and large, bright eyes punctuating her beautiful face. I held her proudly in my arms and stared down at this precious little creation. I carefully handed her off to her older brother, who was just a toddler himself, as he sat on the coach, arms outstretched, anxiously awaiting the chance to hold his baby sister. I helped him prop up a pillow underneath his little arms to help support my daughter and then stepped back to take in the amazing sight as he gazed down at her with both pride and amazement in his eyes. As I stood there watching them, the dream quickly faded. When I woke up, my eyes met the tearful glance of my wife. “I’m bleeding,” she said as she fought back the emotions, “I think I am miscarrying.” Those words sunk deeply i...