Spring!

I am so thrilled that April is right around the corner! Days of 60-70 degree weather with a nice spring breeze are the best kind in my opinion. I look forward to getting outside and becoming a lot more active - lots of biking, tennis, and running this spring/summer. After many years of not riding a bicycle, I road into town this past week and realized again how enjoyable it is. Of course, I have to get into shape so that the incline side of hills are less painful, but I cannot get enough of the beautiful days God blesses us with.

One of my younger brothers, Dorion, participated in GOBA (GOBA - The Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure) last year and I look forward to joining them in it this year. I'd encourage any other individuals that enjoy nature and a solid workout to look into the site above. I believe the total cost after food and fun money is a little over $400 (depending on how frugal you are). Anyhow, after a taste of spring weather this past week, I just had to post my excitement for the warmer seasons ahead of us! Yay Spring!

Change...

Flora Whittemore said, "The doors we open and close decide the lives we live." After reading this quote for the first time, I agreed that our choices determine who we are as individuals. After I read it a couple more times, I dug a little deeper and visualized the statement. My mind created a building full of doors, all of them unlocked, some hanging wide open and others cleary shut.

One problem with this quote that I am able to relate to my life is that an individual has to open or close doors for any outcome to occur. For years now, I have allowed myself to walk around this "building full of doors" and have not opened or closed any of them. I know I'm not alone in this process because I don't have to look very far within my friends and family to find others struggling with the same problem. The scary issue about all of this is that I don't believe most people in this situation even realize what they're doing. The physical act of opening and closing doors take effort. Sometimes I believe people feel like opening or closing a door is going to take more effort than it truly does and so they wander the hallway passing doors on both sides, ignoring changes and decisions around them. Our minds fill up with thoughts of a door with a handful of padlocks, locks, and stuff blocking entry on the other side. Don't continue to fear change until you put forth an effort to open or close some doors. Commit yourself to physically stepping up to a doorway that you know needs opened or shut and muster up the efforts to be able to decide the life you live. Live life, don't let yourself waste it away.

Paths of Weaknesses -- Filled with Excuses

Personal weakness is a difficult subject for any individual to swallow. How far will you go to prove to yourself and others that things are under control? Identifying personal weaknesses and expressing them will open your eyes to life-changing paths that seem deceivingly impossible to travel down. A road that seems impossible to travel down is not an exciting discovery for most individuals. The problem with this fact is that I want to step beyond the general, common, or majority that is "most" people. Do you?

Recently, I have been fortunate enough to have my eyes opened to more than a handful of ugly, undesirable roads in need of being traveled. This month has been terrifying. I must admit that it has been hard for me to pull myself out of bed time and time again. Typically when faced with a path that I don't care to address, I dive into the safety of an outlet that removes me from world hurts around me. However, this month, the roads that I am facing have penetrated even my greatest outlet, the one escape from pain and darkness that fills my daily life -- sleep. My dreams have become painful, repetitive reminders of the choices I have made and the changes that I need to battle. So, in deciding what path to attack first I stare at the challenging options ahead of me. Fear is a natural instinct to change anymore for me. Every path seems equally challenging and excuses to turn away from each one start to fill my mind.

I think that is the problem that conquers most people at this point in the situation --they submit to their excuses. Excuses are powerful lies that we create to prevent ourselves from achieving what we truly desire. The best way to beat your excuses is to dismantle them for that lies that they truly are. Why take the time to dream and desire if you are just going to pile those dreams on top of a mountain of excuses? There is no need to torture yourself with thoughts of what you want if you are just going to follow it up with a reasons that you cannot have because...(fill in the blank)

For those that may be dealing with depression or unhappiness, I urge you to layout the paths preventing you from "doing" instead of barely "being." Draw yourself a physical map if you need to. Loose leaf paper and pencil is fairly easy to come by. Create a path of your life, then where you are now will need as many individuals paths branching off as you have weaknesses in your life. Identify them. Share them. People that have walked paths of pain and weakness before can help make your trek easier. If your living in tremendous financial debt then it deserves a path. Any unhealthy lifestyles (drugs, overeating, gambling...) need their own paths and so on. Along each individual path you should start to list the lies that you have created to prevent you from eliminating that paths existence.

My Current Paths of Pain

Look at the poor guy, so intimidated...

Don't expect to run through a difficult path without understanding the reasons that have continued to cause you to retreat backwards. As you dismantle excuses for the lies that they are, you will be able to replace them on the map with positive reasons to get to the end of the path. Instead of excuses, start generating passionate reasons for you to make it through each difficult adventure. Removing weakness and insecurity from your life will only help pull you out of depression and find the ever-elusive happiness in life. Imagine being able to fill every excuse you have ever given yourself with positive encouragement. Harboring personal weaknesses with your own excuses is the same as asking to not be everything you can or achieve less than you truly can.