I've been involved in a campaign to improve my physical health over the last few months. I've seen, and felt, the results of my progress. Others can see it as well, and they typically ask, "How much weight have you lost?"They are looking for a response in pounds. This unit of measure seems to be the universal way to measure physical success. However, I'm learning that the scale is not always the best way to gauge physical health. A person can see the pounds decreasing, but if they do not maintain a proper diet and exercise regimen, they may be more damage than good.
This lead me to think..."How do I measure success in my life?"
Can I measure success in pounds, or dollars, or square feet?
What criteria do I use to assess whether or not my life is successful?
I believe that we too strongly emphasize things that we can quantify. We have mistakenly believed that I can improve my quality of life by increasing my quantity of stuff. Jesus taught that a man's life does not consist of the abundance of things he has.
Endeavor with me to re-focus on the things in life that REALLY MATTER...Purpose, Passion, Relationships, Service.
(It's hard to measure those things with a ruler or a scale.)
5 comments:
When I read this, I thought about "being true to myself". Most of what I do, and go after are things that can easily be seen (my career, my house, my clothes). And if I'm really honest with myself, I'm usually more concerned about what other people think about me than what I think about myself. Thanks for encouraging me to be true to myself.
This is a very thought-provoking question.
The American mindset encourages us to measure the acquisition of things, especially seemingly unattainable luxuries, as a symbol of success.
However, as Christians we must shift the paradigm from worshipping things & people to worshipping God.
Things don't define who we are -- our values do.
When we forsake our values to acquire things, we become spiritually empty, time poor, physically exhausted, and wrought with grief and regret.
However, when we align our values to fruits of the spirit which transcends material items, we reach a higher level of thought, compassion, and wisdom.
It's this wisdom that others admire.
Quality of life means there is an alignment of your values to your very thoughts, words, actions, habits, character, and destiny.
This harmonization generates the peace (of mind) everyone is so desperately looking for.
The illusion of material items is that they subtract from our spiritual energy instead of adding to them. They require money for acquisition, space for storage, upkeep for preventative maintenance, and mental energy to remember where you put them.
All of this provides convenient diversions from what really matters.
Clutter is a sign of a spirit in distress.
We may make excuses for it, but if an item serves us no purpose, then we are selfish to let it occupy our homes and minds and divert us from our spiritual calling.
The litmus test that measures my success is predicated upon my willingness to be aligned with the will of God concerning my life. That can at times be quite challenging for me because I’m one of His hardheaded kids. That said there are certain tenets I might add that affect the balance of my life and sanity. The first is my desire to be in good health because I can’t work effectively in business or ministry if I’m sick. The second is my need for inspiring and real relationships. I’ve been blessed to have a strong support system; we argue, fuss, and fight but we also pray, cry, and support each other. The third is my desire to be around smart people who challenge my thought processes and who in certain regards, make me smarter because they are willing to share their wisdom and knowledge. The fourth is my sincere desire to impact my environment and the lives of others. I count it an honor and privilege every time God allows me to be a blessing to someone else. The last tenet revolves around my relationship with God. I could say a lot but ultimately, having Him in my life has made the difference.
In 2001, I stated the following during the goal-setting segment of a professional development workshop that I attended. I said, “I want to be exactly where God wants me to be, doing exactly what He wants me to do”. While my response was akin to my business forethought, I believe God heard my declaration and challenged me regarding it. Five years later, I have survived the loss of a career that I enjoyed and the revenue it provided, the death of a loved one, and bouts with depression. I won’t even go into the times when I thought God had taken a vow of silence concerning me. Suffice it to say I heard nothing. While it appeared that the bad outweighed the good, I always saw God’s hand maneuvering me through, even in the midst of silence.
At the end of 2006, I was exactly where God wanted me to be. That place is in gulfed in a sincere desire to say Yes. Yes God, I want to be aligned with your will for me. Yes, I want you to do a perfect work in me holistically. In doing so, I believe I have found the way in which to measure my success. I have peace………
My answer to this one is probably a little different than most but I measure most things in my life by PEACE. If I make any decision I see if I have peace first. In life I've been through a lot of hardaches and successes but neither mold and shape me effectively if I don't haved peace. I want to also have a measure that my father taught me before he passed which is LEGACY. I hope that my peaceful life with God will be the legacy that I leave to others that they measure me by.
I think that you would have to measure your life not so much by what you have obtained but the peoples lifes you touched. If I became a billinaire and didn't win souls, what good am I. Don't get me wrong, I also would like to have money and all that, but we are on this earth for a purpose. The purpose is to be the best Christian we can be and win as many souls as possible. I feel that the more souls you win, your life is all the more plentiful. Being a Godly example to everyone is imperative. If we strive to do this, God will give us anything we desire.
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