Modern Day Proverbs

​Alright folks, we get it. It came through loud and clear last weekend when our posts regarding work on the deck and progress on my novel garnered no likes that you’re sick of both. That’s alright. I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and understand that people don’t stay excited about things with you much past the exciting first stages. It’s why internal motivation and self control are so important. People have their own concerns and are too busy to keep cheering you on.
 
So today, I’m trying something else. My daily Bible reading has been in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes over the past couple of weeks – two of my favorite books that I always look forward to. Today, I thought I’d update this sage advice on the importance of wisdom and doing what’s right to fit in with the current state of the world.  So today, I bring you my list of modern day proverbs. I hope you enjoy these tidbits of wisdom that we’ve all learned through the school of hard knocks:

• Pray about everything. Praying without ceasing doesn’t mean doing it all the time. It means taking the time to lift things up when you need to.
• Don’t ignore your conscience. It’s the Holy Spirit working in and through you. Heed it and it will grow stronger. Ignore it, and it will go away – then you’ll really be in trouble!
• Faith isn’t a Sunday morning thing or “fire insurance” from hell. It’s the foundation of your life.
• Changing the world is an inside job. There are a lot of things you can’t control, but the biggest factor is completely under your control, and that’s your attitude. You have a choice on whether to see the sun, or look for the cloud in every silver lining – and that determines your true success.
• Read the instructions, all the way through, all of the time.
• Always do your best. Reality is bigger than what you see around you, and things reach further than you can perceive.
• There’s nothing new under the sun, but that covers a lot of territory since creation. You don’t know everything, so never stop learning.
• Technology and machines are great until they don’t work, then they’re the bane of your life.
• Whoever said “there’s no such thing as a stupid question” didn’t have to answer nearly enough of them.
• Nothing garners excuses more effectively than a deadline.
• The brain is a muscle and like all muscles, it strengthens with use. Use it or lose it.
• Nobody feels sorry for you if you’re in a situation you created, and pity isn’t something to strive for anyway. They’ll be more impressed if you use tough situations to gain wisdom and demonstrate perseverance, self discipline, and self control. Nobody admires or pities whining and complaining.
• Scientific evidence has proven that success is directly correlated with connections. Doing your best is the straight path to nothing more than what you have right now, because people value flattery over competency. And this is just plain wrong, but it’s where the devil has established one of his strongest foothold on humanity. Your true choice is whether to sell your soul for success in this world, or stand by your integrity and morals for a crown in the next.
• Words lie, but actions speak truth.
• Praying for wisdom doesn’t bestow it on others.
• Don’t make resolutions, create habits. A habit is more likely to lead to success than a sacrifice. For example, don’t say “I have to exercise.” Establish a habit of integrating more physical activity into your life until skipping it feels unnatural.
• Speaking of exercise, strive for healthy rather than skinny. Those actors/actresses and models you see on TV and the Internet work out for upward of 6 hours a day and eat a diet that would turn us into crab people because it’s unrealistic in the long term. Half a day working out and a shake diet? Come on! No real person has time for that! Establish a habit of eating better and exercising regularly, and be happy with your best. Scales don’t tell the entire story, and aren’t a full measure of results.
• Life is a winding journey, not a straight path. You never know who or what might come back around, so don’t burn bridges.
• Money can get you into and out of a lot of things, but it can’t buy health or happiness.
• Be careful what you wish for. You never see all it takes to have what you want from the start. It always requires more than you anticipate because you’d run like hell if you knew how much work it would take to bring things to fruition.
• Don’t be a jerk. At best, it’s short term success that leads to long term loss.
• Be honest, with discernment. Lying makes enemies, as can being too “in your face” with the truth. Pray for discernment to express yourself correctly, accurately, and with respect for others.
• Don’t skip your medications. Believe me, you aren’t as charming as you think. Your doctor prescribed them for a reason, and when you skip it, it shows. If paying for them is a problem, talk to your doctor about how to get them within your budget or cut back on other things. Remember what I said above about not being able to buy your health. You can’t skimp on it, either.
• When you’re happy, people are jealous. When you’re sad, they scatter because they don’t want your bad luck to spread to them.
• To thine own self be true. People can tell when you’re putting on an act. If they like you, let them like the real you. If they have a problem with you, at least let it be a problem with the real you, not some mask you’re wearing.
• Don’t be an attention hog. You can accomplish more in your own little world than you can surrounded by people fault finding and trying to tell you what to do and how to do it.
• You can take or leave advice, but experience is a powerful, undeniable teacher.
• Learn from mistakes, or be doomed to repeat them – and that is a unique form of insanity.
• Be a decent human being. Don’t be a respecter of persons. We all came from nothing, and you never know where you’re going next. Character stands above circumstances.
• Don’t pray for patience. Those lessons will come, and usually right when you don’t need them.
• Don’t say “the last thing I need right now is –“ because that’s the fastest way to call it upon yourself.
• Be content with what you have. Don’t envy others or look down on them. Life is a series of peaks and troughs, and all things pass into different things in time. Plus, you don’t know what the Lord is leading you to or protecting you from. The secret to success is to make the best of what you’ve got, and take every opportunity to improve as you live on this strange wave that C.S. Lewis called “The Law of Undulation.”
• Watch less TV. It’s the #1 way we waste time. Try cutting back on one show a week and see if that “One day I’ll get around to –“ list starts to shrink.
• Be mindful of what you do watch and listen to. It has a bigger impact on you psyche than you realize. I was a lot happier when I switched from listening to mainstream radio to Christian, classical, and soundscape CD’s on my morning and afternoon commute. Sure, I do still occasionally listen to the rock music when I’m seeking inspiration for my writing, and that’s the key: to know what “mental attitude” you’re striving for, and watching/listening to things that put you in synch with it.
• Be careful what you say in front of a parrot. Some things are cute coming back at you from your feathery friend. Some aren’t.
• Listen more than you talk.
• Don’t listen to anything preceded by “If I were you –“ because that’s an indicator that they don’t know what they’re talking about (and they’d never have the audacity to really do what they’re about to say).
• Take at least 20 minutes each day to do something important to you. You can find a way if you really want to.
• Eliminate the phrase “I’m busy!” from your vocabulary. You make your schedule. Take control of it, or be quiet because you’ve accepted it and everybody knows it.
• Be positive and give thanks for your blessings. It really does improve your perspective, and draws more good things to you.
• Be mindful of  your motives. Good intentions are meaningless if you have ulterior motives and your heart isn’t pure.
• You can’t control other people, so don’t try. Respect their ability to make decisions and you’ll find that others respect you. These days, respect isn’t automatically given because of age or status. It must be earned.
• Live your priorities.
• Be consistent. We all have good days and bad days, but don’t let your moods determine who you are. Be the same person all the time.
• Deal with your fears. Fear is a powerful motivator to your detriment, because it holds you back. Be motivated by right, good things, not this classic trick of the devil.
• Commit to less and make fewer promises. It’s easier to keep your word if you give it after thoughtful consideration. Promises made in excitement or haste usually lead to inconvenience at best, and pain at worst.
• Spend your time keeping up, not catching up. Do what you’re supposed to do. Spend time working and delivering, not making excuses.
• Respect the Earth. We were created to be it’s guardians. It may pass away but that’s no excuse to shirk this duty, because we will be judged by it.
• The most offensive thing in the world is when people tell you to get your crap together, and you actually do it. Because it usually exposes the fact that their crap is not as together as they pretend it is! Then it turns into a blatant “I upped my standards, now up yours” situation.
• We aren’t supposed to pass judgement, but that doesn’t stop people from doing it anyway. Don’t’ worry about what others think because it’s nothing more than an opinion from flawed fellow man. Life your life as you’re called to live, and then you’ll pass the ultimate judgement that does matter.
• Don't EVER volunteer personal information, financial information, or especially offer to hand out credit card or account numbers! I can't tell you how many people have freely offered me personal information they should be guarding more tightly because they're too lazy to do what they're supposed to do, and want me to do it for them. Lucky for them, I'm a Christian. Unfortunately, not everybody is, and there are a lot of people who would gladly take that information and use it for their own benefit. I see why identity theft is such a big problem now, and you should be guarding against it more, too. 

 
That’s not all, but that’s enough for today. What can you add to this? We all have things we believe is common sense that isn’t nearly common enough. What makes your list?
 
I hope this has been an entertaining break from book and deck progress – which are still moving forward, but we won’t talk about that right now.
 
That’s all today. Take care, and have a great rest of the week.
 
Bye!

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