Monday, July 27, 2015

What is power to you?


Three executives were defining what power means, and how to know when you have really arrived. One said: "I'll tell you what real power is. It's being invited to the President's House for a personal conversation with the President."

Another said: "No, that's not it. You know you have arrived when you've been invited to the President's House for a personal conversation with the President, the hot line rings, and he just looks at it and decides not to answer it."

The third executive said: "You both have it all wrong. Real power is when you’re invited to the President's House for a personal conversation with the President, the hot line rings, the President answers it and says, 'Here, it's for you.'"

I guess we’re all looking for ultimate power, aren’t we? And I guess we all define it differently.

It’s especially easy at this time of year to define power by the one who has the most toys. Define power differently this holiday season. Define power by the one who has the most love. You define power as love as you listen to your life and make a life, not just a living. That’s how to find real power in God’s love.

How do you prepare for life?


You know, painting a bedroom really doesn’t take all that long. I guess you can paint a bedroom in several hours, can’t you?

What takes so long is the preparation. First, you have to move all of the furniture, either taking it out of the room, or moving it into the center of the room. If it stays in the room, then you have to cover it. Next, if there are pictures on the walls—and who doesn’t have pictures on the walls—you have to remove them. Most of us then spackle over the holes, sand them lightly, and create a smooth wall surface. Now if you have wallpaper up and you want to paint, removing that is a whole other matter that involves more tools and chemicals and more patience than I have some weekends. But all of this preparation, when done properly, is what insures a beautiful paint job. 

Sometimes life is a lot like painting a bedroom. It takes a lot longer to get ready to actually do something than it does to just do it.