I was sitting at work the other day and I couldn’t get it off my mind. It bugged me and bugged me and bugged me. I did my best to ignore it. But, it nagged me until I paid attention. I tried to put it off again. Fail. I tried again. Epic fail. What had me in its grip? Worry.

It doesn’t matter what it is that we worry about, once we let it get in there it is so hard to get it to go away. It could be about money, health issues, relationships, or a variety of other things that are important to us. They are often unfounded, or barely founded. But, once it gets in your mind it multiplies like wild fire.

I have spent more than my share of time battling it over the years. Finding out I had cancer in 2004 provided a ton of it. Losing a job years ago added a bunch. Complications with Trey’s delivery added more than I thought I could bear. What did it all amount to? A lot of stress that didn’t do me any good in the end.

There is a great verse that goes like this: who by worrying can add a single hour to his life? (Matthew 6:27) I have discovered this time and time again. Being concerned about things can be productive. Doing my part is necessary. But, letting those concerns shift to worry only makes us anxious and clouds our minds. Concern and hope can exist together. Worry chokes hope.

After my diagnosis in 2004 I decided that I was going to do everything in my power to live. I would endure the surgery. I would undergo chemotherapy. I would do everything I could to make sure I had the best chance possible. The results were up to God. I just wanted to make sure I did my part. I was concerned. I refused over and over to let it turn into worry. Thankfully, the outcome is what I wanted it to be. I am still here.

What do you worry about? Are the problems real or imagined? Are they things you can do something about? Do you need to ask for help? If they are things you can tackle, get after it. If they are things you need help with, ask. If they are things you have no control over, do what you can do.

Even if I have to make the choice a thousand times, I refuse to let worry overtake me. I know it won’t do me any good in the long term and it makes the short term miserable.

 

For the past couple of years I have volunteered as a mentor at a local elementary school. It was a ton of fun. I hung out with a kindergarten student each year and helped them read and spell and do basic math. This year I thought I would step up my game a bit and be a mentor to a high school student. Our first mentoring session several months ago. I made a good choice.

It is amazing how much I don’t remember about Algebra 1. Ok. I can get most of the answers right, but working them on paper! Oy vey. After the initial shock the fog lifted from my brain and I started to help him with his homework. (I was also amazed to think it has bee over half my life ago that I was in Algebra 1!) We did about 10 problems together. I loved it. I think he enjoyed the time as well. I know he was happy to have his math homework done. More than that, I think he was happy to have someone older sit with him and work through the problems until he understood.

Mentoring is a big need these days. Sharing our knowledge and time with people who need it is vital. I think the need gets overlooked and often. We live in a very individualized society. Many people choose the path of “I did it all by myself”. Should that really be a badge of honor? Should we have to struggle through things needlessly? I don’t think so. While we are individuals, we contribute to a community. If one person in the community suffers we all do. If we have chances to help others and inspire, we should.

As we worked through the problems he looked up at me and grinned. The expression of understanding spread across his face. Something that was confusing became clear. I love that moment.

I want to live my life like this. I want people to see a good model for living. When I need help I want to ask for it. Where I can give help I want to offer it. I want to be who God created me to be. If I get to be that and help others do the same, I think I will be satisfied when it is all said and done. I improve as I help others improve.

People are watching anyway. Do I lead them to being better, because I am striving to be better? Or do I settle, and watch the world around me do the same?

Who do you know that needs a mentor?

Have you ever had a job you hated? I have had a couple. (Thankfully it has been years since then.) You know the kind I am taking about don’t you? You dread Monday morning like the plague and long desperately for Friday at 5. The life is sucked out of you daily and you have very little joy. Anybody ever had one of these? I see those hands.

I made a decision years ago that I was going to do my best, even if I didn’t like where I was at that time. I tried every day to give my best effort and do the best work I could. I still felt like the life was being sucked out of me, but I knew that I was doing what was right. I found a small comfort in that. The easy thing to do would be do just enough to get by. Just enough to not get fired. To some people this makes it easier. I think that is a horrible way to go. Let me explain.

What happens when we do just enough to get by? We lower our standards. We make a conscious choice to be mediocre. Suddenly, scraping by at work turns into a behavior that can seep into other areas of life. Our defense against the misery at work ends up eroding our foundation. What we do today affects what we are able to do tomorrow. There is a great quote by Winston Churchill that speaks to this:

To every person there comes in their lifetime that special moment when you are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to you and your talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds you unprepared or unqualified for work which could have been your finest hour. – Sir Winston Churchill

Every day we have the chance to build a better tomorrow through our choices. We can prepare ourselves for the future with excellence today. I look at my decision to do my best with the job I didn’t like and know that it is one of the key things that helped me secure the job I do like. Had I not been doing everything I could to better myself in the bad circumstances, I may not have found myself in the good ones.

Have you found yourself in this situations? How are you responding to the negative work environment?

 

We have a Saturday morning tradition that I really enjoy: Homemade biscuits for breakfast and eating together as a family. It is one of my favorite times of the week, because I get to sit down in the daylight hours with my wife and son and enjoy them as we eat.

I started making the biscuits a few years ago. It is a very simple recipie:

2 cups of flour; 1 tablespoon of baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 5 1/2 tablespoons of butter (partially melted) and a half a cup of milk. Mix all that together, roll out, cut out biscuits, and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

I never thought anything so simple would bring comfort and joy. It is nice waking up on Saturday morning and having them to look forward to with Marixa and Trey. He asks for them  most Saturdays.

But, come to think of it, it really is the simple things that I look forward to the most. Getting home from work and cooking dinner. Talking with Marixa about her day. Playing with Trey and seeing the new things he comes up with. I absolutely love it.

What things do you do every week that you look forward to with your family? How do you make the time you have special?

For the last few years we have done our best to recycle the things we use. Loads of cans, bottles, plastics, boxes, etc. don’t go in the trash anymore and make their way to the recycle center every other Saturday. (That is usually the plan. Bad weather and Christmas gave us 5 weeks worth to take not long ago!)

I like that we are being conscious about what we do. It makes sense that little decisions can affect the big picture. That five week span of recycling building up in our garage was a small picture of what builds up all across America in recycling centers. By choosing to reuse instead of throwing away, we make a good choice.

Recycling has another more personal meaning to me though. Recycling is a staggering self portrait. By saving cans, bottles, and other items that you consume throughout the week, you have a picture of who you are and what you value, and maybe even your physical condition. Were the boxes you recycled all frozen pizzas? How much of that plastic held sugar infused items? What exactly would your recycling bin look like?

This hit me in the face not long ago. I have been a soda addict for years. At one point I was drinking an equivilant of 3 liters of Dr. Pepper a day. I was addicted to the caffine and the sugar. So, I switched to Diet Coke. Not really a better choice. My addition to soda continued. There were cans and cans and cans in that recycling bin. I tried to justify it for a while, but it is hard to ignore when you have to take it to the center and sort it. So, I have mostly given it up. Only a couple a week now. Sorted the bin this morning. Only 6 cans for two weeks. Not bad.

Do you recycle? What does your bin look like? It speaks volumes if you let it.