You’ve been down that road…its not where you want to be.

~ David Willis ~ 2 Comments

I don’t know if you are like me, but it is easy to get comfortable. You do the same things week in and week out. You watch the same TV shows. You eat the same things. You talk the same talk and dream the same dreams, but do little about it. Does this sound like you? I hope not, but I have a feeling that it probably is. I know I am like that more than I want to be. Isn’t there more to living?

How hard is it to do something new? Go somewhere different? Meet new people? The answer: it can be very hard. It is hard to do all of these things when we are stuck in a rut and when you only have one viewpoint on life. It is hard to look at any options outside of what is normal. It is hard to be anything, but what we have been. You may not want it to be that way, but it is easy. It is routine.

There is a line from the movie The Matrix that sums this up:

You have been down there. You have been down that road. You know exactly where it ends. I know that its not where you want to be. – Trinity speaking to Neo.


When the opportunity to do something new, something that might impact your life arises it is easy to bypass it and go down a road you have already traveled. That is not where I want to be though. I have walked all those paths before. I have seen what they have to offer. The only hope for growing beyond where I am must be on the path I haven’t taken. This is true for my writing, my reading, my faith, and other aspects of my life as well.

I have friends that are experiencing this first hand right now. They made a decision to do something radically different with their lives. They have uprooted their suburban way of doing things and are a few weeks from moving to a different country to do work that has immediate and lasting value. When the opportunity arose they could have picked the way of comfort and politely declined, but they didn’t. Now, they are about to embark on a journey like they have never experienced. I am happy for them. They are stepping out of the comfortable into the significant.

I strive to do the same with my daily choices. I choose the path of significance over the path of comfort. I choose to work out to make my body healthy. I choose to eat good for the same reason. I choose to fill my mind with knowledge. I choose to spend my money wisely and invest in the future. I choose to be the husband and dad I need to be for my family. If I see I am headed down a wrong path I choose to turn around.

I don’t want to go down the roads I have been down over and over. I know what is down there and I know it isn’t where I want to be.

On being a mentor.

~ David Willis ~ Leave a comment

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?

Could 5 bucks really have prevented this?

~ David Willis ~ Leave a comment

We have had a leak in our bathroom for a little while now. I have kept it maintained and there hasn’t been any lasting damage, but I put off really finding out what the problem was until this morning. The solution? A 5 dollar part.

Fortunately this was a small drip and not a major issue? But, how many other things in life do we ignore only later to find out that major damage has been done because we didn’t address the issue when it was a five dollar problem?

I can think of many other examples of this. Addressing a cavity early prevents a root canal later. Frequent oil changes will prolong the life of the motor and prevent early breakdown. Apologizing and making things right today will keep a marriage far way from divorce later.

Moral of the story? Fix it while it is small and prevent a huge flood in the bathroom later.

Be your best, even when your surroundings aren’t.

~ David Willis ~ Leave a comment

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?

 

Its a Saturday morning tradition…

~ David Willis ~ Leave a comment

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?