Tag Archives: vine

The Every Day Leader: ENTANGLED!

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There are so many life lessons we can glean from nature if we just look around.  In the south Kudzu grows rapidly, 60 feet a year! Kudzu takes over everything in its path, choking out any kind of life that it encounters. Grown forests become “ghost towns” of memories past.

Our lives are very much like this vine. Little by little we allow things to creep in. Things that SEEM okay at the time.  We often don’t realize just how damaging they can be over time.  These things can be draining and begin to pull on us.  They can come in the form of habits, relationships, even our words.   As everyday leaders that are seeking to live intentionally, we want to become aware of what it is that is weighing us down, entangling us and pulling at us. What is draining the energy, resources, creativity, and life out of us?

Do we have the habit of working too many hours?  Once a good thing, may now become something that is choking the life out of us and stealing our time away from family.  Maybe even costing us our health.

Perhaps we are simply trying to fit too MANY things into our schedule.  These things may all be good, but have become so much that we are pulled in every direction. Being intentional with our schedule means saying NO to things that might be good so that we can say YES to those things that are great.  It means being able to yes to things that match our vision and purpose.

What about  the habit of joking around?  Have our words, once in fun, gotten out of hand?  Are we too concerned about material things, vacations or having success that what was once a dream has now become a burden as we stay driven for more or strive to maintain what we have?

Are we entangled in a relationship that we shouldn’t be in?  Have we compromised at work and allowed questionable practices to take place?

Being intentional means taking the time to cut down the vines that are choking things out.  Once free the plants begin to thrive again.  Before you cut out those things that entangle you, first evaluate what is good or bad, what needs to be trimmed back.

The process is painful but the rewards are great when we take the time to evaluate and trim back those things which entangle us, allowing new growth to help us thrive.

The Every Day Leader.  Living an intentional life.  Being the best you can be.

 

 

The Every Day Leader: A life lived in an explosion of color

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Spring in the South is really an amazing thing. For most of the year we barely notice the beauty of nature because it is hidden in the background just being green and blending in to its surroundings. And then spring comes and with it an explosion of color! Vines that were unnoticed, like Wisteria, all of a sudden are the most amazing purple banners along our roads announcing to all who pass that spring is here and refreshing the soul with the sweetest scent ever put into the air.

As I gazed upon these beautiful banners while driving, I suddenly realized how much this vine is so much like people. It is so easy for us to go along in life, unnoticed, just going through the motions of every day living and yet not really living at all. This is not active participation, it’s not contributing to the world around you, it is merely existing. Existing produces emptiness inside each of us; we were created for so much more than just that.

So how do we bloom bright like the Wisteria? How do we make our lives count and live each day passionately embracing every moment and living it as if it were our last?

The first step is realizing how uniquely made you are. That you were born at a chosen time and the gifts you have to offer the world are so needed and no one can offer them but you. “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Psalm 139:14). God has formed you with his own hands, he has gifted you with talents and experiences that are so unique and He alone has ordained your footsteps.  This is our foundation.

The next step is finding our strengths and passion and using our skills, when that happens, a mundane way of life begins to change to a life of beauty shining full of color to all those we encounter. We no longer fade into the background. As we find our fit and contribute to this world, our lives become breathtaking!

May we never settle to be like the vine that goes unnoticed, just doing the motions of life. Instead may we use all that we have been given and stand out and make a difference and live a life of color!

Make your life count!