Running Your Life Race

Do you ever have a hard time staying focused? Do you ever get distracted by something at work or home that takes you on an alternate journey which last up to 20 or 30 minutes? Have you ever started an email or project and had to stop because something happened and you lost focus on what you were doing? (ARE YOU ALREADY DISTRACTED FROM READING THIS BLOG?) If so, then you're in good company! Here's the scary thing. The average attention span of a goldfish is 9 seconds. According to a study done in 2015 by the Microsoft Corp, people generally lose focus every 8 seconds. That was two years ago so I'm guessing it could be even worse now. We have a lesser attention span than a goldfish...Ouch! So, what do we do? One of the problems I've read is that our brains are simply over stimulated. We don't ever give them a break. When you lose focus on an email because a text came in, our focus changes and next thing you know you're checking Facebook and orde...

Pain...physical suffering associated with bodily disorder. (Merriam-Wesbster) Yesterday I took the day off from my morning routine to simply enjoy the holiday weekend and catch up on a little rest. It was definitely nice to be able to sleep in, however it came with a little added pain this morning. I'm not really sure why, but as I started running my left heel began to hurt. I debated whether I should continue or just turn around and walk home. I pushed on and the pain stayed constant. I didn't want to stop and despite the annoying throbbing of my heel, I ran on the front part of my foot and kept going. Gary Zukav said, "Your pain is an opportunity to learn about yourself." I didn't want to quit this morning and walking in my mind was defeat. So, I pushed on and now am at home with my socks off and my heel feeling just fine! In life we're always going to have some sort of pain in our lives. Whether it's a physical pain like a bum heel or maybe ...

Habits....For better or for worse... I have always heard it takes 21 days (of repetition) to develop a habit. After doing the same thing for 21 days in a row, you can officially take a day or two off and still not break your habit. Unfortunately, this is WRONG!!! Scientist have proven that on average it takes roughly 66 days to develop a habit. ( reference ) Of course this all depends on your age and a few other factors. 66 days to develop a habit, now that makes more since! Stop right now and ask yourself, what habit do I need to break and what habit do I need to take on. I am a firm believer that when you put something down (a bad habit), you pick another thing (good or bad habit) back up. Pick up a good habit and take the next 66 days to achieve it. Here's a great way to spend the next 66 days that could possibly change your life! Days 1-20: Make your goal obnoxious! Write it on your mirror, set alarms, buy all the equipment/stuff you'll need, post about i...

Do you remember graduating High School? Middle School? College? What changed between senior year and college or College and the "real world"? Was it your friends, where you lived, or how much money you had in the bank? The most drastic change for me had to do with time. Going from high school to college, I now had an extra 5 hours of my day that I wasn't sitting in class doodling in my notebook. I had freedom, so I thought. I remember my first day of school at Young Harris College. Class started at 9am and ended around 10:15am. I remember getting out of class and thinking to myself "I don't have another class until 2pm...what the heck am I going to do?" I went back to my dorm and met up with some folks to go throw the frisbee which lasted until lunch and then my next class. Time is priceless. I remember how bad I managed it at YHC and how if I only had managed my time better, I would have made better grades and graduated years sooner. I think t...

This morning as I left the house to run, it seemed unusually quiet out. It had rained last night night so there was a continuous dripping sound as the water feel from the trees and down the drain. It was slightly cooler as well which caused a slight fog to sit right on top of the road. It was just a dreary kind of morning. However, like every morning it was time to run so I got after it! I was half way finished when I ran under a low tree limb that was weighted down by the rain and I splashed through a puddle. I didn't make a tone of noise, however I had awaken the birds. One of them must have been dreaming really good because he flew right at me. I continued to run and while I did I had this thought...I have awaken the birds. I've always heard the saying "early bird gets the worm", however this morning I was getting the worm. Jayne Cox says, "It is easier to wake up early and work out than it is to look in the mirror each day and not like what you...

The definition of inspiration is this... 1. The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. 2. The drawing in of breath. Inhalation. Wow! The very definition of inspiration is inspiring. (Definition taken from Google) I think it's ironic that the second part of that definition involves breathing. This means that every day as we're carrying on our own business with the world and those around us, we are also inspiring it. Huh? What if we thought every time we took a breath, we could inspire someone or ourselves? How would our days be different? I actually like Merriam-Websters Definition of Inspiration better. It goes like this... 1. A divine influence or action on a person believed to qualify him or her to receive and communicate sacred revelation. 2. The act of drawing in  specifically the act of drawing air into the lungs. Again, the very idea of breathing is inspiration. However, lets look at divine i...

Well.....It's Monday...... Is summer here yet? We've been moving towards summer for several weeks now and I honestly just feel a little wiped out. Today is Monday and although this isn't my official start of the week, you see I work Sunday through Thursdays. I feel that I've got a "case of the Mondays" (Office Space) and my work day hasn't even started yet. Do you ever feel like you've got a "case of the Mondays"? Do you ever get tired this time of year with EVERYTHING going on? I feel like almost every day I have to be in 2-3 different places at the same time! Well.....Hopefully this will help a little this morning. "But there's one thing I remember, and remembering I keep a grip on hope: God's loyal love couldn't have run out, his merciful love couldn't have dried up. They're created new every morning . How great your faithfulness! I'm sticking with God (I say it over and over). He's all I...

I took my son to UGA's last regular season baseball game against Furman this past week. While there he asked me if he could play out on the field. I told him with a lot of practice and determination, he could possibly play out there every week. He was simply talking about running the bases after the game, however the point still made since to him and the next day he asked me this..."Dad, can we practice 5 days a week over the summer? Monday to Friday? We'll rest on Saturday and go to church on Sunday." You see, the other day he was asking me why he didn't make the AllStar Team. (He's 6...) I told him he probably would have made the team, but that I wanted him to enjoy his summer doing fun things like going waterfall searching and to the pool. I told him that "AllStars" took a lot of time and we wouldn't be able to go on vacations and to the lake. I continue to think about it and sometimes question whether or not we should have signed hi...

Resources...what are they really? Most of the things we are trying to accomplish in life don't cost much. I love this quote by Seth Godin, "You have everything you need, to build something far bigger than yourself." If you're trying to get make an A on a final exam you need to study the books you have. Not buy a bunch of new ones. However, I did drop a couple bucks yesterday at Walmart. Here's what less than $20 got me... 1. Reflective Arm/Ankle Bands ($5) 2. Reflective Smart Phone Holder for Running ($8) I set a goal a while ago to run every morning, and though I didn't need anything specific to run it was a boost in moral this morning with my new gear on. When we set goals think of the things you'll need to accomplish those goals. Ask yourself what tangible things would help me accomplish my goal? For me, $20 got me safety and a place for my key and phone. When my wife started working out, she went out and bought a new pair of shoes and ...

This morning I was a little scared... I got up to run at my usual time and was only a few feet from the house when I noticed a man behind me with a hoodie on coming my way. I normally take my time getting to my start spot where I switch from walking to running. However, this time I picked up the pace a little when I noticed he was now only half the distance he was from me 15 seconds ago. We got to the end of the road and now I was moving in a pretty slow jog/quick walk manor and I turned to go right as I usually do to see if he would follow. As I did he turned around and headed back down the street where he had come from.  I walked a little farther and then thought, what if he's going back to my house? Did I lock the door? My wife and kids are inside, I hope he doesn't try to break in...(A million different scenarios were playing out in my head.) I quickly turned around and ran back to my house just in time to see him walk down the road, past my house a little further...

Obstacles come in all shapes, forms and sizes. Some are huge like addictions and diseases. Some are more time consuming and wear down our patience and mentality.  Some take longer to get around simply because of the complexity of the challenge at hand. However diverse the obstacles are, there's one thing we have to do to always overcome it.  Keep going! This morning as I was coming in for the final stretch of my run, I got to the stop sign where I turn to go home and there was a line of cars waiting to go through. I really didn't want to stop running, but I knew if I was to wait for these 3 cars to go through, I was going to have to stop. I didn't necessarily have to stop running, but I would have to stay in one place as I waited for the cars to pass.  I thought for a second, "I could always just keep going straight". I was feeling a little sore from the run already. Another runner had snuck up on me and scared the mess out of me when she passed. Ye...

It's a new day of a new week! Restart and renew yourself this morning and the day ahead will be yours.  Richard Whatley said, "lose an hour in the morning and you will spend all day looking for it".  I've spent the last 2 days in Nashville enjoying the vibe of the city and celebrating two amazing people at their beautiful wedding. It was a wonderful weekend with my wife touring the city and eating some amazing food. A weekend I wish didn't have to end. However, "like all good things" we had to go home and get back to the day-to-day routine.  I woke at my usual 4:52am to get ready for my run and thought to myself, why am I getting up?  I really thought about sleeping in this morning, since it had been a long weekend. I did owe it to myself to get a little more rest and it's only Monday. I've got the whole week to get up and run. Who's really going to check-in with me to see if I got up? Who is even really effected if I choose to s...

Today we keep going...keep pushing on! How bad do you want it? Last night was a late night for me. We're leaving for Nashville in the morning so there was a lot to get done in preparation for our trip. As always, we had something going on that night (my sons t-ball end of the year party) which made for a late night even later.  When my alarm went off this morning at 4:52am, all I could think about was going back to bed!  I thought about it for a few seconds and slowly rolled over and sat up.  What did I think about? What was my mind telling my body, that caused it to get up out of those nice cool sheets with the fan blowing so slightly and ambient music gracefully playing in the background?  What was it that my mind told my body? Two things: #1. "You set a goal to get up and run. Now do it!" #2. I thought back to every time I got up early and struggled with the morning. I thought about my morning devotional time. I thought about my morning praye...

I rounded the final curve headed home from my morning run and started to pick up the pace. My foot had stopped hurting (which almost caused me to stay in bed) and I started into a full out sprint. I wanted to finish strong!  I could now see my mailbox; where I would stop running to start my cool down walk. I ran faster and faster until I was there. I had crossed the imaginary finish line (aka my mailbox).  As I was crossing the imaginary finish line I noticed that I had slowed down a little. Why did I do this I thought to myself? I slowed down because to me the finish line was where I was done. I noticed something different this morning though...if I was to stop every time I got to the finish line, I wasn't going to win the race. I've watched professional runners (mostly sprinters) run as fast as they can to the finish line and then stop. Not instantaneously of course, however their speed had decreased just a fraction of their full potential just feet maybe inches befo...

I love this quote by Jim Rohn. Discipline isn't that hard, but what gets most of us, is taking the first step. You won't ever get across the bridge unless you put one foot in front of the other.  I've been running for the past several weeks early in the morning. It started out as a quick walk and now has turned into a 30 minute run. I'm a pretty athletic guy regardless and don't need to lose the weight, however I did need to exercise more and early in the morning was the best time to do it. I have 2 kids ages 3 and 6 and getting up before 5am isn't always that easy. In fact, for the first 5 to 10 minutes of my morning exercise routine, I simply walk. I walk until I'm awake (which usually takes about 5 minutes) and then stretch and get to running.  Here's the reality...It's early in the morning. I could be sleeping. Some nights I don't go to bed until 11:00pm or later because of house work, etc. It's rained, been cold, I've bee...

GET UP AND GET STARTED EARLY TODAY!!!  We can do this together! We should do this together! Let's do this together!!! Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. -Hebrews 12:1-2 

Wow, it has been way too long... (Side Note - I started a few other blogs over the past several years, but this is the one I'm relaunching and resetting with a fresh new look and purpose!) Real quick here's what's been going on: (Since 2011) 1. Check out what I've been doing as a Student Pastor Here ( Linkedin Link ) 2. Check out my family here. ( Instagram Link ) Now, lets continue... God has recently moved in my life in a uniquely beautiful way. I met through one of our student ministry parents a guy by the name of Nate Yeske. Nate owns a  coaching company  that helps reignite passions for all kinds of people. The minute I met Nate I knew this was something I needed to do. I called him up and said we've got to make this happen and like that we were off and running. Literally...the next Monday morning at 5am I was off running. (We'll get to more of that later) I'll keep this short, but I simply want to kick back off this blog as a way of enco...