It came to my attention this morning that there is someone out there claiming to be me. I'm thankful a friend alerted me. I'm not freaking out. I'm not sure why someone would want to step into my shoes except maybe to trick my friends into some kind of a con game.
Please know I would never say or do anything unflattering to others or ask for money. Should you receive a duplicate request from someone claiming to be me, please report it. Thank you. Have a great day.
If you're seeking to maximize the two most important parts of your sleep cycles, I have something for you today. It's another revelation regarding my own quest to optimize sleep quality. Last night was stunning according to my sleep report. My REM sleep was just four minutes shy of the 2 hour mark. My deep sleep was the highest ever recorded at one hour, forty minutes despite a sleep gap of nearly two hours just after midnight.
I hear stories from friends about their own sleep habits. Some rely on pills to help them. I'm not knocking their solutions. I have a feeling they are nervous about the sleep gaps like I experienced last night. I truly believe sleep tracking is the way to go because you have the necessary feedback to measure quality. The lesson I learned is one can increase sleep quality in spite of sleep gaps. There is nothing to worry about. A sleep gap may help the body to increase the quantity of the two most important sleep cycles, REM and deep. I'm ready to seize the day. My physical and mental recovery is off the charts. I hope this helps you on your own sleep journey. Have a great day.
If you live in Omaha, Nebraska, are planning to visit Omaha, or you're passing through Omaha, make sure you stop in at Blue Sky Pickleball and Patio. Tell Nick, the bartender, your caveman buddy told you to stop by, eat, drink, and play pickleball. This place has everything you need to exercise, relax, and make new friends. I ate a double cheeseburger while chatting with Diane who was socializing with her co-workers during her lunch hour in the indoor patio overlooking the pickleball courts.
Nick gave me a tour and posed for a photo in the patio area which can be rented out for your next private party. It doesn't get any better than this. Come see Omaha's first pickleball and patio. This place will knock your pickleball socks off. Don't forget to visit Wonderbowl in the adjoining room across from the bar. These folks are open every day at 11am and will entertain you until midnight. Open play for free pickleball is every Thursday at 7pm. They offer a reverse Happy Hour to double your fun. Blue Sky Pickleball and Patio is located at 10370 Pacific Street in Omaha. Nick is waiting for you. Bring a friend. Have a great day.
Consider today's story a starting line. The inspiration for this comes from "Dream Big" by Bob Goff, a New York Times bestselling author. I'm on page 31. So far so good. If you're like me and your ambitions seem elusive, the short cut is to order a copy and find your path. The sooner the better.
Bob states, "We can't get on the path towards our ambitions without figuring out where we are." Do you know where you are? Are you traveling through life with excess baggage from your past?
I'm going to do my best to plot a course to my dreams. I'm going to keep reading this book until I reach the final page no matter how busy my life may be. I owe this to my dreams. How about you? Have a great day.
My how time flies when you are involved in something that you find inspiring. It may be your favorite passion or chatting with a friend. What about those times in your life when you find your mind wandering?
I've been working on distraction removal most of my life. It's those times when I'm doing mindless activities that I'm most susceptible to distractions. I wrote a story recently about my mom's favorite way to "snap out of it" by saying "5-4-3-2-1" out loud for a quick reset. This works. I also believe switching up your routine can help. If I'm writing and I get stuck, I walk away and return later. A ten minute break helps me to reset.
What are your favorite ways to get rid of your distractions? If you respond on Facebook, beware. That place can get you distracted if you stay too long. Have a great day.
It sounds crazy, doesn't it? Why would anyone consider rewiring their brain? I offer one reason: perhaps you are dissatisfied with your outcomes. Strange as it sounds, a brain rewire changes everything. The transformation process does have some challenging points. There is a massive counterattack set up by your brain. This resistance you encounter is like riding a wild stallion. It's not easy.
Winning is a habit. So is losing. Should you find yourself in the habit of losing, seriously consider a brain rewire. Think of this as building a new highway. Visualize what your life will be like when the road construction is over. You are not dealing with concrete and bulldozers. You are building new pathways using neurons. These new pathways are used to create new winning habits.
There will be many failures as you go through the construction process. Your friends may think you're a bit odd. Move forward anyways. Show your brain you are committed to taming the wild stallion no matter how long it takes. Have a great day.
The quality of your waking hours is directly related to your sleep. Sleep big and you can live big. Deprive yourself of a great night of sleep and you will shortchange your performance. Consistency matters. If you're struggling to sleep big, read on.
I approach sleep the same way I tackle other important areas of my life. It's all about small changes set up to enhance success. There will be setbacks. That's part of the process. Two steps forward and one step back means you have a net gain of one step. Do this every day and you will see great results. The one step back gives you the feedback you need to make adjustments so you don't repeat the same mistake.
Be intentional. Decide today that you are going to sleep big. Tell your brain you are great at sleeping and your brain will cooperate. Experiment with all the variables so you can find your optimum results. Avoid making too many changes at the same time so you can find what works best. I'm a big believer in sleep tracking. The time you invest in sleeping better will pay off. In my opinion, this is the best investment you can make in yourself. Have a great day.
Second place. It's not what we were hoping for. The other team was better yesterday although the match was decided by the last doubles team on the court. The 3-2 defeat in the men's 40 state championships means the rebuilding starts today. What I like most about these men I have been playing with for 12 years is that defeat is never the final chapter. For us, it is the feedback we need to improve. We will be back next year. We have work to do. Congratulations to the men from Des Moines. See you next year. Have a great day.
My men's 40+ team is battling for top bragging rights today at 11am in Iowa City in the 4.0 Division. Winner goes to Springfield, MO in August. This may be one of our strongest teams ever. I won't be in the lineup today as we have a deep bench. I will be cheering for my teammates to win it all on the Hawkeye tennis courts. I'm thankful my boss at my day job has granted me time off to play in Springfield should we win today. We missed a state championship in the 18+ age group in a match that was decided by two super tiebreakers that didn't go our way although we may get a second chance should we be awarded a wildcard spot in Oklahoma City. Good luck to my teammates today. It has been a great year of preparation. Have a great day.
How are you handling all those road signs you're encountering on your life journey? Are they scary? What about the speed limit? Keep in mind your life journey is quite different from everyone else. Those road signs are for your benefit. You can pay attention to them or you can ignore them. Every choice you make along the way will have consequences.
I'm on page 7 of my next book, "Dream Big," by Bob Goff. The connection to the author is already made. He and his "sweet Maria" have been married for 35 years. My bride and I will be celebrating this milestone next month. The recommendation to read this book comes from someone in my close circle of friends. Joni heeded my advice when I wrote a story encouraging readers to dream big. It was a road sign for Joni, now a solo traveler after saying good-bye to her husband over one year ago when he got "called up." It's funny how when you do your best to help others, sometimes these messages come back and hit you like a boomerang. That's where I am today on my own life's journey. I'm taking it a day at a time and I'm paying close attention to the road signs searching for clues.
Thank you, Joni, for making a decision to dream big. You acted on your dream when you found your audio book, "Dream Big." I appreciate that you are challenging me to share the road with you as we seek our own life purpose. Wouldn't it be nice to pick up one or two hitchhikers along the way? If you are curious, Order a copy of "Dream Big" and we will share the road with you. You can pick your flavor, traditional book or audio version. Let's see if we can help one another find our life purpose. I'm curious what road signs you are encountering on your journey. Have a great day.
Your mental recovery is linked to the amount of REM sleep you get every night. I have been logging this since November, 2023. In my opinion, I need this now more than ever due to where I am on the aging scale. My best days seem to follow a great night of REM sleep. Sleep experts will tell your REM sleep aids in mental recovery. If you need help with learning, memory, and mental health, try getting more REM sleep.
I recommend measuring your sleep. There is no way you can tell your brain, "Give me more REM tonight." It doesn't work that way. What you do have control of is when you go to bed and when you wake up. In my opinion, if you can wean yourself from alarm clocks you will avoid a possible disruption in your REM cycle as your body prefers to wake up after this cycle ends. Get consistent with this and my bet is you will see your REM sleep improve. Have a great day.
This is a follow-up from yesterday's story about my sugar addiction. An interesting point was raised on my social media page concerning the quality of life when all things sugar are removed. Sure, there are disadvantages when most sugary food choices are removed, especially when processed foods are also crossed off the list of food choices. The food cravings may become unbearable for some. Your friends may become uncomfortable around you. Your anxiety levels may increase. I remember getting food cravings about every two hours. I also remember my withdrawals when I gave up sugar. In spite of all these negatives, I do not have a sour taste regarding my sugar free lifestyle.
A relative shared a story with me about two close friends who both underwent amputations due to diabetes. According to Dr. Jason Fung, author of "The Diabetes Code," diabetes is reversible. I'm thankful my eye doctor told me about him a couple of years ago because this changed my outlook. It gave me the information I need to fight back and overcome my brain's desire to consume sugar around the clock. The hunger signals are completely gone even though I only consume two meals a day. My life is as sweet as it can be. I no longer fear a day when my family physician tells me I have diabetes. My body can manufacture glucose when I need it. There is about a four week process without all things sugar before the brain gives up and the cravings disappear. In my opinion, it's worth it. Have a great day.
This is a sensitive topic. Many people in my circle of friends are in denial about the dangers of too much sugar in their food choices. I looked at sugar the same way most people do until I discovered I was headed to an early grave due to my sugar addiction. Something got my attention on a social media page the other day. It was a photograph from the early 70's showing a large crowd of beachgoers. Something was missing. I couldn't see one oversized belly. Not one. How did this change in a single generation? I'm going to admit it here based on my own life's choices. I got hooked on Mountain Dew shortly before I met my future wife. One can a day wasn't enough. I was addicted and didn't even know it. It makes me sick to my stomach when I reflect on my old ways. No bueno.
Yesterday I crossed paths with someone who is within three weeks of my birthday. Both of us will be celebrating our 64th birthdays next month. There was something peculiar about him that I rarely see in people who happen to be from the baby boom generation. He resembled one of the people from the 70's beach scene. There were no signs of an over-sized belly. Sadly, I rarely meet people my age who are a flashback to an earlier time when obesity wasn't an issue.
I would like to offer one more caveat should you decide it's time to admit you may be addicted to sugar. Other people are going to look at you with suspicion. They may even be thinking you are sick. If your friends are bold, they may even bring up the "c" word. Another thought they may have has to do with those permission slips being passed around regarding Ozempic. That's what prescription pills are – permission slips to continue your addiction to sugar without removing the source of the problem. I see the world differently. In my opinion, the best way to overcome addiction is to admit you have a problem and stand firm when your friends are forcing birthday cake on you. They really don't believe you are addicted. Sadly, they don't know how bad it is.
I made a decision at the beginning of this year to go cold turkey on all things sugar. This was one of the most difficult decisions of my life. If you don't believe me, ask my wife. She was shocked that I did this. Maybe even more shocked that I did it successfully. This is how I beat my addiction. I realized there was a problem when I had to have five pieces of chocolate at the end of every meal. My wife didn't know it at the time but the five pieces of chocolate were all I openly admitted to. I would sneak more pieces when she wasn't looking. If I were to go back to these chocolates today, I would be at high risk of returning to my old ways. It's better to admit my addiction to the world hoping one person may be inspired to make a change. Have a great day.
My Father's Day family barbecue took a couple of strange twists yesterday. High winds blew out my flames. I thought the problem was the propane tank being nearly empty so I made a propane run. Well, all the other dads had the same idea. All the tanks at the store were empty. I returned home and tried again to get the weber fired up with my nearly empty propane tank. It worked. I was anxious to try my wife's idea – diced green chiles inside the patties. Green chiles were one of my dad's secret ingredients in his 'world famous' burgers but his style was to place the chiles on top of the burgers. Since the store was out of whole chiles, my wife called an audible and made the substitute with the diced version. All I can say is this accidental food hack was amazing. These burgers were a big hit. The time delay was enough to cool the temps and allow outdoor eating on our new deck. I'm thankful we were able to honor my dad's memory with the green chiles. Give this food hack a try the next time you barbecue. Have a great day.
Happy Father's Day to all the dads in this world. I tip my hat to my father in Heaven. Although it's been more than a decade since fatherhood was a primary role for me, my adult children often share memories from their childhood that bring a smile to my face. Yes, fatherhood is something I will relish all the days of my life.
On this day, I reflect back to my dad's final days on earth twenty-two years ago. Shortly before his departure he left a parting gift that I use practically every day, sometimes twice in the same day – a weber barbecue grill. In his honor, I'm going to follow his "world-famous" burger recipe for our family barbecue tonight. The secret ingredient happens to be green chiles. Mom reminded me of this when we were sharing stories on one of her visits to Iowa. Happy Father's Day. Have a great day.
Your decision on a retirement date is personal. Although there are many factors, I'm considering something based on my food experiments that may or may not extend my life beyond normal expectancy. The jury is out on the potential success of the theories proposed by longevity scientists. Here's my thought process:
I did a break-even analysis the other day to see exactly when I hit the magic number and recover lost income from retiring before age 70. That point is age 73. Should I cross over into the promised land prior to that point, the government wins. Should I live longer than age 73, my wife and I win and we hit bonus bucks. I feel great about this bet but it's not the only factor.
I already feel like I'm living my dreams. Sure, retirement is enticing. My opinion on my current situation is that six more years of working at my day job gives me the opportunity to accomplish everything on my list of goals. I want to maximize the lives of the people around me. This is the perfect time to do that. How about you? What influences your retirement date? Whatever you decide, I hope you live long and prosper. Have a great day.
Never underestimate the value of a dream. Think back to a time in your life when you had a big dream. Did you nurture it or did you let the dream die? Where you are today is a result of your answer to the question. There are people in this world who will criticize you for not acting on your dream. Some may attack you for not dreaming bigger. Small dreams lead to small results. Big dreams help you reach your capacity for a maximized life.
The second part of today's story has to do with your circle of friends. There are two categories. The first category contains friends who support you in all of your endeavors. These people are dream nurturers. They support you. They believe in you. These people make great accountability partners. Stay close to them. The second category contains people who really don't want you to succeed. They are dream destroyers. Don't blame them. These people know if you succeed then you will change and you will no longer share your life with them unless they also change. Most people fear making changes. You have to find a way to break free of the hold they have on your dreams.
I like to think of my dreams as blueprints. The more detail I can add the better. I also like to go big. Why not dream big? Make sure to put some time stamps on your dreams so the clock doesn't run out before you die. Surround yourself with like-minded people so these dreams can be cultivated. If you happen to be in my circle of friends, be careful if you approach me. Call me an eternal optimist. I'm going to analyze your dream and ask you why you're not dreaming bigger. Another favorite followup question is this: Why are you waiting so long to pursue this dream? Your safe bet is to keep listening to your friends in category two who believe you are doomed to failure. Where you are tomorrow is based on who you listen to today. Have a great day.
What happens if your dad is a motivational speaker and a magician? Well, if your name is Nate Bargatze, you pretty much grow up believing you can work your own magic without any fear of speaking in front of large crowds. My family will be dodging possible tornados to see Nate in Cedar Rapids tonight. According to a feature story in The Atlantic, Nate is designated as "The Nicest Man in Stand-Up." We have seen most of Nate's specials on social media and he is right up there with Jerry Seinfeld, the one Nate says inspired him to move to New York City to pursue comedy.
Some say that the best way to face your fear is to visualize the worst that can happen. I suppose if a tornado took the four of us out while enroute to see Nate Bargatze tonight, that would be the worst case scenario. Sorry to the sole beneficiary who may seek a refund for the tickets to see Nate. "No refunds." The best case scenario is we laugh together. The vote is unanimous. Family road trip begins after our day job shifts are completed. If I'm not here tomorrow at 8:08 Pacific Time, you know we died laughing. Have a great day.
I will keep her name private. A close family member is getting ready to tip the scales that separate Heaven and earth. It's her heart that weighs the most. She asked her family to bring her prayer blanket to keep her warm. This prayer blanket was made with love and given to her before she moved back home.
I would like to thank my friends and family for your support. Have a great day.
Are you having trouble waking up in the morning? If so, you may want to make some changes concerning your sleep habits. When waking up is hard to do, you need to look at the root causes of your sleep troubles. You've heard me share stories about consistency. In my opinion, your snooze button is your enemy if you use it. It's like a crutch. Give a person a crutch and he'll use it. You must remove this crutch today and resolve to never use it again. Got it?
Crutch removal is painful. So is waking up drowsy. Once the crutch is removed, begin fine tuning your sleep habits. This starts with going to bed. It's best to part ways with your electronics at least an hour before bed time. Oh yes, breaking up is also hard to do. Just do it.
What about waking up in the middle of the night? If this is happening and you are worried about it, consider the possibility that it's really not a big deal and stop worrying about it. If you remove the worry you may find that waking up prior to your appointed wakeup time isn't really the problem you think it is.
I'm a big believer in measuring your sleep. Keep records of your sleep patterns and add notes about how minor changes affect your sleep. Use the feedback to keep improving. You may find that your waking hours are much more fulfilling once your sleep schedule is managed better. Have a great day.
The rules of the game have been distorted during our lifetime. In my opinion, this has to do with the introduction of processed foods. The people at the top of the food chain set us all up for failure when they found a way to get us addicted to their products. Sadly, they found a way to maximize their profits by spiking our food supply. If you don't believe me, ask yourself how many times a day you get hungry. The follow up question has to do with the frequency of your meals. Your parents and your schools taught you that we need three meals a day to survive. Really? How is that waistline doing these days? In my opinion, the only people winning are the people who got us addicted to their sugary substances.
I found a way to win. It wasn't easy. The secret is in one of your internal organs that seems to get a lot of attention when you visit your doctor and he or she has the "look" that tells you what you already know – you are fat, sick, and nearly dead. Your liver spills the beans. If your doctor tells you that you have a fatty liver, don't freak out. There is a way to win if you're willing to overcome your food addiction.
Consider this story as your rehab. Should you decide today that you are going to be a winner at the hunger game, congratulations. You have taken the first step. Your brain is going to give you hell for the next month but this will stop if you refuse to give up.
I hate to break the news but that sugar you are eating has to go. The snacks containing ingredients you can't even pronounce are now off limits. At some point you will stop getting hunger signals every two hours. You may even skip a meal without even thinking about it. This is a sign you are on the right track. Keep going. When you reach this point you are ready to give up one of your three standard meals. Remember, you are breaking a habit that has been engrained in your brain since birth. Stay with it.
If you keep doing this for several months, the next time you visit your doctor he or she will tell you something special – your fatty liver is now in the normal range. Surprise! Your liver is now producing all the sugar you need to survive. Isn't that something? The secret to your success was always inside you. Please share this story with your family and friends. Have a great day.
Many are seeking the truth. Some are bending the truth. Others believe truth is a myth. I happen to be one of those who discovered that many ideas we have all blindly followed are actually false truths. That begs the question, how does one find the truth and how does one know the truth is the real deal. Let me ask you this, "Are you free?"
The Bible verse from John 8:32 tells us the truth will set us free. John knew something about the one he followed over 2,000 years ago. Jesus teaches that He is the truth. No wonder so many of us are under captivity. We don't know Jesus. Perhaps it's our fears about what others will think if we declare we know the truth and we are free. The world may hate what we have to say. This is not an easy path. The most challenging part about discovering the truth is sharing it in a world that wants to silence your voice.
There is a reason why the waters are murky when it comes to seeking the truth. I believe there are dark forces that don't want us to find the truth. Even though these dark forces are pretty much invisible, they are wreaking havoc in our world. These are the same dark forces responsible for silencing the voice of John the Baptist. If you want to know more about this, check out episode one of season 4 of the Chosen. Warning. There will be people who will tell you the story is not accurate. All I'm going to say here is if you see what John saw before the end of his life you will see what he saw and you will see the truth. See for yourself and decide if you are now free. I highly recommend you put the Chosen app on your phone and you watch the Chosen. If your life is too busy right now, simply skip the first three seasons and go straight to episode one of season 4. Watch until the end and you will see the truth through John the Baptist's eyes. See the trailer below for a sneak preview. Have a great day.
Is your life stuck in some kind of endless cycle that appears to be going nowhere? It happens. The first step to getting out of a rut is to recognize you are on autopilot and you don't know where you're headed. This can be frustrating. The good news is you can break free and change course.
Your brain is more powerful than you think. You may be bored with your current circumstances. If your brain is on autopilot because of this, all you need to do is turn off the autopilot and head in a new direction that perhaps you've never gone. Think of this as a place outside your comfort zone. Yes, this can be scary. That's great news. Scary means you are now on alert because your brain doesn't know what's happening. This is a time for you to learn new things. Boom – you're out of the rut. If this happens again, it's time to change directions again. Keep changing so your brain has new experiences to process.
In my opinion, it's a good idea to review your goals. Autopilot is good when you're going in a direction you seek. Autopilot hurts when your same routine is preventing you from learning and growing. Tell your brain you are in charge and take charge. Have a great day.
No matter how far I may be removed geographically from my cousins, I think about them often. My dad grew up in the Midwest with five brothers and four sisters. My mom grew up in Arizona with two sisters and one brother. One of the biggest blessings to come out of these two large families is the abundance of first and second cousins. If you live in Arizona, the odds are high that you may have a cousin or two nearby. If you happen to live in the Northwest and you have never been exposed to an extended member of my family, you have a great opportunity to meet a 'world famous' Mulligan who is on tour performing with some buddies. If you are a Jimmy Buffett fan, this is your opportunity to meet Mark Mulligan who is paying him homage when he crosses the border from Mexico to perform in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Click here for his website and make sure you tell him his caveman cousin sent you.
For those of you who play tennis and/or pickleball, I would like to give a shout out to Mark's oldest brother, John, who added quality years to my life when he intervened to introduce some ideas about healthy eating. At some point leading up to our nineties, Dr. John Mulligan will team up with me as my doubles partner. After some fun together in grade school, we split up and competed on the high school tennis courts for four years. His team claimed top honors all four years.
It's easy to get lost in the shuffle when you come from such a large extended family so I would like to recognize the youngest male and the youngest female on the Mulligan side of the family. Some of you may have seen David Mulligan while he was on a world tour with Niki Bluhm and The Gramblers. Conan O'Brien invited the group to play on his show. David is now earning his wings as a pilot.
Dr. Kathleen Mulligan, the youngest first cousin, earned her medical degree recently. She is following in her grandfather's steps, Dr. VA Mulligan, and joins three second cousins who are also doctors or who are pursuing medical degrees. We are also blessed to have some of the best nurses you will ever meet in our extended family.
I would like to recognize the cousin who was born first. Mary Mulligan Hathaway holds all of us together with her kind messages about the extended family. Mary helped reunite a lost branch of the Mulligan family that broke away about one hundred years ago. Thanks to Mary, one of our lost cousins now has a Bible gifted by her when she chose to join the denomination our grandparents on both sides of my family belong to.
Well, it looks like I'm out of time and I need to get to my day job. Come back soon and I will recognize my mom's side of the family. I would like to thank all my aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, second cousins, lost cousins who have been found, and those who married into the family. My hope is that you cross paths with them. Have a great day.
Today's story is inspired by my mother who found a simple solution for task management. If you struggle to keep your focus because your brain gets distracted, all you need to do is stop and count down, 5-4-3-2-1. This is long enough to get your brain back to your task at hand. It gives you the ammunition you need to silence that voice in your head that is trying to distract you. It is especially helpful when you are doing boring chores.
Thanks, mom, for the tip. I used this technique about ten times yesterday while organizing my home office. The beauty of this brain trick is the simplicity. If this works for you, please share this idea with a friend. Have a great day.
Aside from tennis practice tonight, I'm not leaving my house for a couple of days. There is nothing on my agenda. My life has been like living on a merry go round for the last twelve months. It feels great to hit the pause button and relax. I'm finally getting better at saying no to things that take my time away from my priorities. Have a great day.
My day job teammates have been getting ready for our inspection today when our top leadership people visit us. This reminds me of my childhood days when our marine corps dad asked us to prepare our bedrooms for inspection. My five siblings and I stood erect as dad carefully inspected every nook and cranny. Dad's words still echo in my brain even though he's been gone for 22 years, "If you're gonna do it, do it right."
Speaking of doing it right, our newly formed pickleball committee is having a meeting tonight to discuss plans for outdoor pickleball courts in our community. We will need to search high and low for the necessary funds to get this project done. The excitement is building. The recommendation from City Hall is to form a 501c3 nonprofit corporation so that we can be eligible to raise money and lease the land from the city. There is much to discuss. Have a great day.
If you haven't discovered the joy of getting grounded, also known as earthing, today's story is for you. My happiest days seem to be days where I pull out my Tommy Bahamas chair, remove my shoes and socks, and stare out at the pond on the back side of the property where my day job is located. The whole process is about 22 minutes during my lunch break. Something special happens when I do this. I feel refreshed when I return for the remainder of my shift. On rainy days when I miss out on grounding the day seems to go slower.
Promise yourself you will try grounding for 30 days. Find a happy place to do this. Set your timer for thirty minutes and make sure you're barefoot. You can walk or sit. Let your mind wander. See for yourself if anything changes. There is some interesting research about this topic regarding reducing inflammation and improving sleep. Give grounding a try. Have a great day.
It is written: “’As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’” – Romans 14:11
Do you remember a time in your life when there was 100% agreement on anything? How about your parents? Do they remember a time like this when there was no division? If you were to ask any historian about a time like this, what would he or she say about unanimity?
What a bold statement it is to say, "Every knee will bow before me." Really? Every knee? Every person, atheists included?
My favorite Bible people are the prophets. My top three are Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah. Isaiah said these words about 700 years before Jesus arrived on the scene...
By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance. – Isaiah 45:23
If one were to steal a copy of the Devil's playbook, I have a feeling there would be no surprise about the objectives. The playbook could probably be summarized in one word – division. In my opinion, one word would not be present anywhere in this playbook. That word is love. The theme of the playbook is confusion. There is some truth in the playbook, just enough to make the ideas plausible. Maybe that's why we are so divided. The playbook is working.
In my opinion, there is only one way to end our division. The Dark Side knows this. The challenge is knowing exactly when. Isaiah had no clue that what he was saying wouldn't play out until 700 years after his death. He had no clue that his message was really a two-parter and that the second part of his message wouldn't come true until about 2,000 years after the Messiah arrived for the first visit. Part of the division among the Israelites has to do with the expectations set up by Isaiah. The Israelites expected every knee to bend when the Messiah arrived. When that didn't happen, they killed the messenger believing he must be a false prophet.
Ask yourself this question, "Which playbook is my playbook?" If you answer, "God's playbook," here is the followup question, "Why are you fighting with others?" Keep in mind that the Dark Side knows what's on the last page of God's playbook... "Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance." Have a great day.
Our men's tennis teams in the 18+ and 40+ age groups are on a quest. This month we are seeking to be the top 4.0 team in both age groups. The first battle takes place one week from today. The second match takes place on 6/22. I will be serving in a backup role for the first match. It's time to head to the tennis courts for a workout on the indoor courts as the rains are back. I wish my teammates well. Have a great day.
