Have you ever heard an old married couple proclaim that they love each other more than ever before? Is that real, or are they just saying that?
Or how about the successful career person, who is no spring chicken, proclaiming they’re having more fun in their work than they’ve ever had?
It’s easy for us to hear examples like this and assume other people are just lucky. They find their lottery ticket spouse or career and the rest of us should just keep plugging along.
And we do keep plugging along, as the “Self Help Industry” is over $10 billion dollars and steadily growing (google it). What percentage of that $10 billion is rooted in people like you and me hoping to uncover the silver bullet that leads to this luck?
The interesting reality, however, is that the secret power is right before us. And this secret is rooted in commitment. And that’s very problematic for us because we don’t like commitment. We’re really good at doubting and wondering….
What if this job isn’t the right one?
What if this person isn’t the right person for me?
What if this college isn’t the right place for me to go?
What if I’m supposed to be doing something else?
What if, what if, what if…
We are flighty, emotional, inconsistent humans who are prone to sin and selfishness and all the baggage that comes with it. We have a really hard time trusting the life we’ve been given. To make it worse, our world has created so many diversions for us to spin our wheels all the way into the grave.
We can’t have long, wonderful relationships if we’re not committed to them. We can’t have long, successful careers if we’re not committed to them.
Keeping commitments forces us to change. And this is a problem, because we prefer to change the person or job or “thing” on the other side of the commitment instead of just looking in the mirror.
The success we want is tied to our ability to habitually look in the mirror.
In that mirror we see who we really are. We see our strengths and weaknesses. Eventually, without a doubt, the commitment will get us to a point where we realize we do not have the ability to make things work the way we wish they would. We need help.
We can get help from various sources (thank you Self Help Industry), but the best help comes from the time spent on our knees, in the dark, when no one is looking (literally and figuratively). And that's why its a secret.
That old married couple and longtime successful business person will tell you this secret was absolutely instrumental to their success. It was probably so instrumental and has become so much a part of who they are that they’ve forgotten its anything noteworthy. If you don’t believe me, try asking them. I love asking people I admire. They tell me. And I’ve always been right.
The secret power to commitments is the dependance we develop in our relationship with God. Commitments allow us to see His work. Instead of giving up or moving on, we are able to see His providence in actual reality and the miracles that happen. And they are miracles, because we have finally moved past the reality of depending on our own efforts. When we struggle in keeping commitments, no matter how small, we can ask ourselves, “How am I using this commitment to better know and depend on God?”
When we link our love of God to our lives and the reality of our relationships and work, everything changes. We enjoy looking in the mirror with God so that we can allow our long term success to reflect Him and our long term love that has spilled over. And in due time, we will be the long term success that others assume is just lucky.
Or how about the successful career person, who is no spring chicken, proclaiming they’re having more fun in their work than they’ve ever had?
It’s easy for us to hear examples like this and assume other people are just lucky. They find their lottery ticket spouse or career and the rest of us should just keep plugging along.
And we do keep plugging along, as the “Self Help Industry” is over $10 billion dollars and steadily growing (google it). What percentage of that $10 billion is rooted in people like you and me hoping to uncover the silver bullet that leads to this luck?
The interesting reality, however, is that the secret power is right before us. And this secret is rooted in commitment. And that’s very problematic for us because we don’t like commitment. We’re really good at doubting and wondering….
What if this job isn’t the right one?
What if this person isn’t the right person for me?
What if this college isn’t the right place for me to go?
What if I’m supposed to be doing something else?
What if, what if, what if…
We are flighty, emotional, inconsistent humans who are prone to sin and selfishness and all the baggage that comes with it. We have a really hard time trusting the life we’ve been given. To make it worse, our world has created so many diversions for us to spin our wheels all the way into the grave.
We can’t have long, wonderful relationships if we’re not committed to them. We can’t have long, successful careers if we’re not committed to them.
Keeping commitments forces us to change. And this is a problem, because we prefer to change the person or job or “thing” on the other side of the commitment instead of just looking in the mirror.
The success we want is tied to our ability to habitually look in the mirror.
In that mirror we see who we really are. We see our strengths and weaknesses. Eventually, without a doubt, the commitment will get us to a point where we realize we do not have the ability to make things work the way we wish they would. We need help.
We can get help from various sources (thank you Self Help Industry), but the best help comes from the time spent on our knees, in the dark, when no one is looking (literally and figuratively). And that's why its a secret.
That old married couple and longtime successful business person will tell you this secret was absolutely instrumental to their success. It was probably so instrumental and has become so much a part of who they are that they’ve forgotten its anything noteworthy. If you don’t believe me, try asking them. I love asking people I admire. They tell me. And I’ve always been right.
The secret power to commitments is the dependance we develop in our relationship with God. Commitments allow us to see His work. Instead of giving up or moving on, we are able to see His providence in actual reality and the miracles that happen. And they are miracles, because we have finally moved past the reality of depending on our own efforts. When we struggle in keeping commitments, no matter how small, we can ask ourselves, “How am I using this commitment to better know and depend on God?”
When we link our love of God to our lives and the reality of our relationships and work, everything changes. We enjoy looking in the mirror with God so that we can allow our long term success to reflect Him and our long term love that has spilled over. And in due time, we will be the long term success that others assume is just lucky.