Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient:  Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.133). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I know, there are a lot of stuff that does that but worry is one of the worst ones. Ray quotes Warren Wiersbe, the prolific Christian author and leader, who declared, “Most Christians are being crucified on a cross between two thieves: yesterday’s regrets and tomorrow’s worries.” Ray goes on, “Worry is utterly worthless. It can’t change the past. It can’t control the future. All it does is make you miserable today. Worrying has been connected to high blood pressure, heart trouble, blindness, migraines, thyroid malfunctions, and a host of stomach disorders. Dr. Alexis Carrel, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in medicine said, ‘People who don’t know how to fight worry die young!’   It’s like the hypochondriac who put on his tombstone, ‘I told you I was

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient: Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.122). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Now you might ask what does Ray mean when he says that?   Good question. He goes on and explains, “There are seasons when waves of opportunity come in and you just have to catch them while the surf’s up. But then you have to ensure you take equal time off when the ocean is flat.”   And that is so true. He then says, “I want the people I work with to be happy and healthy. So, to make sure our team actually has a life, we train our staff to do three things: 1. Divert daily. 2. Withdraw weekly. 3. Abandon annually.” First of all, he says, “ Divert daily means to divide each day into three sections— morning to noon, noon to five, five and beyond. Most days, they don’t work all three. Sounds simple, but when put into practice, it changes everything. A

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient: Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.120). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) That is so true, isn’t it?    Ray finishes the paragraph by saying, “Fame doesn’t. Wealth can’t. Success won’t.”   And that is so true. Earlier Ray quoted Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca-Cola Enterprises, who said, “Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them— work, family, health, friends, and spirit— and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls— family, health, friends, and spirit— are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same.”    Ray says, “Maybe you’ve seen a demonstration where the speaker puts a

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient: Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.118). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Ray continues, “It’s called loss of joy. When we’re joyless, we’re on overload. Having no joy means we are about to exceed a limit, whether physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional, and put ourselves in danger of shutting down and getting stranded in a place we never wanted to be.” He goes on, “I’m glad for a warning because I’m so mission-driven and focused that, if I could, I would work eight days a week, twenty-six hours a day. If I head in that direction long enough, I start enduring life and using people instead of enjoying life and loving people.” Are you having a problem here?   Have you lost your joy?   Do you need some balance in your life?   Are you using people instead of loving them? Later he says, “God wants you emotionally, spiritua