A Joyous Perspective on Direction: The ABC's of life rules

It's Friday, and time for another Friday Night Thought Tale Hour with the Hendersons. I’ve taken a few weeks to get some more in-depth personal perspective on my life and the direction it is taking. I actually love change - in fact, I thrive within it. Lately, I’m getting the feeling that I going into a season of life where I will be more settled, and changes will not be so much a part of my life. This is so different for me, and those who know me best are aware of this. My life has been anything but typical and regulated. Now that things are settling, I considered how throughout these and plenty more crazy, insane, complex, and utterly beautiful life events, I have collected treasured building blocks that help me live a life of meaning, purpose, and joy every single day. 


I want to share them with you in the hope that throughout your own daily trials and triumphs, you can use these ABC’s to help you create a life you love. But remember:

Transformation is not a switch; it’s more like a gage.

There will be ups and downs, back and forth.  The beauty is that you don’t have to flip a button and practice and internalize all twenty-six letters instantaneously. Like learning anything, start with just one at a time. Once you’ve mastered it, add another. I’ve decided to share a few with you at a time over the next month or so. For one thing, you wouldn’t like reading all 26 at once. 

So let’s get back to basics: the ABC’s of personal growth, A-H

Acknowledge:
Knowing your strengths, talents, and abilities is the first step to

unleashing your potential and power and creating meaning and lasting transformation. We are all blessed with so many beautiful gifts, but we can’t unwrap and share them with others if we fail to acknowledge what they are. 

Blessings:

Blessings are all around us. If we choose to look for them, we will undoubtedly find them. Each day, look for three things to be grateful for.

Control:

We are not the general managers of the universe. However, we have incredible control over how we choose to respond to every experience we encounter. Our power lies in our attitude and our behavior and our choices. Choose wisely.

Discipline:

Discipline is like a muscle; the more we work on building this skill, the more we develop excellent habits that bring us closer to achieving our most significant success. Discipline means asking yourself: What is the very best use of my time right now? And then consistently following through. 

Encouragement:

We are all fighting battles, and a gentle word that offers hope and support can literally save a dream. When we lift others up, we rise. Commit to becoming the most encouraging person you know. 

Focus:

Vague goals produce vague results. Blurry intentions yield blurry outcomes. Take the time to get clear about where you are going and what you’d like to accomplish. Write this down. Then focus. 

Give:

Ask yourself each morning: How can I give of myself today? How can I show up more fully? How can I be of value and service today? How can I contribute today? What difference can I make today?

Help:

Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. Make a list of where you need a hand and a list of people who could become the greatest helpers on your journey.  Give and get help wherever you can. It’s a showcase of wholehearted and vulnerable living, which makes you real. We’re all just walking each other home at the end of the day. That’s what it’s all about.

With consistent repetition, you’ll be fluent, and these personal growth building blocks will lay an excellent foundation for all your life’s work.

You are the author. You hold the pen. 

You get to learn and read and write your own masterpiece, chapter by chapter, line by line, letter by letter.

You are the hero of your own story.

Each of these building blocks can stand alone or stand together. Choosing to work on even one of these will have a powerful positive effect on your life. Whether you are the kind of person who prefers a step by step process, one letter at a time, or you love to dive in deep and work on multiple tracks, these ABC’s will give you an outstanding foundation on which to build a more purposeful, happier, and fulfilling life.

So tonight, Chris and I will both be drinking something suited our liking. I am not going to tell you what it is, because I want you to create your own personal libation of choice. Here's to being the author of your alphabet of foundational truths. It's worth learning, forward and backward (Hat tip to my daughter-in-law Kim, who can quickly say the abc's backward). Cheers, Friends.