Shownotes
Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 478 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Your Present Determines Your Future – Attitude (2)
Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 478 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.
Currently, we are in a multi-week trek as we explore the teachings from some of my virtual mentors such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, and Earl Nightingale. The core of our current trek is based primarily on Jim Rohn’s book called The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle. I have learned a considerable amount from reading and re-reading this book on my own trek of life, and I trust that it will benefit you also. Keeping with the continuity of Wisdom-Trek, I will be adapting it to The Five Trails on Life’s Trek.
We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. During this month of Thanksgiving, take time each day to reflect on what you are thankful for. We are thankful that the transition of consolidating our Charlotte home to Marietta has gone relatively smooth. On the day this trek is released, Paula and I will be heading back to Charlotte to invest the weekend with our family there. On Monday we will be attending the closing for our home in Charlotte. Our home was under contract two days after it was listed. We are thankful that it sold so quickly, and that a portion of this season of life will be finalized. It was a great season, but every season passes on. Our trekking between the two locations will certainly be less frequent although we do plan to visit our family there quite often.
Today on our trek we will continue on the Attitude Trail. Last Friday we explored how our past affects our attitude, and today we will focus on how our present situation and future will impact our attitude and our life.
If you have missed the past few Philosophy Friday treks, it would be good to go back and review them to get caught up on our progress so far. We have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s break camp and continue on the first trail of this extended trek as we cover…
The Five Trails on Life’s Trek – Attitude Part 2
As a reminder, our overall extended trek will cover these five trails:
Philosophy
Attitude
Activity
Results
Lifestyle
The primary and first trail we explored was the Philosophy Trail. Your personal philosophy is the filter through which all of your decisions and choices are made. This is a very crucial element that you must establish in your life. Now let’s explore how your present situation affects your attitude trek.
1. The Present
The current moment is where your better future begins. The past gave you a wealth of memories and experiences, and the present gives you a chance to use them wisely.
The present brings you an opportunity to create an exciting future. The promise of the future demands that you pay the price in the present. The opportunity of the current moment must be embraced, or the rewards of the future will be withheld.
Your goals and ambitions of the past are bringing to you present rewards. If your current rewards are small, then your past efforts were small. And if today’s effort is small, the future reward will be small as well.
Today brings each of us 1,440 minutes; 86,400 ticks of the clock. Both the poor and the wealthy have the same 24 hours of opportunity. Time favors no one. Today merely says, “Here I am. What are you going to do with me?” How well you use each day is largely a function of attitude. With the right attitude, you can seize this day and make it a point of new beginning. Today does not care about yesterday’s failures or tomorrow’s regrets. It merely offers the same precious gift — another 24 hours — and hopes that you will use it wisely.
With the right attitude, you can seize this day and make it a point of new beginning.
The greatest opportunity today brings with it the opportunity to begin the process of change. Today — the present — is the moment when you can inaugurate your new voice coming into power. It can be a new “change of mind” — a new attitude adopted about who you are, what you are, what you want, and what you are going to do. Today can also be exactly like yesterday, and the day before, and the day before…It is all a question of attitude.
2. The Future
Your attitude about the future is also of great importance. In the classic book, Lessons of History, Will and Ariel Durant wrote,
“To endure what is, we must remember what was, and dream of things as they will one day be.”
Your attitude about the future depends on your ability to see the future. You have the inherent ability to dream, design and experience the future through the power of an imaginative inner-eye. Whatever your mind has the capacity to imagine, it also has the ability to create.
Your attitude about the future depends on your ability to see the future.
Just as the body instinctively knows how to perform the miracle of health and gradually healing itself, the mind instinctively knows how to perform the miracle of wealth through a gradual process of successful habits.
3. All Things Must Be Finished Before They Can Be Started
Everything in the world around you was finished in the mind of its creator before it was started. The house or apartment you live in, the car you drive, your clothing, your furnishings — all of these things began with an idea in someone’s mind. Each idea was then studied, refined and perfected, either mentally or in writing, before the first nail was driven or the first piece of cloth was cut. Long before the idea was converted into a physical reality, the mind had clearly envisioned the finished product.
You have the capacity to design your own future through much the same process. You begin with an idea about how the future will be. Over a period of time, you refine and perfect your vision. Before long, your every thought, decision and activity are all working in harmony to bring into existence what you have mentally determined about your future.
This is why having the right attitude about both past and present circumstances is so important. When you have a healthy attitude about the past and constructive feelings about yourself and your present opportunities, you subconsciously guide yourself toward the achievement of your dreams. However when you are filled with regrets about the past and concerns about the present, then you subconsciously lead yourself towards a future that is very much like the past you have just left behind.
The thoughts and feelings you allow yourself to have today are crucial, for they are contributing to your future. What that future holds will simply be a mirror image of your current philosophy and attitude about life. There are certain truths and principles about our life that if followed will have a significant impact on how our future turns out. This is why our thoughts are so important. As Ephesians 4:21-23 tells us, “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.”
We are deliberately taking our trek slowly on The Five Trails on Life’s Trek as we hike now on the Trail of Attitude. Putting aside your old thoughts and habits is not easy. This trek of life is not an easy hike to make. It requires not being held back by your past, but using what you learned to change your present and your future.
Next week on Philosophy Friday, we will continue on the Trail of Attitude and focus on designing a better future, and the investment which that requires. I know you will find these insights interesting and profitable in living a rich and satisfying life.
Our next trek will be Motivation Monday where we explore more trails of how to get and stay motivated to bring value to your world. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along on Monday for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.
That will finish our trek for today. As you enjoy these daily doses of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person when you meet with them and invite them to come along with us each day. If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. Don’t forget to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek so each trek will be downloaded to you automatically.
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.
As we take this trek of life together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you Monday!