Shownotes
Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 639 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
You Can Be Better Than Average – Mindshift Monday
Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 639 of our trek, and it is time for our Mindshift Monday series. Wisdom-Trek’s primary focus is to assist you in creating your living legacy.
Creating your living legacy can only be accomplished by gaining wisdom in many areas of life. You can only gain wisdom by changing what you allow to go into your mind. In other words, to create your living legacy, you must choose to be in a continual mode of Mindshift, or “changing the way you think.”
It is easy to get stuck in a mindset that your current circumstances cannot be changed. This is not true, but you must understand this fundamental principle, “In order to change your life, you must change how you think and what you think about.” Our Mindshift Monday podcast and journal will provide you practical ways to make a mind-shift to a rich and satisfying life.
We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We were able to get some work around the house accomplished this past weekend including transplanting three small vegetable kits that our grandkids Paul, Gideon, and Aurora planted a couple of weeks ago. We dug up a small patch of ground near the back of the house, so we hope that the 18 different vegetable and herb plants survive the transplanting process. This is the same little area where my granny had a mint bed. Paula and I hope to start a mint bed there also in the next couple of years, so it was nice to be able to use that area again.
Our other grandson Kip heads back home today after a two-week stay with us. It was such a blessing to have him here, and we enjoyed many precious moments together. My desire is to be a living legacy to all my children and grandchildren. What I desire is to be much better than the average person to everyone I impact. So on our trek today I desire you to have a Mindshift that will allow you to realize that…
You Can Be Better Than Average
One definition of the word average is, “Average is the best of the worst and the worst of the best.” Is that what you really desire for your life?
I have heard people say, “What’s wrong with being average?” My reply to that is, “If you are not a Christ follower, then there is nothing wrong with being average. If you are a Christ-follower, then you must not be content until you develop to the fullest your God-given potential.” In doing this, you will bring glory to God and be lifted above the average.
I am not saying that you’ll be more intelligent or better looking because you are a Christ follower. What should be reflected in your life is your outlook and attitude towards life, your consecration in service, and your abundant love – that is what will lift you above the average person. Let’s look at three areas where you can rise above average.
1. To rise above being average, you will need more determination.
Great people are just ordinary people with an extraordinary amount of determination. When others would quit and “throw in the towel,” grit your teeth and dig a little deeper. Success is achieved and maintained by those who keep trying, even when they don’t feel like it. There is nothing wrong with admitting that as of today you may not be what you want to be, hope to be, or dream of becoming, but the one key to achieving your dream is determining not to quit.
Ralph Waldo Emmerson said it this way, “A man is a hero not because he is braver than anyone else, but because he is brave for ten minutes longer.” A track star who runs long distances learns to depend on his “second wind.” He runs until he is weary and exhausted but continues on. He does not stop when others would because he knows that if he can endure a little more pain, he will get this “second wind.” Remember that ability is 95% “stick-ability.”
2. To rise above being average, you will need more faith.
The world can seem like a place of sorrow, confusion, and hurt. The person with that extra faith in God, others, and themselves will certainly rise above average. It was this type of faith that caught the attention of Jesus when He healed the lady with an incurable disease. This story is found in Luke 8:40-48. I will read verses 46-48, “But Jesus said, ‘Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.’ When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed. ‘Daughter,’ he said to her, ‘your faith has made you well. Go in peace.'”
When you possess that faith, you will be used of God to light the path of those who stumble, encourage the hearts of those who faint, relieve the load of those whose burdens are heavy, and plant a song in the heart of those who are sad. When you have this mindshift and do these things, you are far above average.
3. To rise above being average, you will need more love.
The world is full of lonely individuals. People are surrounded by people and may have hundreds of online friends, yet still be miserably lonely. They need to be loved. In our society, love can mean many things. We sing about it, read about it, try to find it in many different relationships, but so many do not really know what unconditional love really is.
Love has hands that help others. Love has feet to help the poor and needy. Love has eyes to see the hurts of others in this world. Love has lips to encourage those who are in despair.
Think about love in this story…In a foreign country, a tourist happened to see an American nurse dressing the open wounds of a leprous person. The sight was a shocking one. It was revolting to the eye and stomach. “I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars,” said the tourist to this nurse who was a Christ follower. The nurse smiled and said, “Neither would I.” What a million dollars would not do, the love of God did.
When you are above average with determination, faith, and love, you will have a mindshift that will impact your world.
With these thoughts in mind, we will conclude our trek for today and as we do, remember, you will never be “just average” when you are a Christ follower because you will possess more determination, faith, and love than others.
Next week we will continue our trek of Mind-Shift Monday. On tomorrow’s trek, we will explore another wisdom quote. This 3-minute wisdom supplement will assist you in becoming healthy, wealthy, and wise each day. Thank you for joining me on this trek called life. Encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.
That will finish our trek for today. If you would like to listen to any of our past treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. You can also subscribe at iTunes or Google Play so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.
Thank you so much 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 tomorrow!