Upgrades, Part 1

I have a particular way of looking at myself and at life that not everyone has, and I wanted to share how I came to that way of thinking. Let me share a metaphor first, then I'll fill in the details.

I used to work in computer support, and when I would diagnose a computer problem, the solution often came down to one of two options. One solution is to upgrade the operating system or other software such as virus protection. Sometimes people just can't accomplish what they want to do using the operating system that they have. 

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Time to Refi?

Last night we completed the final steps in refinancing our house. When we got into our loan, the rates weren't terrible, but they're better now, and by re-financing we'll be able to save a bit of money monthly and even more over the long haul.

Then I got to thinking - where else do we need to "refi" our lives? In this case, we can consider it short for "refining", because it's not just in the financial sense that I'm thinking.

I'll give you an example. Tonight I'm preparing to facilitate possibly the first online small group meeting for our church. This would not have been possible without a life refi.

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For Grownups

This issue is for grownups, or adults who want to be, and it includes a possible spoiler for the movie There's Something About Mary, which is rated R. So I'll give you a minute to decide if you want to continue reading.

Ready? OK...

I'm sitting here, expecting to hear the mild chug, chug, chug of my printer. I sent a document, and the next logical thing to happen is to hear that sound, and a moment later, to pick up the document I printed.

But I'm not hearing the chug, chug. Something is wrong.

I'm not troubleshooting it - not yet. I'll do that in a few minutes.

Right now, I'm just pondering it.

How frustrating is it when you take the actions you think you're supposed to take, but you don't get the results you're expecting? Sometimes it's so frustrating, we don't even bother with troubleshooting. We just give up.

The problem with that is that some of the results we want are not dependent only on the effort we put in. They are dependent on what we're giving out.

Just as water naturally flows downhill, prosperity, success, and love naturally flow outward. If you want more of them, you actually first have to have an outlet to express them.

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Count Your Blessings

I did not author this, and as far as I can tell, the original author is anonymous. I found this particular version here: http://www.robinsweb.com/inspiration/countyourblessings.html. I'm inviting you to read this in a particular way, even if you've read it before. After each section, pause and spend some time just being grateful.

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You're Probably Wrong

Here's a little something I learned personally from the highest authority in personal and professional development. No surprise that it's been reiterated in many forms by many other authorities in personal and professional development. Short version: you just might be wrong. To be more blunt, you're probably wrong.

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Winning At Life

Here are some of my tips for winning the game of life.

You may not agree with everything I say here, or how I say it, but in the words a great motivational speaker, "let the one who has ears to hear, hear." I'm a pretty straight shooter, and not everyone can handle that. Doesn't bother me.

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Go Get It!

This is me, going out on a limb.

I've had lots of great ideas, and not a lot of great results. So far. Just today I was searching through products that have been invented by others, but I'm fairly certain I thought of them first. What made today different than any other day is that today I did something about it.

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