“Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation… even so, does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.” – Leonardo Di Vinci
It’s so messy!
Our daughter, Esther, responded with those words after I pointed to her at a residential construction site as we headed home from school a few years ago. I explained they were building a beautiful house. She couldn’t fathom how something beautiful could come from such a messy place. Neither can we, especially when it references our own lives. We all have regrets and mistakes that we have made. We wish we could go back and, armed with the knowledge we have now, do some things differently. What we have is today and how to use it by design to chart a better tomorrow.
This month
In this month’s blog series, the following questions will assess whether we live by design or default. If it is by design, then these posts will solidify what you are already doing. If it is by default, I hope you will glean helpful insights to make intentional adjustments.
- Where are you? (Today’s post)
- Where are you going? (September 12)
- What are you doing? (September 19)
- Who are you with? (September 26)
Beauty in the Mess
The construction workers at the “messy” site are well aware of how the site looks. But because it is by design, they are confident that something beautiful is in the making. I know this because after we passed by another site that was complete with a fully built house, my daughter pointed out, “Look, that one is all clean and beautiful!” What if those construction workers gave up because of the mess they saw daily? Despite the mess, they held the mental picture of what they were building. I am more convinced with each passing day that the state of mind I am in is critical to the quality of life I experience. With that in mind, I periodically use these five questions to assess my thought life when tracing where I am at any given point:
- What am I thinking about? I discovered that the inventory of thoughts we consistently carry is proportional to the level of growth we experience in our lives. As we investigate our thinking patterns, we discover why we are where we are.
- Why am I thinking this way? Alone on a drive, a series of thoughts sneaked into my mind. They were self-defeating thoughts that led to negative self-talk. After a few minutes, I shouted in the car, “Why am I thinking this way?” This question broke the flow of these thoughts and evicted them from my mind as I sought to understand where this thinking pattern originated.
- Where did this thinking pattern originate from? This is the crux of the five questions. It’s the breaking point that leads to the turning point. This question compels me to confront the source of the thought. Was I recently exposed to something or someone that is causing this? Or is it stemming from a hurtful childhood experience that has remained hidden, thus hindering my progress today?
- Is this pattern helpful or hurtful in light of where I am heading? Honesty is the best policy when answering this question. Transparency will lead to the final question that moves into design thinking.
- What new thinking patterns do I need to adopt or develop in this season of my life? My mind is my greatest asset. As such, I need a playbook of thought that is on par. I have found that to be the Bible. Your mental diet supplies the nutrition of thought you need for the growth necessitated by the season you are in. Whether by design or default, we are what we think.
Final thought: The messiness of life is sometimes part of the design that leads to something beautiful and valuable. Are you living by design or by default? Remember, you can only manage what you measure. Apply the five questions to assess and improve the quality of your inventory of thought.
Keep on keeping on!
Discover Your Treasure 