take a risk... and face the possible consequences

Take a risk.

By definition, I'm talking about something you have little to no control over.

For example, next week I am taking a risk of only eating rice and beans. For five days, this will be on my plate at every meal. With only water to drink, I am hoping to understand what some of my friends in Africa deal with every day. Likewise, the money that my family normally spends on groceries will redirect into feeding orphans in Kenya.

It's a risk. Nutritionally... financially... relationally... spiritually.

With so many options in life, though, you have to choose how you're going to grow.

• Take a risk relationally, and you face the possible consequence of it blessing your life forever... or breaking your heart.
• Take a risk artistically, and you face the possible consequence of applause... or unappreciative critics.
• Take a risk financially, and you'll face the possible consequence of generously blessing others... or becoming focused on the "next buck after that."
• Take a risk on food, and you'll face the possible consequence of finding your new favorite dish... or a trip to the bathroom.
• Take a risk on entertainment, and you'll face the possible consequence of seeing life through a new lens... or getting sucked into something that waters down your standards.
• Take a risk on protesting, and you'll face the possible consequence of changing the world... or becoming an angry, shallow person.
• Take a risk on exercise, and you'll face the possible consequence of better health... or find yourself caught up in the way your body (and other bodies) look or don't look.
• Take a risk on God, and you'll face the possible consequence of the life you've always wanted... or life continuing to be hard (but at least you'll have Him to rely on).

Take a risk... and face the possible consequences.

You may end up right... you may end up wrong... but either way you live on purpose and grow in ways you never would have before.

all personal feelings about LeBron James aside...

Every one has an opinion about LeBron James... including those who don't have an opinion of him.

Maybe that's why this new commercial is so intriguing.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdtejCR413c

yesterday, today, and infinity

Interesting...

60% of Apple’s sales are from products that didn't exist 3 years ago.

http://www.asymco.com/2010/10/19/60-percent-of-apples-sales-are-from-products-that-did-not-exist-three-years-ago/

Which raises the question... what are you doing today that you think matters, yet won't be doing tomorrow?

Unless it's eternal, it's temporal.

a treadmill you can't keep up with

It's been said that what you attract people with is what you have to use to keep them interested, constantly outdoing yourself over and over again with a slightly more twisted variety of the last version you produced.

Kind of like a treadmill you can't keep up with.

Perhaps you've seen this in the world you live in, as something as simple as a lie to get attention can quickly become about telling another lie... and yet another.

My oldest son observed that the "second movie" in a franchise or the "second season" of a television series is often a bit darker than the first. As if the creators need to throw out even more crazy things to get the attention of viewers than before.

That kind of lines up with an intriguing New York Times article I read on Miley Cyrus and her latest career maneuvers.  Maybe you heard about her infamous "strip pole" segment at the Teen Choice Awards some time ago, but that's only scratching the surface.

You might think that it would be worried, overprotective mothers who would rebel against the overt sexualization of the teenage star Miley Cyrus, who became a pop phenomenon as Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel hit show. But no. It’s the young girls who think Ms. Cyrus has gone too far. And many of them are moving on.

[ READ MORE ]

This post isn't really about Miley Cyrus, though.  It's about you and me.

Have you ever considered how much energy you spend trying to keep people impressed and interested in your life?  How much of it is surface level, smoke and mirrors?

How much of it is legitimate because something you're allowing something legitimate to happen in you?

"Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies." (Philippians 4:8, MSG)