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[Kriss]
Hey, y’all. Today’s message is from a Texas pastor about what life is.
What is life?
Life is what?
Stay tuned!
[Music]
[Kriss]
Hey, it’s Kriss, your Positivity Powerhouse, back for another episode of the Positivity Powerhouse Podcast!
Today’s show is about a message from a guy named Chuck Swindoll.
Chuck is a pastor. He’s an Evangelical Christian pastor in Texas, and he’s most well-known for this radio station that reaches more than two thousand stations around the world in fifteen different languages.
Now, if you’ve known me for more than, like, five minutes, you know that I’m a Pagan, but I still find value in things that come out of Christianity. I’ve got a Bible, it’s highlighted to all hell and back. It’s an information thing, it’s a knowledge thing, it’s a sharing thing.
It’s not, “Oh, no, it’s Christian and I can’t do that because I’m a Pagan!” Not at all, not in the slightest.
In fact, I’m planning on getting my hands on some of Chuck’s books, like
Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back: Persevering Through Pressure, which sounds AWESOME.
Improving Your Serve:The Art of Unselfish Living
Strengthening Your Grip: Essentials in an Aimless World
Um, what was the other one? What was it? What was it?
Living Above the Level of Mediocrity: A Commitment to Excellence
Now how awesome does that sound?
I know there’s gonna be Christian leanings and Christian teachings in there, but I still find a lot of value in that because it’s another perspective. It’s another way of looking at things.
And, today’s message, I don’t know which one it came out of, but I’ve got the little snippet that means a whole lot, and then I’ve got the whole context that, yes, I’m going to read the whole thing, because you deserve to hear the whole thing.
The Message from the Wall is: “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”
I mean, really. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. That is so, so true.
All right, so here’s the greater context:
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.
It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.
It will make or break a company, a church, a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past.
We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.”
Do you have chills right now? I have chills right now. I’ve got goosebumps. You can’t see them, but they’re there. I can feel them. I’ve got goosebumps, because that is just so impactful.
Like, I can’t wait to put that in the transcript so that you guys can, like, copy it and paste it, and, like, print it out, and put it on your wall. Like, the whole thing on your wall, so you can read the whole thing every. Single. Solitary. Day.
Every day.
Because it’s that important.
How does it impact the Triple M’s: the Mood, the Mindset, the Motivation?
Mood
The mood- Oh. My. God.
I feel so empowered and so optimistic and so courageous from knowing that life is only 10% what happens to me. 90% is how I react to it. 90% is under my control.
I mean, how empowering is that?
90% of everything that happens to me is under my control!
I mean, whoa!
On the one hand, that’s really heavy, and it’s like Atlas with the world on his shoulders, and it’s like ehhhhh.
But on the other hand, it’s all in your hands.
You know, since we’ve got a, we’re quoting a Christian pastor, I’ve got the song
“He’s got the whole world in his hands.
He’s got the whole world in his hands.
He’s got the whole world in his hands.
He’s got the whole world in his hands.”
And there’s like 87 more verses, because it’s a Vacation Bible School song, so, like, everything.
But, like, the whole, your whole life is right there, in your hands.
Well that’s pointing at me – it’s right there in your hands.
God, this is just – I wish I could reach through the computer, reach through my webcam, and reach out of your computer, and go, “IT’S ALL UP TO YOU! IT’S ALL UP TO YOU!”
Just grab you by your ears and go, “IT’S ALL UP TO YOU! MUAH! IT’S ALL UP TO YOU!”
Because that’s how powerful I find this quote.
That’s how empowered I feel.
That’s how courageous I feel.
Like, I can freaking do anything because 90% of my life is how I react to the 10% that happens to me.
Mindset
Mindset: I can choose stress or excitement.
They’re the same thing.
Neurologically, neurochemically, in your brain, stress and excitement are the exact. Same. Freaking. Thing.
So, you can choose to be stressed out, or you can choose to be EXCITED!
Because up here, in here, they’re the exact same thing. The same neurotransmitters are going through the same synapses are firing, the same everything is going on, it’s just how you choose to react.
I can choose overwhelmed or engaged.
I can be overwhelmed. I can be, like, buried under all of the everything with the world on my shoulders and AHH!
Or, I can choose to engage with all the crap, with all the stuff, with all the things, with all the everything, and interact with it and mold it and make it the way I want it to be.
I can take the clay that’s being thrown at me and I can either be buried under it, or I can create a beautiful sculpture with it.
Either one, I get to choose.
I can choose judgment or I can choose grace.
Like, I remember a few years ago, standing in line at a Chick-Fil-A, and I chose judgment because somebody else cut in line.
And I voiced my displeasure very loudly. And all I felt was really crappy about it. That was just a bad situation.
A couple weeks ago, I was in line at Kroger, the pharmacy, like, this long line, it’s a forever line, because it always is, it’s a forever line.
I live in a really small town and I think everybody in town uses Kroger as their pharmacy because there’s always a huge line.
And this woman in front of me was griping about how long the line was, and how long we had to wait, and, you know, all of the griping and whining and bitching and moaning and all of it.
And I said, “Well, you could always look at it this way: everybody up there, all the pharmacy techs, they’re making sure that everybody gets the right medicine, that everybody understands how to take their medicine, and that they’re taking really good care of everybody who comes up to the counter.”
And she looked at me and said, “You know? I never would’ve thought of it like that.”
Made her day a little bit better because I chose grace.
And I don’t often use the word grace because it’s got specific connotations in the realm of Christianity, but it even applies to yourself.
You can apply judgment or grace to yourself.
Like, I wanted to have all of these podcast episodes recorded yesterday so that today I could spend all day on the tech, and getting everything, you know, mixed and mastered and uploaded and broadcast and I don’t even know the technical terms. I’m just making shit up.
But, I had other stuff going on yesterday that I had to deal with, so I’m choosing grace, and, you know, I’m letting it be easy. I’m letting it be OK that I didn’t get it all done yesterday.
I’m letting it be OK that I’m doing it all today, that I’m doing ALL OF IT today: the recording AND the mixing AND the mastering AND the broadcasting AND the whatever the hell else you do with a podcast.
I don’t freaking know, this is my first one!
My first one that I’ve been, like, doing all the tech for. I was a co-host once, like, a thousand years ago, but, the other guy, he did all of the tech stuff, and honestly I may send all this to him and go, “help!” And see if he can help. I don’t know.
But, even to yourself, you can choose judgment or you can choose grace, and I really, really, really, really strongly recommend choosing grace, because we’re not perfect people. We can’t be perfect people.
Perfection is literally impossible to attain.
Can’t do it. Can’t be done.
So, forgive yourself a little, OK? Seriously, it makes a huge difference.
Motivation
Motivation!
One thing that came to mind when I first heard, you know, life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it, one of the first things that came to mind was the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley.
And one of the lines in there, I think it’s like, the last line, says,
“I am the author of my fate.
I am the captain of my soul.”
And that’s another, like, punch in the heart, punch in the gut, you know, upside the head, “duh!” kind of moment that you never really think about.
You never think about being the author of your own fate. You never really think about being the captain of your own soul. You never really think about being in charge of your own life.
Because you think about, “Oh, my boss makes me do this, and my spouse makes me do this, and my kids make me do this.”
Nobody makes you do a blessed thing, son. Nobody.
Nobody makes you do anything, sis. It’s just you putting all that on yourself and feeling like everybody’s making you do something.
That’s YOUR 90%, is that you’re feeling like they’re making you do it.
You don’t have to do a damn thing, except, you know, die eventually.
That’s it. That’s the only thing you have to do.
Between now and then, you can do whatever you want.
It also made me think of a blog post that I wrote called, “I’m great.” It’s on my blog, at positivitypowerhouse.com, and, you know, to sum it all up, I have, like, a bazillion health issues, and I can have all these health issues and be miserable, or I can have all these health issues and be happy.
Either way, I have all these health issues, so why would I choose to be miserable? I choose to be happy.
I choose to be great.
Even though, you know, objectively, it’s like, “OK, you’re in a wheelchair, and you’ve got braces on your legs, and a tens unit on your shoulder, and, you know, you’re having seizures and you’re having a panic attack. While you’re having seizures with the braces in the wheelchair, how can you possibly be great?
How can you possibly be happy?”
Well, because I’m still alive, I’m still breathing. I’m, you know, converting food into nutrients. I’m dressed, you know, appropriately.
It’s all a matter of perspective. It’s all about your attitude.
So, get your attitude in order, because life is only 10% what happens to you, 90% how you react to it. So, make sure you’re reacting well.
Catch you next time.
[Outro]
So, what do you say? What do you have to say? I wanna know! So, reach out to me. You can hit me up three different easy ways, where I’m guaranteed to see what you’re talkin’ about.
First, you can find me on Facebook. The group is called, “Positivity Power Club.” (I’m reading over a list right here to make sure I get everything right.) “Positivity Power Club” is for listeners of this podcast, clients of my coaching business, Positivity Powerhouse, and supporters of Positivity Powerhouse and the message who maybe aren’t listening, maybe aren’t coaching clients, but have the mindset, wanna work on the mindset, wanna get it right. All three of those groups can be found inside the PosPow Club.
Second, you can reach at positivitypowerhouse.com. Right there on the front page, there’s a contact form where you can reach out to me either through a general contact, because you wanna work with me, or because you wanna reach out with your own question about the Three M’s: Mood, Mindset, Motivation. I’m all about the lists. Can you tell? We’ve got three ways to contact me, three m’s, three.
The third way to get a hold of me is email, and this one gets a little long. First, it’s Kriss, k-r-i-s-s, two s’s, very important. kriss@positivitypowerhouse.com.
All three of those means of communication are places that I monitor, that I keep careful track of, so if you wanna reach out, those are the ways to do it.
I can’t wait to hear from you, and I’ll see ya next time.
[Music]