Recovery In The Pines

Psalm 66:10-12
You have tested us, O God; you have purified us like silver. You captured us in your net and laid the burden of slavery on our backs. Then you put a leader over us. We went through fire and flood, but you brought us to a place of great abundance.

Suffering ... anxiety, loss, hardships, addiction ... is not something to seek, but when it arrives, it is the forge that shapes your character. Will it introduce you to your strengths? Will you fall to distress or rise with eustress, strengthening your courage, resiliency, and resolve? Will you honor your highest authentic self?

Today's Challenge
You can't discover courage without facing fear, patience without frustration, or resiliency without adversity.

Just for today ...
1. Ask yourself, "What challenge am I avoiding right now that, if I faced honestly, would help me become a stronger person?"

2. Write down what you're afraid might happen by facing it.

3. Take action to address it.

4. After completing it, write down what you actually experienced by doing it, and what strength you discovered in yourself.

Need help? Reach out to me at: [email protected]

Deuteronomy 31:6
So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

It's easy to assume that bravery feels like confidence. Recovering addicts and alcoholics, soldiers, and someone telling a hard truth all act while afraid. That is what makes courage meaningful. If you wait to act until you're fearless, your life will become smaller.

Today's Challenge
The goal of today's challenge is not to eliminate fear, but to act responsibly and ethically while afraid. Focus on courage, not comfort.

Just for today ...
1. Pick one thing you've been avoiding because it makes you anxious, uncomfortable, or afraid.

2. Choose one small action you can take to make progress.

3. Do it.

4. Once completed, if you notice your fear subsiding, take the next small step.

Need help? Reach out to me at: [email protected]

Galatians 5:13
For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.

Meaning is found through responsibility and purpose. Freedom without wisdom and a fulfilling focus becomes chaos. Possibility alone is not enough. True freedom isn't the absence of possibility ... it is the ability to choose a purpose wisely.

Today's Challenge
Learn that meaning, identity, and self-respect are created through voluntarily taking on a responsibility and a higher purpose. Freedom has value when it it coupled with wisdom, discipline, and service rather than comfort and avoidance.

Just for today ...
1. Choose one responsibility you've been avoiding ... a difficult conversation, cleaning and organizing a space, keeping a promise you've delayed ... and face it.

2. Complete it without complaining.

3. Once you've completed one, see if you have the courage to complete another.

Need help? Reach out to me at: [email protected]

Hebrews 12:11
No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

Chaos can appear to be the natural state of life. Left unattended, weeds take over a garden. Same is true of the human soul. Discipline, integrity, and courage are not fixed traits. They require daily care and conscious effort. The moment you stop striving for your highest authentic self, disorder, complacency, inconsistency, avoidance, resentment, and indulgence creep in and overtake your life. A good life is created by tending to your character every day.

Today's Challenge
Our character grows when we tend to it. Consider the 5 - 10 character assets you most want to embody mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, and socially. We don't simply live out our highest authentic self without focus and attention of effort.

Just for today ....
1. Pick one character asset you want to focus on ... integrity, courage, honesty, discipline.

2. In all settings, situations, and interactions today, practice this.

3. If you blow it, acknowledge it, forgive yourself, and quickly get back to practicing it.

Need help? Reach out to me at: [email protected]