Some places in California it doesn’t rain much.
I had a meeting of activists and organizers coming up. There was a forecast for rain. A few folks wrote, worried that I might cancel as a result of some rain.
That’s not really my style. Instead, I sent out extra messages with encouraging words such as these.
“Let your resilience around the weather be part of your testament to your values.”
And we made some agenda modifications to the meetings, but didn’t change much else. You see, since Covid came and indoor venues became so unreliable, outdoor venues became the norm for such meetings.
So with umbrella and galoshes, raincoats and the rest, we braved the weather and gathered together.
That took place Saturday, outdoors.
In short, we did more than what most church leaders would have called on their people to do in the face of what is truly very minor adversity in the grand scheme of things.
And California is quite the place to see that happen, for in California, people truly rave about the importance of the moderate weather in their lives, yes the Importance of the easy breezy weather in their easy breezy lives.
That is a fitting metaphor for so much about life and a fitting metaphor for how California has become California, though it has the largest number of conservatives in the nation, the largest number of libertarians in the nation, the largest number of devout religious folks in the nation, the largest number of health freedom warriors in the nation.
You see, part of the allure of California is the easy breezy life. And if it’s not easy breezy then it’s not worth living.
Or so the culture seems to dictate.
And in small groups of people, and in individual lives of true lions and warriors, I am seeing that culture being rewritten. . .
Easy breezy is falling out of vogue among them and they are creating a different path in the culture of this special place, for they know very well that adversity is not overcome by those who live for easy breezy.
Let your resilience around the weather be part of your testament to your values.
Let your resilience in life be part of your testament to your values.
Do not make weather the excuse for your non-performance.
Do not make adversity the excuse for your non-performance.
It is not the circumstances that determine your outcome.
Much worse may be ahead. Then what will you do?
Some days ahead may make yesterday’s adversity look like nothing.
Embrace the adversity in your midst, overcome it, and you will be that much more ready to rise to the next challenge, for there is no question that life will bring with it challenges.
These external circumstances must never be allowed to distract us from what matters in life. Which brings us to a question of values:
Those who are people of preferences prefer to follow their self-proclaimed values when doing so is a relatively easier alternative, but may also prefer to do the exact opposite when doing that is a relatively easier alternative. That is why they are called people of preferences, not people of values.
Those who are people of values, will not allow their values trod upon, no matter the cost.
I propose to you, that in the year ahead you join me in making quiet time, 15 minutes a day to read the Bible, cover to cover over the course of the year. Starting with the first chapter of Genesis on January 1, ending with the last chapter of Revelations on December 31, 2023.
Sure, it is just reading a book, but I contend that it is much more.
One thing it is, is giving yourself 15 minutes to provoke your mind each day to say “What do I really stand for?” “What are my values?” “Do I even have any values? Or am I flexible about everything?” “What are my preferences?”
And listen — you don’t need to be perfect. I certainly am not.
But what you can be is giving yourself 15 minutes a day to provoke such questions in yourself. And reading the Bible does that exactly.
Those questions are a starting place. Starting each day there will bring you such growth.
This will be my fourth time through the Bible cover to cover, and while every day might not feel glamorous, it’s a hard book to read each day without coming away feeling like legions of angels surround you, ready to fight righteously at your side.
In life, there are many ways to help the world and live out your values. Volunteerism is good, but entrepreneurship tends to be better.
With entrepreneurship, you weed out the unserious, who will waste your every minute, if you let them, while never taking action.
Charge a penny for your service and watch them disappear — a powerful and shocking (often painful) moment of truth for every volunteer-cum-entrepreneur.
With entrepreneurship, you seek to earn enough to welcome a team to be paid to go to war alongside you.
With entrepreneurship, you seek to earn enough to build systems and organizations to make what you offer something that is bigger than just you and can help people far beyond what you can ever do.
Where there is no exchange of money, that is far harder to build. As much as some may hate that reality, that is still reality, and it is our job to recognize reality and to act accordingly.
I would like to walk you through the building of a business for ten weeks in the new year.
Allan Stevo
Outstanding post ツ