Proactive or Reactive?

When I was working as a counselor, the Lord impressed on me the importance of being proactive in my life rather than reactive. To me, this meant that I would contemplate the decisions I was making in my life; what the good and bad consequences of those decisions were and then determine the path I would take.

The problem is that being proactive takes work and the discipline of thinking about things. Being reactive to life, on the other hand, seems easier, because things happen and you react - no forethought involved. But in fact, in my opinion, living a reactive life, is much more chaotic and filled with stress.

So what are some ways to be more proactive in your life?

• Pray about it. Ask God to help you identify who your best self is and how to get there, and then do your best to follow His lead. Be single minded. Decide that you will seek after and follow God, and you will find yourself being transformed into the person God created you to be.

• Think about what you want your life to look like and who you want to become.

• What small steps do you need to take to become the person you want to be? Ex. determine who you want to become: what characteristics does he/she exhibit? How will you get there? Ex. read more self-help or inspiring books, study the Bible, get counseling, find a mentor. If you want to become a more positive person, do you need to change the things you watch, read and listen to? Do you need to surround yourself with more positive people?

• What small steps do you need to take to have the lifestyle you would like? Do you need more education or a better job to feel more fulfilled? Do you need to change your diet and/or activity level to become healthier?

To help you answer these questions, you may want to journal so that you have a more clear cut idea of the directions in which you want to go.

Some of the benefits of living a proactive life are these:

• You have more peace;

• you have thought about and anticipate any problems that may occur and have done your best to prepare for them or avoid them altogether;

• you are happier because you are living a more authentic life

What about you? Are you living your best life? If not, what needs to change? Comment below.

Writing With A Purpose: The Value of Journaling Part 2

Last week, I ended the post talking about how journaling helps you realize the way you speak to yourself.

As you consider your thoughts, examine your belief system. do you believe that you are who you are and can never change? If this is the case, be careful. You may be falling prey to a victim mentality, even if you don't consciously see yourself in that light. You demonstrate a victim mentality when you believe that you have no power to change your life. You become a victim of your circumstances, your past choices or things that have happened to you in the past.

The Bible does not support that idea. Romans 8:37 states, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." (NIV) Remember that your circumstances do not define you. They are things that happen to you but are not who you are. Once you realize this, you can work on changing your thoughts by reminding yourself of what God has said about who your, His creation, are. In Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (NIV)

Jeremiah 29:11 states, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (NIV) God created you to be a creative, intelligent human being who can grow in wisdom. He did not create you to be a stagnant being. God had big plans for you. It is up to you to decide to participate.

After pondering and journaling, you can become more aware of where you are now, what you need to change, where you want to go, and how you will get from where you are to where you want to go.

As you ponder and journal, may the Holy Spirit reveal to you God's plans for you and how to get there.

Writing With A Purpose: The Value of Journaling Part 1

Last week I spoke about the importance of pondering. As you ponder, it is easy to go off on several tangents and have several different thoughts with no direction or continuity. If that is the case, you will have spent time thinking about who you are, your plans for the future, or many other things, but would have no concrete plans or ability to see the big picture of your life.

The solution to that problem is journaling. The image on the left captures many of the benefits of journaling.

In my own experience, when I journaled, I was able to clarify the ideas I had and make plans to achieve them.

I also used the journal as a measuring stick of sorts to see if I was moving in the right direction or remaining stagnant. After writing for a month or so, I would review where I was in the present versus where I had been a month prior. If I was reacting and behaving in the same way, I knew I needed to re-evaluate my plan, toss out what wasn't working, and adjust with a new plan.

In addition to seeing what did not work in my life, I was encouraged by my successes - no matter how small.

Journaling also helped me to be honest with myself. You may think that it is easy to be honest with yourself, but I have found from experience that it is easiest to deceive yourself. I will share one example from my life. When I was a teenager, I loved to go to dances. It was so much fun for me. As an adult, not realizing that I had changed, I told myself that I loved to dance and that the only reason I hadn't danced for years, was because my ex-husband did not like to dance. After the divorce, I suppose that I wanted to return to that happy time of my life when I was young and dancing, so I kept telling myself that same old lie, "I love to dance". I did not want to go to a bar, so I would look up other community places I could go to dance. I would even write down the dates and times of the dances. This went on for the seven years that I was single. After I remarried, I reflected on those years and realized that where I spent my time was really where my heart was. Then the lightbulb moment came, and I became fully aware that the entire time I was single and had opportunity to dance, I never went dancing! What I did do with my spare time was to go to church, Christian workshops, and read the Bible; basically, my heart was really into seeking the Lord, it was not on the dance floor. That was a refreshing revelation.

It is imperative that you become aware of how you speak to yourself. James Allen wrote a book entitled As A Man Thinketh in which he explores the power of your thoughts in relation to determining the outcome of your life. The Bible also stresses the importance of being intentional in your thoughts. Philippians 4:8-9 state, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me- put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." (NIV)

Journaling will help you realize where you are in relation to where you want to go, and give you a good picture of how you are speaking to yourself. Next week, I will continue on this topic.

God bless.