One of the scariest thoughts I have had is the reality that,

I am where I am because that’s where I want to be.

Let me explain, there is NO other reason that the things I do, I do because that’s what I want to do.  If I wanted a different result I would do it.  The reality of this thought is actually frightening, because it means I am responsable to create the life I want to live.

If I wanted to spend more time in prayer and God’s word, I would do it.  If I wanted to lose more weight, I would lose it.  If I wanted to have more time, I would find more time.  This truth is a hard thing to accept.  But regardless of where you are, you are there because you want to be.  Many people think that life just happens to them, but life is what happens when we make choices.  The choices we make determine the life we live.  If we REALLY wanted to lose the weight we have put on, we would choose to not eat the junk that we do.  If we REALLY wanted to make a career move, we would make it happen, somehow, someway.

Many people do not take responsibility for their life.  They just react to it as it happens.  I think we tend to live in reaction mode rather than a responsibility mode.  When we are responsable we are response-able.  That means that we have the ability to respond to life the way we should.  When I first began to learn that I was responsabile to create the life I wanted to live in my late teenage years it revolutionized my thinking.  You see, up until that point I figured life just happened and you held on for the ride.  I did not know that the choices I made determined the life I lived.  As I began to grow and God showed me that He had empowered me to make the right decisions, in the right direction, for the right reasons it made me responsable.  When those 3 things lined up life began to make sense.  I knew that if I wanted to get the results I felt my life could get I had to do 3 things…

1. Make the right DECISIONS.

Always choose what is the Godly thing to do.  Always choose what is right means to take the higher road.  When everyone else is choosing the road more traveled you sometimes have to choose the road less traveled.  Just because everyone else is choosing something doesn’t always mean that is right for you.  We have to learn how to make the right decisions in life for they will dictate many things.  Many people are a result of poor decisions.  They do not weigh the cost of the decisions they are making, so therefore they suffer the consequences of those decisions.  And let me also say that not being decisive is as bad as making a wrong decision.  We have to step up and decide to live our life the right way that we were created for.

2. In the right DIRECTION.

Your decisions will point your life towards a target.  It is impossible to make a decision that will not send your life in that direction.  Think of your decisions like shooting an arrow.  Whatever decision you make will send you down the path of that outcome.  That is why it is so important to make the right decisions for they will determine our direction in life.  For every choice we make we must look ahead and see the direction that decision will take us.  We have to keep our eyes forward into the future and make sure we are seeing the targets in front of us.  An archer does not stare at the arrow (the decision), he focuses on where he wants to hit the target.  The direction our decision will take us will determine the decision we make.  Focus on the target in your life and the decisions will become easier to make.  Always ask yourself, “Is the decision I am making getting me closer to my target or further?”

3. For the right REASONS.

Unless our decisions are based on integrity and honesty, we will lose.  We must know that our life has to be lived for the right reasons.  If we are making decisions that will hurt others out of our selfishness we must rethink it.  Adding value to others and making a significant impact should always guide our decisions.  You can’t lose if your reasons in life are about adding value to others and lifting others.  When our decisions are about serving others and lifting them to a higher level then you will NEVER go wrong.  It is when pride, ego, and selfishness get into the mix that life gets tainted.  But when we choose to do what we were created to do it will always make a significant impact on others.  You can’t do what you were created to do and it not have to do with others.  We were created by God to do great things that will always help others.  God wired us in a way that our unique gifts, talents, and outlook, when lined up properly, will always be about helping others in someway, somehow.