Life in the fast lane is tiring and demanding. Energy levels are drained quickly and continuously. If we wish to be successful and want to do it in a way that is consistent with our values and principles, it will take a lot of energy and a firm commitment to a path of integrity.

Energy comes from a number of sources and is expended in a number of different ways.

Did you know that your brain is responsible for using over 30% of the total energy output of your body? Just in terms of physical energy, that’s a big demand. Other physical demands on our energy come not only from our muscular system in order to move around and be active, but also our heart and other internal organs that are constantly protecting and supporting our physical health. One of the best sources of increased physical energy is a daily exercise routine. Whether you go to the gym or walk through the neighborhood, exercise is essential to maintain the flow of oxygen through our brain and the rest of our body, and to keep our heart functioning efficiently.

Along with the demands on our bodies, we expend a great deal of energy in processing and dealing with emotions. If we are not careful of how we respond to the emotional ups and downs of every day experience, they will be begin to manage the rest of us, and instead of assisting us in the direction of our lives, they will become the basis of our decisions, not a healthy way to best utilize our resources and a sure way to bad choices in crucial situations. Our best way to nourish our emotional energy is to pursue healthy life-giving relationships and to avoid toxic life-draining relationships.

And, of course, keeping ourselves strong physically and emotionally, deeply affects our ability to stay strong to the principles we value as the foundation of our truest and best self, to staying true. Staying strong in the area of principles and values is the function of our spiritual side. The energy we need to be persevering and consistent with our values and principles is more than merely physical. This energy comes from the nourishment we receive from our relationship between our higher power and our interior self. In order to provide the nourishment we need in the spiritual area of our lives, we need to exercise this part as we do the physical and the emotional areas.

How can we best nourish and exercise our spiritual life? One of the most beneficial things we can do is to sit back, clear our minds of all the concerns and distractions that so readily impinge on our consciousness, and talk openly and directly with our innermost self and with our Creator.

As Christians, we believe that Jesus is the incarnate manifestation of God among us. We believe that He is our Lord and Savior. We believe He is risen from the dead, is at the right hand of God the Father, and has sent to us the gift of His Spirit. We say we believe all this, yet we often do not speak to God, we do not directly and personally relate to God, we do not think of how what we are doing at the moment fits into the plan of God.

Daily prayer and reflection will change that, and will change our life. It will give us the energy to stay strong and to stay true physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Start today to nourish yourself in all areas of your life in a balanced way – then come back here and share your experiences of staying strong and staying true. Talk to you soon. Have a great day!

The other day my niece, Jessie Rae, told me, “I’m beginning to believe more in miracles and less in coincidence.” That got me thinking about the role of chance in the plan of God.

The universe is unfolding second by second, now over billions of years. Things are changing constantly. Conditions influence the course of events. Inanimate objects and living things are constantly moving in accord with the natural laws of physics and animal instincts. Thus the occurrence of events is, at the same time, independent and relational. And when it comes to human life, there is the element of free will, the most powerful of human capabilities. Moment to moment human beings in every part of the world are making decisions that will change the course of their lives and the lives of those around them.

For example, a physical occurrence: What was the likelihood that an object from outer space would strike the earth at a precise moment in its development in the precise way to cause it to spin in a wobbly manner around the sun, produce the seasons, and at the same time send matter into space that would coalesce to form the moon?

And another example, a human accomplishment: What was the likelihood that Bill W., a recovering alcoholic from New York, on a random business trip in Akron with things not going well and no family or friends to turn to, knowing that he could stay sober if he only could talk to another alcoholic, would find an active alcoholic of the caliber of Dr. Bob and hit it off so well that they would start a movement that has helped millions of alcoholics to stop drinking?

In the Good Book, St. Paul says, for those who love God all things work together for good. I believe that God can and does use any and every circumstance, good or bad, for our benefit. There is no doubt that every occurrence in our lives is, at one and the same time, coincidental and part of God’s plan.

In what way would God’s power be more wondrously displayed: if God were to manipulate everything down to the tiniest detail with all the terrible and catastrophic events of destruction and injustice; or is God’s power even more magnificent and wonderful when out of the haphazard catastrophe, and even out of the malicious and willful injustice, God’s healing, compassion, re-creation and redemption are able to overcome the forces of evil and accomplish the plan and purpose of creation: to display the oneness, the truth, the love, the goodness, and the totally present being of God.

While we have been created in the image and likeness of God, endowed with intelligence, judgment, and freedom of choice to be more conscious and intentional about our lives, one of the greatest uses of these creative endowments is to take advantage of every incidental happening and turn it into an opportunity for growth, progress, and well being for one’s self and for others.

If we can do this, we will be imitating one of the most wonderful characteristics of the Creator: to use coincidence and chance to create miracles of new life.

It made my mother chuckle and she had to tell all her friends. One of those “philosophical” questions out of the mouth of a child too young to understand what he was really asking. But really, it often puzzles us as to how things get started.

And, when it comes to seeing results in our life, we often expect things to happen for us or to us, when we need to make them happen ourselves. We blame fate, or circumstances, or other people, or even God because we are not seeing results and we are not successful.

We’d all like to see a miracle radically change our lives and the circumstances we live in every day. And many times we wonder why God doesn’t do something, at least a minor miracle, to help us out. After all, God’s the one we look to for great things and the one we believe is responsible for everything that happens.

But if we think about it for a minute, maybe the reality is different from what we lead ourselves to believe. What did God say when the first humans were created? God said, “Let us make man in our image and likeness”….God created man in his image and likeness; male and female he created them….and God said, “Go forth, multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the wild beasts, the birds and the fish….”

God did not make people to be subject to other people. God did make people to have dominion over the rest of creation. And God gave to men and women the power and authority to execute that dominion, as well as the ability to make choices and decisions for themselves.

So the first step to success is not God’s. God will act. God will make things happen. But God will not do what we are expected to do for ourselves. Look at what you expect to happen in your life today. If you do nothing, nothing will happen. If you act with the help of God, there’s no limit to what can and will happen.

When we were young, we could be outside playing with a number of friends and companions. Being busy about the fun we were involved in at the moment, we often lost track of time, or we simply preferred to continue to play rather than go in, even at meal time.

However, if our mother called us, even from a fair distance, we could distinguish her voice and recognize her call. And acknowledging her love and care, we responded immediately no matter what we were doing at the moment.

This is a great analogy for a very important principle related to our personal development and success in our life pursuits. Developing a sense of focus and attention on the voice within us that directs and calls us to the priorities of our vision, is essential amid the distractions and myriad number of things that demand our attention in these modern times.

A biblical example along this line is the Gospel reference to the Good Shepherd. Jesus spoke to a people well familiar with the experience of shepherds with their sheep. A sheep can actually distinguish thousands of tones and pitches of voice. When the shepherd called for his sheep to take them from the grazing area to their safe haven for the night, those that belonged to him would immediately know his voice and follow him home.

Jesus calls us to be attentive and attuned to his voice. He is the true Shepherd that guides us along the path that is for our benefit and our success. Our spirit within resonates with the truth and integrity that will protect us from error and harm.

Thus my tip for today is that we develop the habit of listening closely and carefully to the voice within us – the Lord’s voice and the voice of our spirit. When we are responsive to the guidance of the Lord and the call of our true self, there is nothing that can keep us from achieving our highest dreams and goals.

In order to do that we need to regularly find the peace and quiet necessary to hear these whispers within and to recognize their manifestation in what goes on around us. Take the time – Listen to the call – Respect, revere and obey the guidance and authority of your higher power and the truth of your own values.

Thank you for journeying along the Path of Integrity.

“Send out your light and your truth; let these be my guide.” – Psalm 43

This prayer from the 43rd Psalm is on my mind. It’s the spiritual principle I’d like to share with you today.  If we are to find fulfillment and success in our endeavors, we need the vision to follow the right paths. We also need to be guided by the truth.

Today I received a newsletter about good leadership practices. It said that good leaders need compasses, not maps. The idea is that a compass gives direction, and that’s what a leader provides. The team the leader works with creates the map based on the direction it receives. But they can’t do much without sound direction and direction comes from a good compass.

Where does a good leader find a good compass? A sound compass is one that points true north. A leader’s compass will be sound if it points in the direction of the light and the truth. Plans based on whim or fancy will not prevail. Plans based on what is real have the best chance at success.

Often we think we know what’s real, only to find out later we were mistaken. It was an illusion, smoke and mirrors, or self-deception of some sort. Leaders are often reluctant to say, “I don’t know.” Yet that is exactly what a good leader is ready and willing to admit. As Socrates said long ago, “The wise man is the one that knows he does not know.”

If we are humble enough to admit we do not have all the answers and that we need the light and the truth of the Creator to guide us to find them, we’ve made a giant leap along the Path of Integrity, and to assuring our fulfillment and success, not just for a while, but for a long time to come.

How have you found the light and truth you needed to guide you along your path? Write a comment below and share your insights.

Thanks for being on the Path of Integrity.

What is the movement of success and victory in life? What is the final destination of my life? Why am I doing what I do with my life? What will be the success or victory of my life?

I learned as a child and strive to remember: “God made me to know, love and serve God in this life and to share in the eternal happiness of life with God in the world to come.”

This is the purpose of life, the direction of success and victory, and it determines satisfaction and happiness in this world as well as the next. If we order all that we plan and pursue to this purpose, we will have success and happiness in our endeavors.

Consider the overall scope of God’s plan: God, the eternal generation of life and love – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – creates mankind in the image and likeness of God, guides and teaches through the Word of God, joins mankind through the incarnation by the Son becoming man in Jesus, who suffers, dies, rises, returns to the Father, and bestows the Spirit, and calls us to return to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the source of life and love.

The scope of our plan needs to follow the same pattern: create to generate life and love, reveal the greatness and marvelous grandeur of the Creator, strive to teach and support the world in the ways of what is true and good, give one’s complete and total commitment without self-interest, and bestow a heritage that empowers further generation of life and love.

There is one truth, one life, one way to achieve the success and victory we seek – Jesus Christ. If we seek to embody the person of Jesus in how we live, we will enjoy success in every aspect of our being: spiritual, emotional, intellectual, social, familial, and even financial.

It is the purpose of this blog to relate the principles of faith in Christ to how we seek and pursue personal development and success in business and our way of life.

Questions and comments are welcome to create dialogue and discussion.

Thanks for sharing in the Path of Integrity.