These are personal notes that I've jotted down while reading this book. If you like what you're reading here, I highly recommend purchasing the book. It is one that I will keep around for the rest of my life because there are lessons in it that I value to a point of revisiting them throughout my life.
Some of it is directly copied from the book, and some of it I changed a bit as a personal thought or revelation.
There is so much I am not covering that is amazing. This is a fantastic read.
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People do stupid things because they mistakenly believe those stupid things will make them happy.
This is the paradox that surrounds our quest for happiness: We know the things that will make us happy, but we don't always do them.
Writing makes me happy, and at the end of a good day of writing everything is better in my world. Still, every time I sit down to write, before i can even get a word down, I have to battle and slay resistance.
* seriously, this is me!
Do you cling to bad relationships? Do you have a lot of self-doubt...? Gossip, laziness, fear excuses, negative thinking, ingratitude, and jealousy are all destroyers of happiness.
Pleasure is a poor substitute for the happiness we desire. Nothing on earth can satisfy your desire for happiness.
Only God can fill the hole.
* Yes, the truth.
Only God can fill that hole that represents all our deepest longings.
. The desire for God is written on your heart. It cannot be erased;
. You are created by God and for God;
. God never ceases to draw you to him; and
. You will only find the truth and happiness you are looking for in God.
IT IS ONLY BY PLACING GOD AT THE CENTER FOR EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN MAKE SENSE OF LIFE. WHEN WE PLACE SOMETHING OR SOMEONE ELSE AT THE CENTER OF OUR LIVES WE SET OURSELVES UP FOR GNAWING DISSATISFACTION.
* I had this experience in recent years, a relationship that I thought was exactly what I needed in someone was wreaking havoc on my spiritual life and causing me to be ok with things that were not conducive to being a healthy Christian. I started being "okay" with things that weren't generally ok with me, but I allowed my guard to come down in multiple ways because I wanted to share their kind of life with them. But i started feeling dissatisfied and stressed and anxious and depressed more, and i always felt like if i said the wrong thing, they would be angry with me, and I didn't feel like i could be who I was supposed to be.
* I am learning so much more about where I am right now in life, and having to put that relationship on the back burner was very strange because we've been close for so long, but also learning that I was codependent and that it was taking away from how I connected with my husband and with my God.
* I am a better wife now, a better mom, and i'm hearing God more, and I'm feeling more free and unburdened. I pray for them often.
God is happiness. The definition of resist is "to withstand, strive against, or oppose".
GOD WANTS YOU TO BE HAPPY EVEN MORE THAN YOU WANT IT YOURSELF.
He has put you in this world for a specific mission, but first he has to prepare you.
You are not alone. You are not helpless. Take some small action. Resistance hates action.
Push it aside, ignore it, pretend it isn't there, but it won't go away. And the more you ignore it the more restless you will become.
IT'S OKAY TO BE DISSATISFIED.
*We learn from it and it leads us in a different direction, a direction of growth and change and maturity.
If you sense something is missing in your life, stop ignoring it.
RESISTANCE LOVES KEEPING US BUSY WITH ANYTHING BUT THE ONE THING THAT WILL MOST HELP US GROW.
Our lives change when our habits change. New habits bring new life.
THY WILL BE DONE.
What is my image of God? How do I see him? What are his attributes?
(I answered with my personal response to this in another blog post.)
HUGE
- WE LIVE IN A CULTURE THAT SAYS THE MEANING OF LIFE IS TO GET WHAT WE ANTS, AND THAT WHEN WE GET WHAT WE WANT, THEN WE WILL BE HAPPY.
- SOONER OR LATER WE REALIZE THAT GETTING WHAT WE WANT DOESN'T MAKE US HAPPY.
Being luke warm means it's easy to blend in. But the lukewarm also tend to choose convenience and comfort over what is right and just. They rarely talk about God or their spiritual journey.
CONSIDER HOW LITTLE WE TALK ABOUT SPIRITUAL HEALTH, IT SAYS SO MUCH ABOUT THE STATE OF OUR CULTURE.
Over time you will learn to listen to the cravings of your soul.
It is healthy to reflect on the fact that life is short and we are all going to die.
One of the greatest mistakes in history has been to go off looking for God in the extraordinary. God occasionally uses the extraordinary to get our attention, but since the beginning his favorite place has been amid the very ordinary things of life. A child in a manger- what could be more ordinary?
EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY, EVERY SITUATION, EVERY PERSON WE ENCOUNTER IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME A-BETTER-VERION-OF-OURSELVES.
*My Pentecost moment- 2020 my word is Follow.
Separating from my friend and searching for a path.
I searched for new meaning when I became disabled (this meaning back in 2017 when I had to make the choice to stop working outside of my home. I became legally disabled November 2019). Disconnecting with toxicity and codependency was a huge step.
You are called to live a holy life. And your work- whatever it is- is one of the primary tools God has given you to grow in virtue, become the-best-version-of-yourself, and live a holy life.
EVERY RELATIONSHIP IMPROVES WHEN WE REALLY START TO LISTEN, ESPECIALLY OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
The most practical way to improve all our relationships is to continually become a better listener.
What are positive patterns in your life?
Do you know what you are hungry for?
Romans 7:19
"For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do."
You cannot succeed at anything unless you are willing to delay gratification. This ability and success are intimately linked.
We almost never regret delaying gratification.
You have the perfect personality and talents to fulfill the mission God is entrusting to you.
Too often we think of the self as something bad.
THE CRITIC WILL ALWAYS BE PRESENT.
WE LIVE OUR LIVES FOR AN AUDIENCE OF ONE: GOD. IF YOU ARE DOING WHAT YOU BELIEVE GOD IS CALLING YOU TO DO DEEP IN YOUR SOUL, WALK ON.
Few can imagine just how powerful perseverance is.
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