my activities

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Goals Can Become Discouraging

Goals are good to have, but when you fail at a goal it’s not easy to get back on track – especially if you have to start over.

I have an Apple Watch which I use to track my fitness every day. I track how much I stand each day, the time I spend exercising each day, and how many calories I burn each day – that’s called my “move” goal. 

On August 28, 2017 I missed reaching my move goal for the day. 

That was no big deal in itself, but I had not missed a move goal in 231 days. I had really wanted to go 365 days in a row of making my daily move goal, and I had been well on my way. 

You can imagine how disappointed I was. (You can read about that here.)

The toughest thing to get my head around was that I had to start back at day one. I had to go 231 days just to get back to even. 

Well, I sputtered a bit. 

I went 68 days in a row and then blew it. I kept slipping up and having to start my streak over. 

On April 28th I missed my move again … but that was the last time I did. 

Just the other day, I beat my old streak of 231 days in a row of making my move goal! 

Now every day I set a new record. I’m back on track to reach that goal of mine to have 365 consecutive days of meeting my move goal. 

It took me eight months to get back to a consistency with my move. 

There is a chance every day that I might miss it. For instance, yesterday I had to drive to Toronto and back. That’s a long time sitting in a car.  

Every day now I have to be conscious of what I do so that I don’t slip up and have to start all over again. 

When I was a kid we would play four square at recess every day. 

It was so popular that there was a line up of kids waiting just to get into the first square. As kids would get knocked out of the squares, I would move closer to getting into the grid. 

When you got there, you didn’t want to leave. You were playing the game. It was exciting; you didn’t want to stop. 

But one false move and you went to the back of the line … and waited for your turn again. 

With my move goal, it seems like these past eight months I’ve been in line, waiting for my turn. 

But now I’m on the grid and I don’t want to get out of the action. Each day the pressure is on to keep making it. 

All I can do is keep moving and stay alert.

Here’s the thing: If you are a follower of Christ, you have a goal of pleasing Him every day. It gets discouraging if you consistently miss that goal. So try for consistency. There are two things you need to be aware of: First, when you miss, you are not out of the game. It might feel like you went to the back of the line, but you’re still playing. And second, be alert. It’s so much better when you are on the squares pleasing Him with your life and relationships. So watch out for things that could knock you off the grid.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you find can get you off your game plan in pleasing God? Leave your comments below.

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I Spent the Morning Going Down A Rabbit Hole

I went down a rabbit hole this morning. I had no intentions to when I started to write this post, but I just kept being led.

Alice in Wonderland is most famous for going down a rabbit hole, but so many of us end up there one way or another.

… And there are so many ways that we can do it. 

There are people who check something out on Facebook or the internet and end up spending the next two hours mindlessly scrolling on their phone or computer. 

I don’t spend much time on Facebook, but I can understand the rabbit hole effect.

About 20 years ago, going down a rabbit hole wasn’t as easy. If you were listening to music, you couldn’t just go from song to song, artist to artist. You would have the put different records on the turntable.  

Even looking at pictures was not easy to get lost in, unless you were looking at slides on a carousel. They always seemed to last forever … especially if they were old family reunion pictures.

For me, my rabbit hole started when I was trying to think of what to write for this post. As my mind went from one thing to another, a song popped into my head. But there were a couple of lines in the song that stumped me, so I turned to my computer and Google to find the lyrics. 

After finding the lyrics on YouTube, the sidebar showed some videos of the song. I clicked on one. It was a cover of the original song. 

Then I clicked on another. I was pretty impressed with the music of the cover bands but the singing didn’t do the song justice.

No one sounds like Donald Fagan of Steely Dan. 

So I clicked on an video of one of their concerts. I watched for a while, but that crazy YouTube sidebar kept calling me to go deeper down the rabbit hole.

I was intrigued by one video that was titled, “What Canadians really think of Americans.” The clip was from a Jimmy Kimmel show, and that led me to another late night talk show interview that was titled, “Josh Brolin reads Trump Tweets as Thanos.” 

I clicked on it. During the interview, Stephen Colbert promoted Brolin’s new movie, “Sicario”. I had seen a movie by the same name a few years ago and was interested if this was a sequel. 

Sooooo … I had to google it, and sure enough there is a Sicario 2. I clicked on the link and started to watch the trailer. 

That’s when my son came into the room, “Wha’cha doing?” he said. I told him how I got to watching the movie trailer.

His comment was simply, “Oh, you went down the rabbit hole.”

“Ya, I did”, I said. I had just wasted about an hour and a half and still hadn’t written my blog for the day. 

… But now I have. LOL.

Here’s the thing: It’s so easy to get distracted from following something God has given you to do. You may not have completely abandoned it, but your focus has shifted in a slightly different direction. Perhaps a new interest has distracted you from spending time with God. Whatever it is, you’ve gone down the rabbit hole. The thing to do is stop the distraction and get back to what you should be focused on. Don’t let distractions take you away from what you know you should do. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What rabbit hole do you need to climb out of right now? Leave your comment below.

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Break The Busy With A Getaway

When you are really busy, sometimes getting away is the best thing for you. 

… I don’t mean getting away in the sense that you drop everything that is creating the busyness in your life. I mean taking all that’s making you busy with you on your getaway.

It’s that old saying, “A change is as good as a break.” 

There have been times when I’ve taken my computer and headed to a coffee shop and worked there for part of the afternoon. 

If you know me, that’s a very odd thing for me to do. 

First all all, I don’t like coffee, tea or anything mocha. I can go months without stepping inside a Tim Horton’s, and when I do, it’s for a donut, not a coffee. 

I’m never in line for a macchiato espresso grande with a shot of cream. … You get the idea; I don’t frequent coffee shops. 

But the other reason this would be strange for me is that I need quiet to study.

Coffee shops are not quiet; they are community gathering spots. People go there for coffee but also to talk, to catch up, to share coffee and conversation. 

When I study, I don’t like music in the background or I will start drumming on my desk. I don’t like noises outside my office window or I will be poking my head through the blinds to see what’s going on out there. 

I like silence or I get distracted; I lose my focus. 

But for some reason that I don’t understand, the times I’ve gone to a coffee shop to work, I’ve found that I can get things done. 

I’m able to shut out the individual voices and settle down in the hum of background noise. 

I look like I fit right in … except I’m the only one sucking back a three dollar water and nibbling on an oatmeal and raisin cookie.

I don’t do this all that often, but the break, the change of scenery, the different environment helps me to get my work done. 

Well, this week I was anticipating a very busy week, so Lily and I headed up to our cottage … you know, that “change of scenery” thing. 

I worked long mornings both days we were there, but I was working in the environment where I spend most of my vacation time. 

I worked from a sofa, with the sun breaking through the windows. I didn’t walk around; I didn’t sit looking at the scenery. It was just a different, quiet, relaxing atmosphere to work in. It was a getaway. 

I was able to get a lot of work done, while also getting a much needed break.

Maybe the incentives of the cottage helped me get more done because, along with work, I was able to get in a bike ride, a little time on the beach and take in an amazing sunset (check out my quick video here: vimeo.com/292474748 ).

All in all, this getaway helped me accomplish what I needed to set me up for what would take place from Wednesday to Sunday.

Here’s the thing: Have you ever found yourself in a rut when spending time with God, like you are going through the motions? Maybe there is no emotion when you are doing your devotions, nothing stirring your heart towards God. Well, perhaps you need a getaway, a change of scenery, a fresh place to spend that time. Try something different and see if your time with God isn’t transformed by a getaway.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How could you be refreshed by a getaway? Leave your comments below.

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Braking Is Overrated

There are times when it’s necessary to put on the brakes, but more often it’s better to be aware and adjust your speed. You don’t always have to brake. 

I drive behind so many people who put on their brakes going down a hill, with no one in front of them, and not going faster than the speed limit. They just like to put on their brakes.

Maybe they like to test their brakes to see if they’ll work in an emergency. 

To be honest, we don’t need to brake as much as we need to be aware of our surroundings.

When I mountain bike, I try to use my brakes as little as possible. Every time you touch the brakes, you lose some momentum. 

It’s not exactly the same in a car, but still we should look first before we brake. Many people brake before they look … or just hit the brakes because they haven’t in the last thirty seconds.

What really bugs me is the bumper sticker I’ve seen lately while driving around my city. I saw two cars in front of me the other day, both with that same sticker. It read “I brake for turtles”.

There may be many things you should or could do when you see a turtle on the road, but braking is not one of them.

Turtles don’t move very fast. It’s easy to gauge where they will be when your wheels go by them. You can move slightly in the lane to make sure they come between you tires.  

Please don’t brake. You’re more likely to cause an accident if you do, and then you might skid or be pushed by another car right into the turtle, squashing him in the middle of the road. 

I like turtles. We owned a turtle for about seven years. 

I remember when we got Winston, the water filter was so powerful it would literally push him around the tank, despite his desperate paddling like mad to get some control. … He was only the size of a toonie at that time.

We gave him to a family several years ago and sadly lost track of his address. With no cell phone or email for him, we had no way of tracking the poor little guy.

I still think of Winston and wonder what he might be doing today – maybe sunning himself on his rock or, heaven forbid, in some kind of turtle soup. 

I do like turtles, and I don’t want to see them get hurt, but let’s not brake for them. 

… For that matter, I can’t remember the last time I saw a turtle on the road, yet our city spent eleven million dollars to put up fencing so that turtles couldn’t get on the road! 

Instead of braking, look. If you see a turtle, you can avoid hitting it without evasive maneuvering or screeching to a halt. 

A good rule for driving – whether there is a pack of turtles on the road or you just haven’t touched your brakes in the last ten seconds – is to simply let your foot off the gas and look.  Just look around; just be aware. You might even save a turtle’s life.

Here’s the thing: Many times we react quickly to what is happening in our lives. We react immediately, much like touching the brakes on a car. But rather than reacting, it is better to pause, get a sense of what God might be doing or teaching you, and then respond with the correct action. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to refrain from reacting to right now? Leave your comments below.

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I’m Looking For A Good Sunset 

I like a good sunset, but I usually gaze at them only when I’m at the beach. 

The other day I discovered it’s not a bad idea to look for them elsewhere.

… We had finished dinner with our son, Mike, who was home, spending some of his vacation with us. We were letting the meal settle when Lily said, “Why don’t you go out and show Mike your new drone?” 

I wasn’t too excited at first. I’d flown my drone over our house many times and was bored with videos of just sky and subdivisions below. 

But she urged me a couple of times to do it, saying that the sun was setting and I could film the sunset.

You know, it’s one thing to stand on a beach, looking over the glistening water at the sinking fireball just above the horizon. It’s a totally different thing to look up over the fences, houses and wires to see a little portion of the sky as the sun begins to disappear.

I could stay on the beach for a long time watching the sun go down and the clouds change colour from orange to red to purple. Trying to see the colours in the sky over the tops of houses is not something I like to spend a lot of time gawking at.  

Well, we went outside and I figured I would take the drone up, show Mike how it flies, give him an idea of the quality of video and pictures you can get with it … and then bring it down. 

When I got the drone up, however, the sun had just snuck below the horizon. The sky was absolutely amazing! 

From where we were standing in front of our garage, we could not have known there was any kind of a sunset. But when the drone got up to 20, 30, then 90 metres high and turned to face the west – Wow! The sunset was every bit as spectacular as if we were standing on the beach with the whole sky as a visual screen right before us. 

There may not have been any reflection off any water below, but the colours were incredible. I couldn’t get enough video of it. Finally I switched to the camera and shot some stills of the incredible scene.

If Lily hadn’t encouraged me to go out and show Mike my drone, I never would have even known the sunset was as spectacular as it was. 

When we are at the lake, we make a point of going to the beach at sunset. At home we never give it a thought. 

My sight lines might be restricted in my front or back yard, but 90 metres up I can record the whole sky. 

From now on, I will be taking note of the time of sunset and getting ready to fly my drone to get a glimpse of the magnificent painting that’s filling the canvas that day. 

Here’s the thing: It is really easy to become blind to what God is doing. You get busy with life and what’s coming next. Maybe you’re too focussed on what’s concerning you, or busy juggling the many things you have on your plate. Just like how we can miss the sunset that’s right outside, showing off God’s creative handiwork, we can miss the amazing things God is doing in our lives. Stop and look around; take notice. God is active in your life; He is speaking to you, answering your prayers, and opening doors for you. Just take some time to notice. Don’t miss His magnificence in your life on a daily basis. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What keeps you from noticing God in your life? Leave your comments below.

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There Is More Than One Kind Of Listening

The other day I needed to listen very carefully … not that we shouldn’t always be listening, but sometimes it’s more crucial than at other times.

There are times when you don’t have to listen that attentively – like when you are doing something, working on something and you also have the TV or radio on in the background. 

You don’t really need to listen carefully to what your ears are drinking in. You are focussed on another project.

There are times when you should be listening but you choose not to – like occasionally when my wife, Lily, asks me to do something or tells me something so I can do it right. 

I have to admit that there are occasions – and I won’t tell you how many – that I have chosen not to fully listen to what she is saying.  

… I’ll be questioned on this later, by the way.

For instance, when she asks me to swing by the grocery store on my way home and pick up a few items, I don’t always pay attention to the details of what those items are. I don’t hear the size or the brand or the colour; I’ve stopped listening. I’m busy planning my route or another task I’ll do on the way.

The thing is I always have an out in those situations: I can call her when I get to the store. I can look at two kinds of yogurt and text her a picture of them to make sure I get the right one. 

I don’t feel I need to listen to her entire description before I’m in the store. … It’s a time when listening isn’t crucial. 

But there are times when you really need to listen. 

The other day I was flying my drone. It was a cloudy day at dusk – not the best conditions for visibility. I had taken the drone up to about 90 metres high and over 100 meters away. 

I usually go back and forth between looking at my control screen to see what the drone is viewing and watching it in the air. But with those conditions, when I took my eye off my drone to look down at what it was recording and then back again, I lost sight of it. 

I’ve lost a drone before, (read about that here) so I got this sick feeling in my gut when I didn’t know where it was. 

I immediately stopped it going forward, and looked at my screen to make sure the drone was pointed back in my direction. Then I started to bring the drone back. 

But I still couldn’t see it. At 90 meters high on a dull, dark, cloudy day, it was just a speck in the sky. 

What I had to do was listen very carefully for the sound of the drone’s whirling propellers. 

When I could hear that sound, I knew the drone was close. I scanned the sky where the sound was coming from and there it was – a little black X against a dark grey sky. It was directly over my head. 

Here’s the thing: If you want to hear from God, if you want to know what He wants you to do, you have to listen for Him very carefully – not listening like you’re picking up a few groceries, but listening like the survival of your drone is on the line … or like your life depends on it. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you long for God to speak to you about? Leave your comments below.

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Three Things In Two Hours

You have two hours and three things you want to get done … how do you decide which things you are going to do?

That was my dilemma the other day. 

I was at our cottage and planned to pack up after lunch to drive home. But there were three things I wanted to do before lunch and I only had a couple of hours: I wanted to go for a 30-minute bike ride, write a blog post and fix the leaky taps in the bathtub. 

I really wanted to do all three. In the back of my mind I thought I could only do one, but I rejected that thought, focussing on what I could do first. 

Though I would only ride my bike for about 30 minutes, getting ready, cooling down afterwards and taking a shower would bump that activity up to an hour minimum. 

Writing a blog post might take 40 minutes minimum, but it could take up to an hour. Since I hadn’t thought of a subject to write about, it was likely going to take an hour. 

Then there were the leaky taps. 

This was a late entry onto my list. The taps had been dripping for a while, but for some reason it seemed like they were dripping a little more now.

I knew this project could spill over any time limit I put on it. 

What would you do?

In the back of my mind, I still (being delusional) hoped I could get all these things done by noon. 

While I was staring at my blank tablet screen, I thought, “Why waste time sitting here trying to think of something to write about?” So I got up and looked at the taps … I thought a bike ride and shower should be last on the list. 

You can probably figure out how those two hours were spent. 

When was the last time you attempted a home repair that fit into a nice, neat little time frame? When have you tried to fix a plumbing problem where everything went smoothly, without a hitch? 

I went to the hardware store to just replace the valves for the hot and cold water taps. But they don’t make a standard tap valve. There were many styles and it looked like they were out of some. The one the hardware employee and I settled on didn’t look like an exact match but I took a chance. 

When I got back to the cottage, I quickly discovered it was not the right one. So back I went to the hardware store for trip two. 

In the end, I decided to just change the washers … which would have been quick and easy except that the screws were stuck. 

I had to soak the taps in CLR to get the calcium off them. 

Guess what I did while I waited for the CLR to do its work? I ate lunch.

I blew right through my two hour window, and didn’t even get the taps fixed. … I didn’t even get one thing done in my time frame – brutal!

On a side note, after lunch when I swapped out the washers, the taps stopped leaking.

Here’s the thing: With all the things we want to do and could do, some things will get crowded out. We just won’t have time for them all. How often are we guilty of not having time for God, simply because of our wants and priorities? Put God in the first spot every day. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Lately, how have you crowded God out of your day? Leave your comments below.

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Why You Should Share Your Embarrassing Moments

From time to time I repost an article that I have written in the past. This post is from the summer of 2014 enjoy.

We all have them. Embarrassing moments when we do dumb, stupid things that we wish we could take back.  

It might be something we said or did, but the result is the same: red-faced, head down, too shamed to look up or around to see if anyone noticed.

Embarrassing moments on You Tube go viral. It’s all good … except for the person who’s embarrassed.

I once took a picture of a vehicle stuck on top of a snow pile. The owner was so embarrassed she begged me not to post it on You Tube. I didn’t post it, but I did blog about it (read it here).

Well, what goes around comes around. The other day I was coming back from a bike ride with my bike on my car roof carrier.

As I drove by the back of my house, I hit the garage door remote button and, by the time I pulled onto my street and into my driveway, the door was fully open.  

So, like I do every day, I drove right in . . . that is until I got some resistance and heard this crunching sound!

Immediately, I realized what I’d done. I backed up and then my bike came bounding off the top of the car. Just to add to the embarrassment, it clipped my side mirror which is now wobbly.

I sat there, in my car for a moment, thinking I’d wrecked my bike, my bike rack and my garage. And most of all, I’d embarrassed myself. 

When I got out and assessed the damage, my bike seemed to be fine, and the top moulding of my garage only had a little mark on it. 

The mirror, well, it was wobbly and will probably need to be replaced. The bike rack … broken pieces and bent parts. Me … bruised ego. 

I was embarrassed. I wondered who saw it, which neighbour would bring it up at our street BBQ. I wanted to hide.  

But you know, as embarrassed as I was, the next day I told a friend what I did.  

Mind you, I couldn’t even look him in the eye. I looked down or away from him most of the time,  until he commented after my story. He said “Ya, I’ve done that twice”. 

All of a sudden I had company in my embarrassment, and it wasn’t so embarrassing any more. It was more like I joined the club of guys who’ve smashed their bikes into their garages.

I got so bold that two days later I told a couple other friends and they started telling their stories of crashing things attached to their vehicles.  

It turns out I’m not the one and only idiot to forget I had a bike on my roof. There are lots of us and I found healing for my embarrassment when I shared it.

Here’s the thing: When we sin, there is, often times, shame that goes with the sin. That keeps us from wanting to confess it to God or others. We feel alone in it, like we’re the only one who has ever sinned that way. But the truth is, that’s Satan’s way of keeping you in your sin.  

Confession frees you from shame – first because it’s no longer hidden, or a secret; second, because you find that you’re not alone; and third, because confession is the first step to turning from your sin. Don’t remain in shame; confess your sin.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What embarrassing moment have you shared and then found comfort in? I’d really like to hear from you; leave your comment below.

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When You Fall, Get Back Up

There is a saying that when you fall off a bike you should get right back on it again. 

The saying doesn’t specifically refer to riding a bike, rather it’s a reference to anything you fail at. You should get right back at it and do it again.

We’ve all followed that rule with many things in life, including riding our bikes. 

When that first date didn’t go so well, you didn’t stop dating; you got right back at it. When you didn’t make that team, you didn’t stop playing the game. 

When you failed a test you didn’t quit school, and when you stubbed your big toe, you didn’t stop going barefoot, and resort to wearing steel-toed boots to bed.

No, you got right back at what you were doing. That’s what we’re supposed to do. 

There are some things, however, that are harder to get right back to.

I remember one time as a kid that I got sick after eating corn on the cob. The corn had nothing to do with me being sick, but as I was losing my lunch over the toilet bowl, the sight of …. you get the idea and the picture. 

I couldn’t look at corn for a long time. After that incident I didn’t eat it at all for a few years. 

But slowly, my love of corn returned and I did eventually get back on the bike and start eating it again. 

In fact, when I was in high school at a youth event, in a challenge with another guy, I ate something like 18 cobs of corn! … No, I was not sick after that, but I did feel like I was waddling around for a few hours.

I say all that because, though we are supposed to get right back up when we fail or have a bad experience, it’s just difficult to do sometimes.

That’s what I’m experiencing these days. I haven’t been riding on a trail all week. There have been some days when the weather hasn’t been good, but many days when it’s been a perfect day for a ride. 

Instead, every day I’ve chosen to ride on the road.

The reason? The last time I rode my trail, I stopped to build a new section. When I got back to the cottage, I found another tick. (You can read about the first tick I brought home here.)

I’m two for two. Both times I’ve worked on a new section of trail, I’ve brought home a tick. … I hope it’s only been two! 

This one I found on the bath mat just outside the shower. I take it that the tick didn’t feel like having a shower with me.

I haven’t hit the trails since; these two ticks are keeping me out of the woods. I now have a partial trail that leads to nowhere. 

Fear of what could happen – and Lily not being too excited about the friends I’ve invited in – have stopped me so far. 

I may not finish that trail but I just have to get back to mountain biking. 

Here’s the thing: Sometimes it can be something very small – even as small as a tick – that stops you from going deeper with God. What does God want next for you? What failure, fear, or distraction is keeping you from moving forward with Him? Get back on your bike and ride. Go deeper with God. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has ever stopped you in your tracks? Leave your comments below.

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The Years Have Not Changed A Pattern

It’s been over 30 years but nothing has changed … between me and my golf partner. Recently I played golf with him, the one who got me hooked on the game.

When I was in high school he belonged to a private golf course, but would play golf with me at a municipal course close to where we lived.

At first I would hit more bad shots than good ones, but over time it seemed that the good ones stuck with me and I forgot about the bad shots I made.

I think it’s something like giving birth: a mother forgets what the pain was really like so that she is eager to have another child. … Okay, it’s nothing like giving birth, but somehow the good shots I made – as few as they were – kept me coming back for more.

I think I was a slow learner because this friend would give me a lot of tips each time I duffed another shot about 20 yards down the fairway. 

He didn’t do it too much, though, because too many suggestions can really get annoying after a while. … I know because I’ve helped Lily with her golf game. I have to catch myself or she gets a little angry with me.

Over the first few years I started to get better at the game until I was making more good shots than bad ones.  

I would still have some holes where I blew up and shot an eight or something, but it always seemed, by the end of each round, that I had made a really good shot that caused me to think I could do that every time. 

As I got better, I started playing more with my friend and even eventually joined the golf club where he was a member. 

We had a few really great years of golf there before I moved out west to go to school and then work.

In those years that we played together, he would do something interesting. He would club me on almost every shot. 

I don’t mean that he took a golf club and whacked me over the head with it; he just told me what club I should use. 

He did it when I first started learning the game and he never stopped. 

It got so routine that sometimes I would just look at him and he would say, “use a 7 iron”. I would pull it out of my bag without a thought of questioning his suggestion.

He was right about 95% of the time … that’s if I hit the ball well.

That was our pattern. But that was also over 30 years ago. 

When I recently had the chance to play with my old friend again, I noticed something interesting. When I would get to my ball he, like clock work, as if it was automatic, would say, “use a 7 iron” … and I just pulled it out of my bag. 

There were even times when I didn’t say anything. I just looked at him and he would tell me. 

It was like we’d never stopped playing together; he was still helping me play better.

And somehow I had the same effect on him. He had his best round of the year so far.

Here’s the thing: Get in the habit of asking God for help, even with the little things in your day. If you start to include Him more and more in your decisions, and really listen for His response, then years from now when you are making some crucial decision, or even a minor one, God will whisper in your ear which club to pull. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Who have you come to count on for help? Leave your comments below.