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When you buy product at market place, you want a just weight. If you bought something for $3.00 a pound you would expect to get a pound for your hard earned money. Unless of course you did not care if you were short changed or not and then you would settle for anything, which is what many people do in life. If you paid $3.00 for something less than a pound, you lost. You got short end of stick. When you pick up one end of stick you also get end opposite.
It is same way with life. You must get your moneys worth. But if you put nothing into life you will receive back a like measurement. Nothing is a measurement. Nothing equals nothing. You get short changed. It is called a just return, a just weight. The problem is we let so many people short change us by setting standards for us that will not produce profit. Profit is a measure. The measure is determined by what you have put into product and product is you. Put nothing in and get nothing out. So, with no set standards of value, you will always receive a poor measurement. You will always be living on barely get along street in poverty city.
Do you remember foundation I had talked about earlier in this presentation? It was bedrock upon which you would stand your ladder. But so many times people build upon sinking sand. As you climb your ladder of life, ladder simply disappears into sinking sand beneath it. When you reach life's end, you find yourself on same rung of ladder as you started out with. Now that is not called progress. It is called disaster. The one thing that will drive your ladder into sinking sand faster than anything else is weight of regret. Regretting that you have done nothing with your time and opportunity up until this day of your life. Everything looks bleak and blah, no hope in sight. Ah, but there is hope. You can start again. All you have to do is move your ladder onto solid rock. And may I suggest to you that it is closer than you think. The bedrock could mean truth, integrity, hope, self worth, a right attitude, a positive outlook on life; a help to others and list is endless. You can make your own list. Make sure it is a list of things that will withstand storms of life and prove themselves to be faithful to those who will embrace them.
Have you ever seen someone holding a ladder for someone else to climb? Sadly you will seldom see that in today's society. Have you ever been asked to hold ladder while someone else climbed it? Hard to do isn't it? And reason is because we don't want any one else to get ahead of us. If you don't think so, watch traffic on a busy freeway at quitting time. Everybody wants to be first in line. Here is key. No man is an island unto himself. You cannot pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. If you want to be first, be last. Now that is diametrically opposed to man's philosophy. But God knew man would want to be first so He put that principle in Bible for man. But, you must USE this principle when climbing your own life's ladder. Who cares if another person gets to top before you? That's what it is all about. Believe me, if you will help enough other people to get to top, there will come time when you to, will be at top. There will always come time for reaping if you will plant great disciplines in your life. As you grow, share with others what you have learned. Begin mentoring someone. What a change that will make in you when you get you out of way by putting others first.
Now why this Lesson For Living? It is to get you to start looking at your life and where you are right now. Are you where you should be? Are you where you want to be? Only you can answer that. It has been my experience with people that most are not where they want to be. But a better question is are you where you SHOULD be? To answer that would require some work on your behalf because no one else can give you answer. Here is one very important rule. Don't compare where you are in life to where others are. It is foolhardy. Find you where YOU are supposed to be. Read books on development. Go to workshops and seminars. Listen to audiotapes and view videos. Listen to sermons and bible studies. Above all, get WISDOM. You would be surprised where it will lead you. Start working on YOU. What a difference that will make in your journey.
I Wish You The Best Of Success,
Dr. Wm. G. Seavey Email Doctor for lecturing at winnow@earthlink.net Web site www.thewinnerscircle.org Subscribe to The Mustard Seed - Lessons For Living www.thewinnerscircle.org
Dr. Seavey is the author of Lessons For Living and several workbooks all relating to personal development and growth. He leads you through the maze of negativism using age old disciplines and principles teaching you how to live a successful lifestyle one day at a time.