Ouch!

Last night I was wiping down the stainless steel on the front of our stove when I felt a very sharp pain, followed by a lot of blood. The edge of the steel facing cut a good chunk off the top of my middle finger. It took about 2 hours for the bleeding to stop and I'm sure it will take a few days before I can comfortably use it again (typing this is taking me twice as long).

I've had quite a few injuries like this. In fact, if you were to look at my medical record you would see that I have had about 3 or 4 tetanus shots in the past 10 years.

My problem is not carelessness (although my wife may take issue with that one), but what I believe lies with my sense of adventure and accomplishment.

Here's how I work...if something is broke or needs built I don't want to call someone to do it. I think to myself "if it can be fixed, I can fix it." And to be honest with you, there there aren't a lot of things that I have set out to fix that I failed at.

I have friends that are the same way and we have a good time bragging about all our endeavors and trips to the emergency room that have gone with them. If you come to my house, you can see some of the things that I have built, and you'll get a great story to go along with it...and if I don't tell it, you can be sure my wife will.

The one thing I can tell you for sure is that I've never sustained the same injury twice. Through my d.i.y. adventures, I've learned some important lessons; i.e. always wear safety glasses, when using a compound miter saw keep your pinky away from the blade, and when using an air nailer...well let's not go there.

Here's the point...if your not willing to try and risk and put it all on the line you'll never know what you can truly accomplish. And, if you aren't willing to move past the pain, you'll never know the sweet smell of victory.

The Curse of Knowledge

I really enjoy reading all different kinds of books. Self help books are not on the top of my favorite lists, but every now and again I find a jewel of one that I just can't put down.

One such book that I am reading now is "Made to Stick," by Chip & Dan Heath. It's a book about communication and what makes some of our ideas sticky and others dull.

In the introduction they highlighted something that I just haven't been able to stop thinking about. They wrote about a study done at Stanford in the early 90's called "tappers and listeners."

In short, people were placed in one of these two groups (tappers and listeners). The tappers were given 25 well known songs; i.e. Happy Birthday, The Star Spangled Banner, etc., and were told to tap them out on the table. The listeners job was to guess what the song was based on the rhythm.

I found the results to be very interesting. Of 120 songs tapped, only 2.5 percent were guessed. The tappers, however, predicted that 50% of the songs would be guessed and became frustrated when they weren't, and furthermore the tappers couldn't understand why the listeners were being so "dense."

The conclusion...the tappers were tainted by the knowledge they had (the song title) which made it nearly impossible to imagine what it was like to lack that knowledge.

The authors call this the "Curse of Knowledge" and in essence it says that the more knowledge a person has, the greater chance of becoming irrelevant to those who don't possess the same knowledge.

I think as Christians it's easy to fall into the "Curse of Knowledge" when it comes to sharing our faith with others. I have often found myself thinking and saying...why don't they get it, it's so simple. But it's simple for me because this is all I've ever known...in fact, I have no clue what it's like to be in their shoes, which puts me at a major disadvantage.

So, my question to all of us is this...how do we rise above this "Curse of Knowledge" to be relevant to world around us?

Go to my website at http://ethoughts.tv and leave a comment.

a few favorite quotes

"Most of what the American Christians call persecution is really just inconvenience" ~Jill Briscoe~

"The mark of an immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one." ~J.D. Salinger~ (The Catcher in the Rye)

"Stop doing things and asking God to bless it. Instead, start doing what God is already doing because it is already blessed." ~Bono~ (Lead Singer of U2)

The New iPod

I have an idea for Apple, Inc. It's a future concept for the iPod and it's based on my theory that life would be better with a personal playlist.

Here's how it works. An implant is placed into the part of the brain that measures emotional response. The iPod is then interfaced into the implant, and a sensor, which can read said emotions, determines what song is played based on how you are feeling at the time.

Can you imagine how awesome this would be...you're own personal playlist of your life. Here's a sample playlist matched with selected emotions...

Jogging and need that extra emotional strength..."Eye of the Tiger" (Rocky IV)

Riding your motorcycle on a beautiful day..."Rocking down the highway"(Doobie Brothers)

Staring fear in the face...that sound bite from Jaws when the shark is approaching.

A romantic evening with your spouse..."The Way You Look Tonight" (Tony Bennett).

The whole concept of my own personal playlist has been running through my brain for years now. One of my favorite authors, Robert Fulghum, got me thinking about it. He put a challenge out that went something like this...If you could pick ten songs that would personify your life's journey what would they be.

Trust me when I tell you it's not an easy thing to do, but it is a great exercise in self introspection. Try it sometime, and comment if you like.

Oh, and if Apple, inc. ever comes out with an implanted ipod, let this post serve as proof it was my idea first.

What Do You Fear?

I have this memory from childhood that has been permanently etched on my brain. It includes a bicycle, a huge dog, and one very scared kid (me).

Here's how it happened...My sister and I were going for a long bike ride around the block (we lived in the country and so our block was about 5 miles long). As we were riding a very big German Shepherd came charging at us.

He was a vicious dog, teeth as long and sharp as framing nails and dog spit flying everywhere when he barked. As you can imagine, I was scared out of my mind.

That dog never bit me or my sister, however he did keep us cornered for what seemed like an hour, although I'm sure it was only 2 or 3 minutes (it's these kind of memories that makes me think God has a slow motion button).

I remember someone telling me that the reason that dog kept us cornered is because he could sense our fear and used it to get the upper hand (or paw for that matter) on us. Now, I'm no dog expert and frankly I'm not sure if this is true, but the theory does lend itself to a great life lesson.

Here's the lesson...what you fear in life will determine how free you are, because fear is what establishes the boundaries of your freedom.

When that big dog had me cornered and I was scared out of my mind, my free space was limited to about 2 square feet.

This is why God doesn't want us to fear anything in life but Him. When we fear God, He, in his love and grace, doesn't control us, but sets us free to really live.

Erwin McManus, in his book "the Barbarian Way" says, "When we fear God and God only, we are no longer bound by all of the other fears that would hold us captive...we discover that perfect love casts out all fear. Not even God will hold us or control us by fear. When we fear Him, we in essence begin to live a life where we are fearless."

What is your deepest fear, and how is it keeping you from the freedom that Christ intends for you?



ethoughts blog page

Change Needed

I've been taking some time to allow God to search my heart, asking him to show me what needs to change. It's quite a humbling experience when you're serious about this kind of evaluation.

Here's how it works for me. I ask God to search my heart and from that point on, my week begins a downward cycle. The normal wear and tear that we all experience in life goes from a simple inconvenience, to heightened awareness in my life.

I find myself rising to a new consciousness of all the injustice that is making my life so difficult, and by the end of the day I am furiously journaling about all the people, places, and things (ok, scratch the places and things, it's really only people) that need to change in order for my life to be happy again.

From here, I go to bed, and when I awake in the morning, something has changed. The Holy Spirit did something in my heart as I slept, and I realize that my problem is really...me. So somewhere during the night, God pealed back all the layers to show me that the solution lies with me needing to change.

I really hate it when this happens, because it is much easier to point the finger at everyone around you, however, it's life changing when you turn the finger towards yourself.

If you haven't already tried this, do it. I guarantee you'll hate it, but it will put you on an incredible path of change.

God's Will

I'm currently reading a book by Erwin McManus entitled, "The Barbarian Way." It's a great read and very spiritually challenging.

There is one quote that I find particularly interesting and thought provoking. I would like to know what you think on the subject. So after you read it, please feel free to leave a comment. You can do so by emailing me, or better yet, go to my blog page http://ethoughts.tv and leave a comment there.

Quote:

"God's will for us is less about our comfort than it is about our contribution. God would never choose for us safety at the cost of significance. God created you so that your life would count, not so that you could count the days of your life."

Failing Foward

A few years ago, I was faced with a huge decision about the direction of an organization which I was leading. We spent a great deal of time in prayer, discussion, and study over what we should do and in the end, with no guarantees, we took the risk.

I remember in the process, one of my leaders came to me and said, "what if we fail?" I happened to be studying and preaching through the book of Joshua at the time, and I answered him by saying..."I would rather fail on the Canaan side of the Jordon than on the desert side."

I believe there is an incredible leadership principle in this statement. The Canaan side of the Jordon represents God's best for our lives. And when we risk on that side, we risk for Him, which is selfless in nature because it has His will in mind and not our own.

When we fail on this side, we fail forward because our momentum is for God. He in turn restores us quickly and we are stronger because of the importance of what we learned in the process.

The desert side of the Jordon, however, represents our will and is purely selfish in nature. It's about self preservation, and self preservation is always the biggest killer to what God desires to accomplish in our lives.

When we fail on this side, we actually fall back, because our thinking and motivation is about us. In the book of Exodus, we see a chilling picture of what happens when failure occurs in the desert...you get stuck in a place that was never God's intention.

I want to always risk for God, and if I'm going to fail, I would rather do it moving forward for Him.

People of the Fine Print

I always find it funny when pharmaceutical companies put their ads on tv. They are filled with grandiose promises of how their drug is the miracle that you and I have been waiting for, but at the end of the ad they are required to read the fine print.

The following side effects come from the website of an actual drug company...

"Side effects include but are not limited to an allergic reaction (difficulty breathing; closing of the throat; swelling of the lips, tongue, or face; or hives), a new or a worsening irregular heartbeat pattern, wheezing, coughing, changes in vision, tremor or involuntary movements, skin rash, dizziness or tiredness, vomiting, or diarrhoea, poor coordination, and bluish-gray discoloration of the skin. Side effects other than those listed here may also occur. Talk to your doctor about any side effect that seems unusual or that is especially bothersome. In some cases, (said drug) has been associated with serious and even fatal side effects."

Irregular heartbeat? Tremor or involuntary movements? ...Even fatal side effects? I can imagine drug companies hate it when they have to devulge this info...it has to be really bad on their marketing schemes.

In these ads, however, I find a message and a principle for my own life. Does the fine print of my life (character, faith, integrity, the things people don't readily see) match what the billboard of my life (what others do see)? It's a humbling question, and one that I think we all should ask of ourselves on a daily basis.


In the Bible, James tells us that "Faith without works is dead." I believe the point he wants us to get is when we concentrate on the fine print first, the billboard will take care of itself.

The drug companies have it all wrong. They paint, with broad strokes, a message that is very hard to live up to. God encourages us to paint our lives with small strokes, to take care of the fine things first, and He will in turn take care of the billboard in our lives...which ultimately is Him.

True Love

Well, today is Valentines day, the day in which we celebrate our love for the sweet-hearts in our lives. Of course we all know that true love doesn't wait for one day out of the year to celebrate...it's something we have to reach for everyday.

I came across a very short story about the nature of true love. I hope you enjoy it as I did.

My dad paints my mom's toenails. I was there when he started doing it. The whole family was at a resort down in Oregon to celbrate my folks' fortieth wedding anniversary. My mom has alway been a beauty queen ever since she won a pageant when she was in high school. She really is pretty and has very nice hands and feet, too. She likes makeup and facials and perfume and she alway has had her fingernails and toenails painted.

But when we were sitting out by the pool, I noticed for the first time that her toenails weren't done. I asked her why and she said she was getting too old and stiff to get down that far and she thought it was foolish to go to a beauty parlor to have it done.

My father is a big, gruff man's man who has coached football all his life. I was really surprised when he spoke up and told my mom he would be glad to paint her toenails for her. When she asked him why he would want to do a thing like that, he said, "it's because I love you and want you to feel beautiful as long as you live."

Five years later, he's still doing her toes for her.

(From "True Love; Stories told to and by Robert Fulghum")

Happy Valentines day everyone, and in case you're wondering...Yes, I too have painted my wife's toenails.

Shouting and Screaming

In the South Pacific there is a chain of Islands called the Solomon Islands. The islands are known not only for their timeless beauty, but also for their profitable logging industry.

Legend has it, that before modern logging equipment, if a tree was too large for the islanders to cut down a company of men would come out for a series of thirty days and scream at the top of their lungs at the tree. It is said that after this period the tree would die and fall over. The reason...yelling does something that kills the spirit of the tree.


I really don't know if this exercise works, and I'm not going to go out in my yard and conduct an expiriment on my trees, because frankly I like my trees and I like my neighbors and really want them to like me. There is a point however, that I want to make regarding this thought...perhaps yelling does kill the spirit in things.

I've really pondered this in regards to the individuals in my life. My wife, my kids and the people I'm surrounded with everyday. Do my words and the tone of my voice give life to their spirit or kill that life?

Robert Fulghum says..."sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will break our hearts..." I agree!

Great Thoughts

I was recently at an event listening to a guy by the name of John Raymer speak. He made this simple statement... "put yourself in an atmosphere that enables you to think great thoughts, [because great thoughts change the world.]"

I've thought a lot about that over the past few days, and started asking myself some questions; such as...

What environments or atmospheres make me more creative and which one's take away from that creativity?

Do my words and actions create an environment that enables others to think big? My children, peers, aquaintences?

My desire in life is to be a person whose creative thoughts can have an influence on the world around me...the world I'm responsible for. In order to be that person I have to purposefully search out and put myself in a place where those thoughts can be nurtured.

How about you? What atmosphere(s) enable your thoughts to soar? It's a very challenging concept to think about.

Visit my blogsite at http://stephenwulfsblog.blogspot.com and leave a comment if you want...I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Consider Both Sides

http://stephenwulfsblog.blogspot.com

Making decisions is such an important part of life and leadership, and the best decisions are made when you evaluate a situation from both sides of the fence. In other words, get all the facts, information, and opinions and let them weigh in on the process.

Like all of us, I've had to make a great many decisions in my life. Some of them I chose wisely and some of them I chose poorly. In all of them however, there was always more room for seeing things from both sides. Even when I have to make a decision that I know I'm right on, evaluation always helps in the diplomacy of the matter.

A number of years ago, I wrote a poem/fable that demonstrates this leadership concept. I hope you enjoy it.


The Gnat and Farmer Jit

Old farmer jit worked as hard
as any man I know;
with his hand to the plow and the sun beating down
in his fields he did sow.

When the sun would rest in its bed in the west
and his work was done for the day;
old farmer Jit would head for his house
on the bluff overlooking the bay.

On the porch with joy and pleasure he sits
his face wide with grin;
'how could life get any better' he thought
as he sipped his tea from it's tin.

Then with such noise and such clatter
his peace and tranquility went nill;
his friends bid him 'what's the matter?'
for his face bore a look that could kill.

His serenity that night was interupted
by a little insignificant gnat;
who perched up on the back of his neck
to have a little snack.

The farmer smacked and swatted away
trying to kill the little flea;
but the gnat jumped around when Jit's hand came down
only adding to his misery.

If you're like me you're saying aloud
'I hope that bug gets his due!;'
but just to be fair let's listen to him
for he has a story too.

Like farmer Jit, the little gnat
toiled and worked hard all day;
looking for some food to eat
and some to store away.

He tried a cow out in the field
his hide unable to stick;
He tried to feast on a little lamb
his flax was way to thick.

He searched and looked all over the place
some food he could not find;
So the gnat sat down and gave up hope
knowing he would soon be out of time.

Resting quietly he closed his eyes
anticipating his final breath;
When in the breeze came a scent of life
giving him strenght ore his iminent death.

With every muster of courage and will
he rose and cleared his mind;
with his wings buzzing, he took off flying
this source of life he must find.

When he rounded the corner to his suprise
you can guess what he did see;
Old farmer Jit rocking in his chair
enjoying life so happily.

He swarmed around old Jit's head
to get a better look;
and then he spotted and acre of flesh
and he knew that he'd been hooked.

He set himself down so carefully
and staked himself a claim;
and with great force he struck Jit's neck
causing him such terrible great pain.

So the old man would smack, the flee would stick
and this went on all night;
both were battling each other
for both thought they were right.

My question I have for us
is one as simple as this;
which one do you think is right?
the gnat or farmer Jit?

In my humble opinion,
they are both right I say
for we all see life through different eyes
some light, some dark, some gray.

So as you read this fable
of meter and of rhyme;
I hope that you'll remember
to consider both sides next time.

~ Stephen Wulf ~ (3/2/1999)

Narrow the Focus

The late Shel Silverstein wrote many books of children's poetry that I, as an adult, love to read and even get a great deal of strength from, while letting my heart smile from his funny way of putting concepts into words.

One of his poems entitled "Smart" makes me smile more than the rest and speaks about the importance of narrowing the focus in my life to shoot for quality and not quantity.

I hope it makes you smile like it does me.

SMART

My dad gave me one dollar bill
cause I'm his smartest son.
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
cause two is more than one.

And then I took the quarters
and traded them to Lou
For three dimes - I guess he didn't know
that three is more than two.

Just then, along came old blind bates
and just cause he can't see
He gave me four nickles for my three dimes
and four is more than three.

And I took the nickles to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store
and the fool gave me five pennies for them
and five is more than four.

And then I went and showed my dad
And he got red in the cheeks
and closed his eyes and shook his head
to proud of me to speak.

Courage

One of the most important elements of creativity, leadership and life is courage. I wonder how many really great, even life changing ideas have gone unsaid because of a lack of courage.

I often see this in my own life. A new idea comes to me, I think it through, but often it stays at that conceptual place journeying no further. Why? Perhaps fear of getting laughed at, shot down, openly criticized or just simply not wanting to go through the hassle and debate of trying to sell that idea.

The end result, however, is tragic. My ideas go unplublished, unrecognized, and never considered, which makes me guilty of hiding the gifts that God has afforded me. How selfish and prideful is that?

Imagine for a minute what the results would be if some of the greatest thinkers in the world would not have had the courage to speak. Where would we be in issues like civil rights, world poverty, communism, etc? I know that we have only begun to remove the lid on these things, but the progress we have seen is because people have exercised the courage to speak out about their dreams and ideas.

Edmund Burke wrote; "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing." The true heart of leadership is courage. Courage is standing up in the arena of life and speaking. And when a person doesn't stand up for what they believe, then evil truly has an inroad to prevail.

Discouragement and Your Dreams

I came across an entry in one of my old journals where I had written a quote by Carl Sanberg. It reads "There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud."

I have heard it said, that "a person's destiny is determined by what is most discouraging to him." For me, it's those discouraging times that makes me want to wallow in the mud and stay complacently in a safe place even at the expense of my dreams.

Discouragement comes in different forms for all of us. However, no matter what determines discouragement, the temptation to wallow in the mud of self-pitty is universal to everyone. That is why I have to continually realize that success comes only when I push through the discouragement and take responsibility for my emotions, making a conscious choice not to let them steal my vision and my dreams.

Norman Cousins once wrote, "People are never more insecure then when they become obsessed with their [discouragments] at the expense of their dreams." Obsession is born out of unbridled emotion and not from our will. If I can keep those emotions at a healthy level in my life, then discouragement can become a motivator towards reaching those dreams instead of a theif that desires to steal them.

Words I Wish I Wrote ... PRAXIS

I was first turned on to the title "words I wish I wrote," by one of my favorite writers...Robert Fulghum. He wrote a book with this title that inspires my life in many ways.

Here are some of his own words that stimulates my thinking.

"Oratory is empty if it has not been field tested on the battlefield of experience."

"Nobody has the right to ride the bus without making some contrabution to the journey."

Robert Fulghum's words are speaking of "praxis." Praxis is the activity of a person as opposed to theory. In other words, what you believe does not so much define your life, but rather what you do.

More words that inspire me on the subject of Praxis.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiently, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows great enthusiams, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place will never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. ~ Teddy Roosevelt ~

"He is no fool to give what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose." ~ Jim Elliot ~

"Words on paper are just that - words. It takes people with a mission to implement true, meaningful change." ~ Donald T. Phillips ~

"If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to life."

~Martin Luther King, Jr ~

"Peace is not something you wish for; it's something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away." ~ Robert Fulghum ~