1st Tim, 6: Fight The Good Fight

On September 22, 2019September 22, 2019 By jeff ludlumIn Attitude, examples, faith, lifestyle, mental healthLeave a comment

Reading for Sunday, 09/22/2019

From First Timothy 6: 11-16, in part…

“You must aim to be upright and religious, filled with faith and love, perseverance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith and win the eternal life to which you were called and for which you made your noble profession of faith before many witnesses.”

Like some of the other phrases and inspirations I share here (and otherwise), there is often linkage to songs that goes along. This excerpt from First Timothy definitely falls into that category.

One of my favorite bands I listened to as an adolescent was the Canadian rock band, Triumph. Not to be confused with another of my favorite bands, also from Canada, RUSH. : – )

Triumph inspired me musically and lyrically. They brought a straight-ahead, definite hard rock sound, guitar-heavy, with this great blend of inspiring lyrics for some songs, and very typical “rock n’ roll” lyrics for other songs.

One of their songs, “Fight the Good Fight”, was a particular gem from one of their earlier albums. At that time, around 1981, I was deep into adolescence and had begun the life-long journey to define my own faith, and find my own way forward in life. Faith was a big factor.

When I linked this rock song to this Bible passage…? For me, it was a magic power (another great Triumph song, by the way).

Fight the good fight every day, live a life worthy of the gift it is. Follow the Golden Rule, through struggle and obstacle, be gentle and kind to everyone that needs it, and love one another. As you love, so you shall be filled with love.

This mantra still rings true all these years later, and powers me forward each and every day.

Dadlife, Dark Side

On September 16, 2019September 16, 2019 By jeff ludlumIn Attitude, family, leadership, mental health, parentingLeave a comment

I talk a lot about the positive. I promote the upside of things, look for the silver lining even in bad situations. That’s the fundamental credo of this blog: be positive, find positive, share positive.

But sometimes the dark side creeps in. Sometimes the dark side is strong.

Sometimes it’s been a long day, or a long week, and I’m grumpy, and irritable. And sometimes my kids don’t listen very well; sometimes they’re not very thoughtful, or themselves aren’t in the best mood.

Sometimes everything starts to come off the rails. And then what?

Then I’m irritated that the dishes are piled up in the sink. Then I’m annoyed the kids’ shoes and clothes are here and there in the living room. Then my fuse gets pretty short. I start barking at them instead of talking calmly. And my volume goes up a little.

The dark side wins for the moment.

Usually though, I catch myself pretty quick. Take a few deep breaths and reset my patience. But often I also tell the kids, “Grumpy Daddy” is on the edge, so it would be best for you all to do what you’re supposed to, you know the deal.”

Generally that works out OK. The dark side doesn’t stay too long. And I know I’m only human, so sometimes the dark side gains a little ground.

It’s up to me, it’s up to each of us to battle, to keep our emotions and ego in check.

CHECK.

READ.

On August 30, 2019August 28, 2019 By jeff ludlumIn Attitude, culture, lifestyle, mental healthLeave a comment

I can remember way back to childhood. There was a campaign, “Reading is Fundamental.” It promotes literacy. And I remember 3rd Grade book reports. How many “Encyclopedia Brown” books could I read? It seemed like a lot.

But then I also came to realize reading made me fall asleep. My folks read at night. Sometimes for a while. I never lasted too long.

So fast forward half a life, I still like to read, but I also tend to fall asleep before much time passes. That’s the curse I live with. Such as it is.

Meanwhile, my smokin’ hot wife reads about a billion times more than I do. Not quite, actually, but it SEEMS that way. She set a goal of reading a dozen books this year. How many has she read this year so far? TWENTY-FOUR. She’s smokin’ hot, and smokin’ SMART too. I love that, along with many other things about her, of course.

All that fluffy love aside, my wife’s reading actually motivates me to consider reading more often, even if I don’t do it nearly as often. Sleepy or not, I’m reading more because of this motivation.

I also have a couple of good, long-time friends that both read ALL THE TIME, it seems. The read like other people listen to music. But these guys listen to a lot of music too. These two are the types of guys that have read everything they are interested in at the library. What’s more, they ask the librarian when new books are due in. They’re THAT way. I love these two guys and they, like my wife, provide good fundamental reading motivation for me.

So this weekend, or any ol’ time you have a little extra time — even if it’s just ten minutes — try picking up a book and reading a few pages. Even if you fall asleep, it’ll be GOOD. Because Reading is STILL fundamental.

Guest Post: “Be the Light” — YES!

On August 13, 2019August 13, 2019 By jeff ludlumIn Attitude, lifestyle, mental health, parentingLeave a comment

I met Camille and her husband too last year when one of their son’s played on the soccer team my wife was coaching (and two of our kids played on, too).

Since then we’ve stayed in touch via social media, and we cross paths around town from time to time too.

With that as backdrop, I saw this post from her the other day and immediately thought, “Half Full!” — so I asked her if I could share this little reflection on my blog, and she generously agreed.

ENJOY!, and BE THE LIGHT.

—

Be a light in someone’s life. The world kind of sucks ☹️ right now. Someone told me the other day that they had to Google how to talk to your kids about mass shootings! 😮 This is sadly our reality.

This is also my motivation for SPREADING POSITIVITY in my world and coaching a group of people who want change, whether it’s change in their mindset, change in their lifestyle, change in their habits, change in their body or change in their relationships with themselves and others.

I coach not because I have extra time in my life. As a working Mama of 3 👦🏻👦🏻👧🏻, I don’t have a lot of time so I make time. I wake up early, maybe skip some tv shows and find those pockets of time. I coach because I, too, need the positivity generated from others.

Life is hard. ☹️ But what choice do we have?🤷🏻‍♀️ Do we just be negative all the time and spend our days wallowing in what we don’t have and what we want different? Results come from action!

Positivity attracts positivity. 😊+☺️ I’ve had a rough week and I relied on my group to get me through it and I relied on myself to focus on my blessings, my children, my marriage, and my health.

Be a light in someone’s life.

“If you want to give light to others YOU have to glow yourself!”

#strongasamother #strongertogether #momoftwoboysandagirl #workingmomsrock #workingmomslife #struggleisreal #morningmeltdown100 #transformation #mindsetchange #positivevibesonly #thankful #gratitude #youarestrong #youareabadass #personaldevelopmentquotes #shinebright #sparkle #coachinglife #lovelife #embraceliving #smilemore #runningmom #fivesecondrule #leadbyexample #changeforchange #yougotafriendinme #accountabilitycoach #smilemore

Find more of this goodstuff Camille puts out in the world — her Instagram handle is: @coachcamillepa

camillecf_coach_halffuller_2019

Darkness

On April 20, 2019April 20, 2019 By jeff ludlumIn Attitude, faith, mental healthLeave a comment

We’ve all been there in one way or another. The darkness. Unsure, A little afraid. Or maybe it was worse; we had a sense of dread, maybe evil just around the corner, through the trees.

Maybe you’re somewhere in between; you can see the light off in the distance, but you’re not sure you can cross through the darkness.

By some measure it’s relative; each of us knows the doubt and pain and struggle of our own reality and experience.

The old adage, “…there’s always someone worse off than you…” might be a good way to approach this commonality of humanity.

Consider the homeless. Consider the abused. Consider those that don’t have enough to eat; maybe nothing at all to eat.

Consider those displaced by war, terrorized by violence otherwise. Consider the children, and old people, who can’t get away from the shelling, the bombs, the murderous mobs.

Imagine living in the open, in the cold, in the wet, with no real shelter from the elements.

Consider the suffering. Maybe from mental illness, or disease, or strife otherwise in your life, hounding you, not letting up.

And then consider being nailed to a cross and hung there to die.

Imagine a darkness so deep, unending, leaving your heart black with dispare, nothing to hold you back from the abyss but your pain.

And then consider the love it took to walk toward the cross, accept it. A commitment so complete that it bears witness to God’s love for us, to speak truth to the very end, until the spirit departs.

In the end, I think that’s why they call Good Friday good.