"Had a meeting lately?"

I coach a lot of business people, helping them set professional and personal goals and moving strategically from where they are to where they want to be, in essence, listening to their lives. Much of what we talk about is taking action on values that are important to them.

One of my common themes is that most meetings waste productive time. We put folks in comfortable chairs in luxurious, climate-controlled rooms with something to eat and drink and suddenly everybody feels like they have to say something so they can stay in the room longer.

One of the people I coach sent me something recently which reads, “Are you lonely? Tired of working on your own? Do you hate making decisions? Then hold a meeting! You can see people, show charts, feel important, use a laser pointer, impress your colleagues, and eat doughnuts all on company time! Meetings…the practical alternative to work.”

But you know, there is one meeting that’s worthwhile everyday: meet with God as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

Are you a DNF?

NASCAR Nextel Cup racing was at Darlington Speedway last month. Early on in that race, Michael Waltrip and Jeff Green had an accident that sent Waltrip into the outside wall, forcing him off the race track and behind the wall.

Now Waltrip’s car was really damaged. It took a long time for the team to repair the car enough for it to run so he was behind a gazillion laps. And the car’s aerodynamics were destroyed with much of the front end missing or repaired with tape. I mean, there was no way Michael could win the race. But his team put in all of this effort and Michael went back out on the track.

And for what? Because they didn’t want a DNF—Did Not Finish—on their record.

I know life gets tough for you sometimes and you just want to throw up your hands and quit. But don’t be a DNF. Go behind the wall with God, get repaired the best you can, and stay in the race of life. Sure, you won’t finish first every time but you’re always a winner when you get back in the race. That’s how you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

"Got a sign?"

What’s your sign? If you’re a plumber, it might be: “We repair what your husband fixed.”

Or, if you run a tire shop: “Invite us to your next blowout.”

Or, have a tow truck: “We don't charge an arm and a leg. We want tows.”

Or, put on the maternity room door: "Push. Push. Push."

And, if you’re an optometrist: "If you don't see what you're looking for, you've come to the right place."

And a podiatrist: "Time wounds all heels."

And, if you run a car dealership: "The best way to get back on your feet—miss a car payment."

Or, own a muffler shop: "No appointment necessary. We hear you coming."

Or, if you’re a veterinarian, you could put up this sign in your waiting room: "Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!"

Or, if you’re God: “I love you this much!”

"Do you assume you know a lot?"

A teacher gave a test to her first grade class. “Give me a sentence about a public servant," she said. Johnny wrote, “The fireman came down the ladder pregnant.”

Later in the day, the teacher was grading the papers. She read his answer and decided to take him aside to correct him. “Don't you know what pregnant means?” she said.

“Sure,” said the young boy confidently.

“Well,” the teacher said, “what does it mean?”

And Johnny said, “It means carrying a child.”

I don’t know about you, but it seems that you and I are a lot more like Johnny than we want to admit. We think we know more than we do. We write our own life sentences without asking God what we should write.

Today, before you assume you know more than you do, stop for just a minute, and ask the Master Teacher what your life means, and what you should write down. That’s a great way to listen to life and make a life, not just a living.

"Who do you fight?"

I went out on the porch off of my home office, just to get some air for a few minutes; you know, taking a break. As I stepped out on the porch, I almost stepped on this beautiful, red-headed woodpecker that was dead. I was stunned that such a gorgeous bird was dead on my porch. He was too big for our cats to attack, but I looked him over carefully anyway, and there was no blood, no obvious signs of attack.

So I turned around to see what he would have seen on the porch and there it was—my own reflection in the glass door. It was mating season at the time and evidently he saw his reflection in the glass door, thought it was another male to be fought off from his territory, and just kept attacking it until he died. That explained why there was no sign of attack. He just kept banging his head on the door until he died.

How often do you fight yourself? Injuring yourself when you think you’re hurting someone else? I guess we all do it, don’t we? But we don’t have to.

Find God’s plan for peace as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living.