"As you make a life and not just a living, what doors are you choosing?"

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I was talking with a friend at the fitness center I go to. He was catching me up on a mutual friend of ours and we were just generally enjoying each other’s company.

He works with a trainer and we started talking about the hardest exercise he does in his workout. I don’t use a trainer—but probably should—and so he jokingly asked me my hardest activity. I thought for a moment and told him, “You know the hardest thing for me to do is to walk through that front door. There are about a million things I could, maybe even should, be doing. But I choose to come here and take care of my body. And that’s the hardest thing I do.”

And it really is. And most people I talk with about the benefits of exercise usually say something like, “I just don’t have the time” or “I have too many other things to do.” Taking care of themselves just isn’t a priority.

As you listen to your life today, remember that God gave you the body you’re enjoying. You can walk it through whatever doors you choose. Choose to take care of yourself as you make a life, and not just a living.

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"What is it about babies that we just love so much?"

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When our first daughter was born, my brother came to visit us. Our daughter was old enough to travel so my brother wanted to take her to the mall on a little shopping trip. You know, the kind of shopping trip where the single uncle spoils his new niece.

So we packed him up and off they went. When he returned several hours later, he said, “People love babies. Everywhere I went, people stopped me and wanted to see her and talk with her.” Being single, he especially liked it when the attractive women stopped him.

What is it about babies that we love? Babies are just so real, so honest, so much themselves. They need something, they let you know. Otherwise, life is great and they smile and coo and play. They’re innocent, not requiring a whole lot of us that we can’t provide.

Babies really inspire us to do the same, to live a simple life; to enjoy the present moment because babies don’t worry about yesterday or tomorrow.

Listen to life like a baby today as you make a life, not just a living.

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"How are you doing today?"

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When someone asks you how you’re doing, how do you respond? Do you just pass off their question as a greeting and just say, “Fine” or “Okay”? Do you launch into a laundry list of complaints you have about how you’re feeling or what’s wrong with you or how you were doing fine until that obnoxious Mr. Jones ruined your day?

Maybe you should listen to life and make a life, not just a living like Mrs. Glick. Mrs. Glick was a very special lady. My friend met her when he was a teenager. She made a real and positive impact on his life.

Every time my friend asked Mrs. Glick how she was doing, Mrs. Glick said softly and sweetly, “I’m thankful for one more day.” She lived to be 103 years old, greeting each day by being thankful for one more day.

So my friend, when asked how he’s doing today, says like Mrs. Glick, “I’m thankful for one more day.”

The next time someone asks, “How are you doing today?,” even if you don’t feel it, say, “I’m thankful for one more day” and keep saying it until you make a life.

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"Where do you look—at the fairways and greens or at the bunkers and traps?"

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I enjoyed watching Tiger Woods win yet another golf tournament recently. He’s like an artist with a brush in his hand, painting with beautiful strokes on a gorgeous 18-hole canvas. He takes golf to a whole new level of playing.

In a post-tournament interview, a reporter remarked on how few times he used his driver that week, hitting mostly irons off of the tees. That particular course is lined with bunkers, sand traps, and water. He wondered how Tiger did so well in staying out of trouble while not playing his usual game of long drives.

Woods response was classic: “Well,” he said, “I look at the fairways and greens, not at the bunkers and traps.”

In life, it sure is easier some times to look at the things that cause you trouble—the bunkers and traps in life—rather than the places you want to be—the fairways and greens. And when you concentrate on those trouble spots, that’s where you wind up hitting your life.

To listen to your life and make a life, not just a living, focus on the positive places God wants you to enjoy.

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