"Do you inventory?"

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I was working on a project around our farm, putting up some more fencing. Like most men, when I get involved in a project, I almost always require a trip to the home improvement store. And I have to look around and make sure there’s nothing else I need, especially if power tools are involved.

Well, I bought what I thought I needed to do the fence. But when I got home, I discovered that I already had the parts I needed from a previous project. I had bought about six parts that I already had. So the next time I went back to the home improvement store, I took the parts, the receipt, and got my money back.

I learned that if you do an inventory, you discover what you need and what you already have. And that’s why listening to life is so important. You see, it’s in listening to your life that you discover what you need and what you already have. You find that God has already given you so much and you become grateful. And you realize that God has what you need. You simply have to ask for it.

So inventory your life today as you listen to life and make a life.

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"Have you noticed?"

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You know how your car or truck gets dirty in the winter? The weather isn’t so warm so you don’t feel like washing it yourself. And much of the time the carwash is closed because of freezing temperatures.
It’s easy to slowly grow accustomed to the dirty appearance of your vehicle. That’s what happened to me recently. I just really didn’t see the dirt on my car…

…until my wife cleaned up and washed her vehicle one unusually warm day. So there’s her sparkling clean vehicle in the garage next to my dirty car and all of a sudden, I noticed the layers of road grime behind my tires, the cat-paw prints, and the smudged windows.

Life is a lot like my experience with my vehicles. When you’re with others who aren’t making a life, just a living, you don’t notice. But just as soon as you’re with some people who are enjoying making a meaningful, satisfying life, you notice that you’re just making a living.

Ask God to put you around people who listen to life today and enjoy the difference.

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"Are you grateful?"

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This month is a great time as you make your resolutions to change some habit, to invest your time and energy and attention on something positive, something that will bring you more meaning and satisfaction. One January, I discovered a habit change that’s really helped me listen to life and make a life better. I call it my Gratitude List.

I close each day by listing at least three things I’m specifically grateful to God for about life. One day, I thanked God for the Listen to Life radio show and all of my mentors in broadcasting. I remembered one guy in particular and promised myself to touch base with him the next day. And I did, and discovered he’s an executive with a large radio group. Well, I rekindled our relationship and recently I was the featured guest on a program he hosts.

As I listen to life and make a life, not just a living, I discover all sorts of positive opportunities that grow from my gratitude. These opportunities offer me the chance to give back and in doing so I receive.

Make your Gratitude List, give, and receive today.

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"Do you like your spot?"

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One of our houseplants, a philodendron, sat on the sill in the bay window in our kitchen. I watered and fed it and it grew some, but not particularly well. It got plenty of sun, I thought, and it did okay, but I was hoping for more.

So I brought it over to my office and put on a desk by a window that faces west. I put some fertilizer on it and watered and it started to grow.

It grew so prolifically that my wife came up to my office one day and said, "That philodendron is taking over your desk! What’d you do to it?"

"I just put some fertilizer on it and watered it," I said. "I guess it likes this spot."

I’m kind of like that philodendron, aren’t you? There are some spots in life I like better than others. Some life spots where I can grow and prosper and be who I’m uniquely created to be. In fact, when you listen to life and make a life, not just a living, you discover your preferred life spot and how God created you to thrive. Your life spot can be about your career, your relationships, your happiness…so listen to life today and find the life spot God intends for you!

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"What do you dread?"

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I made a mistake recently putting up a fence. I didn’t measure for my gate properly before I planted the posts for it. Of course I realized this when I brought the gate home and tried to hang it. It just didn’t quite reach.

I got upset with myself when I discovered what I’d done. You see, I put some cement around the post and digging up chunks of cement isn’t exactly my favorite pastime. So rather than just go ahead and dig up and move the post, I put it off.

I found all of these other jobs to do, all of a sudden. And the longer I procrastinated moving the post, the more I dreaded doing it until after a while, in my mind at least, you’d have thought I was moving a mountain.

One weekend, I decided that the day had come when I had to get over myself and just move that post. So I brought out my tools and started digging. Amazingly, the job was easy! I finished it in about an hour.

Today you’ll face something you dread doing or a mistake. Just take a deep breath, say a prayer, and fix it. It’s a lot easier than you think!

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