"Are you a winner or a loser?"

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My wife sat on our bed, playing solitaire. Our then-elementary-school-aged daughter walked in and watched her mom for a few minutes. Then she said, "I want to play cards. Will you teach me how?"

My wife said, "Well, honey, it’s kind of a complicated game."

And our daughter said, "I’ll watch real closely."

"Well," my wife said, "I may not be the best one to teach you. I lose a lot."

And our daughter says, "How can you lose to yourself?"

Not a bad question, is it? How can you lose to yourself?

Now you know how to play solitaire and understand what my wife said. But take our daughter’s question to life. How can you lose to yourself?

Really you can’t, can you? If you’re having fun, and you’re not competing against someone else to see who’s the winner, you can be the winner regardless of the outcome of the game of life. Just for playing you get lots of prizes, right?

Name your prizes—good health, loving friends, adoring family and so on today. God gives you those prizes as you listen to life and make a life!

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"As you’re doing down your life’s highway, how’s the road?"

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I’m driving down an interstate, on my way to a speaking engagement with a group. I’m cruising along, going the speed limit—of course—my radio’s going, playing a great song, the road is smooth, traffic is rather light, and I’m making good time.

All of a sudden, my car starts bumping along the road. Naturally I get rather concerned, thinking maybe a tire is going out on me or something worse is happening to my car. The problem doesn’t get any worse, but is still pretty persistent. Then I think, "Hey, maybe the problem isn’t with my car. Maybe it’s the pavement." So I check my mirrors and change lanes over to the left side.

And guess what? It was like magic! I’m going down the road smooth again. So I stayed in the left lane for a while until some faster traffic approached, then eased back over to the right lane where the pavement was okay now.

As you’re going down your life’s road, you’ll run into some rough places, some bumpy stretches. Just change something you’re doing—like lanes—to a smoother way God leads you to. And listen to life as you do.

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"What do you do while you wait?"

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Let’s think about all of the different times you have to wait in the average day. If you’re an average American, in your whole life you will spend an average of six months waiting on a red light. And that doesn’t count the time you sit in traffic jams on a freeway. The next time you’re sitting at a red light just think about it—6 months of your life!

And what about waiting on the telephone? The average person spends 60 hours per year on hold. That’s 2.5 days out of your year holding on the telephone. And you can’t blame it all on businesses either. Thanks to call waiting, you now wait on hold when you call a friend’s mobile phone or even your own home.

So what do you do while you wait for those 6 months at a red light or those 60 hours a year on hold? Have you tried praying? Not that the light change but that a friend’s health change? Not that your call get picked up but that a loved one’s spirit pick up?

There’s always time to pray and listen to life and make a life, not just a living!

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"Can you imagine...?"

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Can you imagine Fred Astaire without Ginger Rogers? She made him look so good, doing everything he did only backwards and in high heels.

Can you imagine the Lone Ranger without Tonto? We never would have known that that Masked Man was none other than the "faithful friend" of law and justice, Kemosabe, without Tonto telling us, would we?

Can you imagine Bert without Ernie? Well, I’m sure there were days Bert could imagine life without Ernie, but you know, even when Bert complained about how Ernie acted, Bert really missed him and was always happy to see him return.

Can you imagine Batman without Robin? That Caped Crusader who vigilantly protected Gotham City at the bequest of Commissioner Gordon and Chief O’Hara would have found himself in the evil clutches of the Joker, Penguin, or Riddler on many occasions were it not for young Robin.

I guess we all need someone, don’t we? Someone to help us out in times of trouble, to keep us accountable for what we do. Ask God to give you someone as you listen to life and make a life, not just a living today.

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"Do you ask for opportunities?"

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What if you absolutely love basketball, you’d rather play basketball than eat or sleep, but you never asked to try out for a team. Would you improve your playing skills?

What if you absolutely love to play basketball, but as a kid, you never asked your Dad to shoot hoops with you? Would you learn to play very well?

What if you absolutely love to play basketball, but you never asked your Mom, "Can I go to the playground to play ball?" Would you get to play much?

What if you absolutely love to play basketball, but you never asked your Grandparents, "Would you get me a basketball for my birthday?"

If you absolutely love to do something, then you have to ask for opportunities to do it. The odds of someone just walking up to you and saying, "Hey kid, you look like you love basketball. Want to play?" are slim to none.

Today, ask God for opportunities to do what you absolutely love. Listen to your life for those people God sends to you to give you such opportunities. Ask for opportunities to do what you love as you listen to life and make a life today.

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