The following post is by Michelle Hanisch. The original post can be read on her blog 'Healing. Growth. Transformation' by clicking here. During our time(s) of change, sometimes we need to refocus by not looking at what we're gaining materially but are we improving/growing towards the person we desire to be.

Do You Want Success or Achievement?

By Michelle Hanisch

I have a lot of clients come to see me despondent at their lack of ‘success’.

“I should own my own home by this age.”

“I should have a career and a nice car by now.”

Or even:

“I have the big home, nice car, prestigious career ....and I still feel like something is missing.”

Somewhere along the line these people have mixed up success with achievement.

Easy to do right?

Achievement is so easy to strive for. You can set goals for it. Goals that tell you exactly how to get there and exactly what you’ll get at the other end. Goals that once met you can comfortably say “I did it!”

Success on the other hand is much much harder.

Much harder to define. Much harder to strive for. Much harder to know when you’re there.

And that’s because:

Success is something that we feel.

Success is something that is beyond words.

Success is something that gives us meaning.

Success comes from our WHY.

What if our WHY was not to own the biggest house on the block but to be the best parent we could be? Would buying the biggest house on the block make us feel successful? No way!

What if our WHY was not to own the fastest car but to inspire and help others? Would the Ferrari parked in the garage make us feel successful? Definitely not!

We might feel like we achieved something but we wouldn’t feel successful.

Often we start on the Road to Success only to be distracted and derailed by the Path to Achievement.

We start with our WHY in mind. We don’t just want to make a 6 figure salary at our executive job – we want to steer this company to make a big difference in the world. We want to be a change agent. We want to make the world a better place for our children and for us.

Then we slowly get conditioned to following the Path to Achievement. We start to measure our ‘success’ by the tangibles – the big house, the fast car – the tangibles that represent achievement. The tangibles that most of our colleagues are also focused on. We think “If I could just achieve more then I’d feel successful.” But without our WHY as the rudder steering our ship, the ‘success’ will feel hollow.

Success comes when we wake up every day with our WHY in mind. When our day is filled with reminders of WHY we’re doing what we’re doing then our achievements are indicators that we’re on the right path. Our achievements are the bonuses that accompany our feelings of success.

So if you’re the best parent you can be but you don’t own a house – you’re still a success. You’re just looking in the wrong place for your achievements. Is your child happy, well-adjusted, loved, and healthy? There are your signs of achievement and therefore your signs of success.

If you’re inspiring and helping the people around you but there’s no Ferrari in your garage? Then you’re still a success. You’re just looking in the wrong place for your achievements. Are the people around you taking ownership of their lives, do they light up when they see you, are you surrounded by their love? These are your signs of achievement. And definitely your signs of success!

"Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men" (Colossians 3:23 New American Standard Bible)

The Importance of Sharing Your Story by Brook McGlothlin

The following blog post was written by Brook McGlothlin. If you would like to visit her website called 'A Life In Need of Change' click here. And while this post is aimed towards Christians, it is applicable to all.

the importance of sharing your story {or Come See a Man!}

How long has it been since you heard someone shout out what Jesus has done for them? How long has it been since you did the shouting?

The importance of sharing your story

The world loves to hate Christians, don't they? Those who don't share our beliefs love to prey on us, seeking out opportunities to destroy us by our own testimonies. Finding a Christian participating in sin is like finding a shiny $50 bill on the ground. The media takes every opportunity to make us look like nuts on television and in the news. And Christian leaders? Whew! To find one of those guys in sin is like winning the lottery. They'll be newsworthy for years to come, maybe even landing themselves a place in the history books (or Psyc books) so that students for ages to come can know how silly it is to make radical professions of faith about a God Who can't really change people.

What the world doesn't understand, is that failure is a vital part of our testimony. Failure is the very reason we need a Savior. And every single one of us has failed in the arena of life.

Each of us guilty before a holy God. The world sees our failures as proof that there is no redemption, no healing in Christ. But as Christians, we know that our failures are what drive us to the Cross. Our failures are what give us the opportunity to see God working and know His loving kindness. They allow us to feel the depth of His grace, unmerited favor for those of us who believe. Our failures lead us to repentance, and repentance leads us to forgiveness. Forgiveness is worth any amount of public ridicule or unfavorable infamy. Forgiveness is worth our all.

Come See a Man!

The Samaritan woman knew the weight of failure. Much like the weight of the water jug she carried in the heat of the day, her failures hung about her shoulders pulling her down and reminding her of who she was. An adulterer. Married five times and living with a man not her husband. She went to the well at the hottest part of the day to avoid the stares of the people who had watched her fail over and over and over again. She thought that day would be just like any other. Until she met Jesus.

In a world where Jews and Samaritans didn't mix, the man Jesus saw into her heart and gave her a drink of living water. With a few words from the One Who changes everything, the Samaritan woman went from hiding her failures to bursting forth into praise and shouting, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" (John 4:25). Shedding the weight of her shame she came out of hiding that day. She no longer cared to hide her sin. No, now she was proclaiming it! Giving glory to the One who knew her, loved her, changed her, redeemed her. And in her excitement she ran to tell everyone else.

Can't you just see her? Free from that heavy water jug. Free from caring what others thought of her. Free to dance. I picture her skipping, jumping, dancing in that freedom into the town...right into it shouting, "Come, see a man!" Like a little girl dancing carelessly in a field of flowers...

When was the last time you danced in the freedom of your forgiveness? When was the last time the joy of your salvation overwhelmed you such that you shouted to anyone who would listen, "Come see a man!"

Come see a man! (Who has saved me from my sin!)

Come see a man! (Who has saved my marriage!)

Come see a man! (Who has provided for my needs!)

Come see a man! (Who pays my bills!)

Come see a man! (Who has brought back my prodigal child!)

Come see a man! (Who has healed my sickness!)

Come see a man! (Who loves me and gives me favor!)

Come see a man! (Who shed His blood to give me righteousness!)

Come see a man! (Who gives me peace in the storm!)

Come see the man Jesus! The One Who changes everything. Who has changed everything for me, and can for you.

So what's your story? What has God done for you? Of what have you been forgiven? Of what have you been redeemed? Share it now, so that others can come see a man, the man Jesus, Who can do the same for them.

What's your story?

It's Time to Forgive Yourself

Have you ever been through or are you going through a period of change? I am. I haven't been updating this blog because the reason for writing had left me. Change isn't easy, and admittedly I allowed it to wear me down. Instead of standing resilient and firm I gave in to the pressure. I say that I gave in because we always have a choice in life. For example, we can go left or we can go right. We can give up or we can keep going. We can determine we're not going to do something or we can give into the temptation. The choices go on and on.

I write this not as a catharsis, but maybe to help someone else. In giving up I made some mistakes. There are issues that come with making a mistake, and one of them is unforgiveness. The unforgiveness of yourself weighs heavy on your heart and mind. It reminds a person of their wrongdoing constantly. Like a scratched CD, by repeating it over and over in your mind, unforgiveness keeps the guilt from the mistake alive and well. You want to move past the mistake but you can't seem to let it die because unforgiveness keeps etching its sad song into your brain with its constant repetitions of, "Why did I quit? Why did I give in? Why did I make that bad choice? Why did I have to make that mistake?"

Guess what? Unforgiveness is not our friend. It is not a humble form of penitence. Instead, unforgiveness blocks progress. It hinders you and me from moving forward in life. For those who read the Bible and believe in the words written therein, recall the story of Judas. (For those who do not believe in the Bible, you may want to skip to the next paragraph.) Judas gave up Jesus for 20 pieces of silver. After understanding his wrong, Judas had a choice: forgive himself or die to the crushing weight of guilt. Judas chose death by hanging himself. Jesus is willing to forgive us our wrongdoing (i.e. sin). If He wasn't, the cross wouldn't be the pivotal point of salvation. Yet, despite Jesus' willingness to forgive us, are we willing to forgive ourselves?

How truthful the following is I do not know, but it is an example of how an unwillingness to forgive yourself works. It is an illustration on how to capture a monkey. First, a hole is made in a coconut or a gourd and the object is attached to a tree with a string. Then peanuts are placed inside of it. Monkeys like peanuts, so the monkey will reach in the coconut or gourd to get them. However, the hole isn't big enough for the monkey to pull the peanuts out with its hand. Not wanting to let the peanuts go, the monkey will hold on to them--sometimes for days. By the time the captors come for the monkey, it is too weak to fight back. It has given up its strength and freedom for a handful of peanuts.

That is how we are when we are unwilling to forgive ourselves. We become so focused on our mistake until we lose our freedom. Our freedom is in the knowledge that even though we made a bad choice, we still have the ability to make a good one. We don't have to continue making bad choices, and it is not required to constantly rehearse a bad choice. An unwillingness to forgive yourself decreases your freedom in life. When you're focused on your mistake, opportunities for progression pass you by. They pass you by because you're stuck thinking, "I made a bad choice once, and the cost for that choice was high. Will I do it again?" Hence, as you continue to replay and relive that mistake due to unforgiveness, your freedom in life is passing you by.

So go ahead. Forgive yourself. Continue to move forward during this time of change. Progress lies ahead, but holding onto unforgiveness will only leave you where you are.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:12, 14-15 KJV)

"Releasing the Old" inspired by Adrian Rogers' devotional

The title of this devotional by Adrian Rogers caught my attention. The devotional is listed below, but you can find it online by clicking here.

Releasing the Old—Taking Hold of the Best
February 10

“I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength.” Psalm 18:1

Have you ever tried to get a bone away from a dog? It’s not too easy, unless you have something better for him. Try offering a T-bone steak, and that dog will drop his bone like a bad habit.

In the same way, the writer of Hebrews tried to encourage the Jewish Christians, new believers who had a tendency to cling to the old customs of the Old Testament, to leave the dry bones of ceremonies and feast upon the delights of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It’s a lesson we all must appropriate in our lives. It can become comfortable for us to hold to our traditions, rather than try something new. But friend, there is no one and nothing that can compare with Jesus. You may learn to love Jesus better, but you can never love anything better than Jesus. Ask God to begin showing you the delights of a close relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

My aim is to encourage both those who do and those who doin't believe in Christ. Let's take these words a step further and apply it to our lives--that is, our daily interactons. How have we viewed this time of change? Have you arrived where you expected to be? If so, congratulations! Your time of change was worth it and now you are at a place in life where you can handle the duties before you responsibly and without damaging the lives of those around you that look up to you.

But for those of us who aren't where we expected to be yet, have you gotten stuck where you are? I mean, you know that you're a different person than when you started, but have you gotten rid of those actios and habits that keep you from moving forward? You know, like procrastination, laziness, an easily frustrated personality, etc. Where we're headed, where we think we want to go, will not permit us to bring these mannerisms along. Living in our dream and maintaining that dream is going to take more than we've ever given before, and bringing these mannerisms along will only help to quickly shatter dreams we've envisioned for so long.


"Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved." (Matthew 9:17 KJV)

"If You Plant" by Anonymous

I received this story as an email forward last year but I don't know the author. It has a great message, and I may create a blog post or two using this story in the future...

If You Plant

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time
to choose a successor to take over the business.
Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he
decided to do something different. He called all the young
executives in his company together.

He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next
CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. "The young executives
were Shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each
one of you a SEED today - one very special SEED. I want you to
plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from
today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you.
I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one
I choose will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the
others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his
wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and
he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see
if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other
executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that
were beginning to grow.

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still
nothing.

By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't
have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew
he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants,
but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues,
however, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - He so
wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the
company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.

Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But
she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to
his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of
his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot
to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety
of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful --
in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor
and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his
young executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees
and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will
be appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with
his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to
the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a
failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened
to his seed - Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim,
and then announced to the young executives, "Behold your next
Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!" Jim couldn't believe
it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed.

"How could he be the new CEO?" the others said.

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this
room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it,
and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds;
they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants
and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you
substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the
only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my
seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief
Executive Officer!"

* If you plant honesty, you will reap trust

* If you plant goodness, you will reap friends

* If you plant humility, you will reap greatness

* If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment

* If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective

* If you plant hard work, you will reap success

* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Galations 6:6 KJV)

An Expounding on the Word 'New' from Guy Finley

The following is from author Guy Finley's blog post "Soul-Transforming Prayer" on belief.net. To see the post in its entirety click here.

We’re looking to our own best ideas, to those well-preserved images from our own past experiences to guide us to something new, but the word new means nothing was before it...almost all of what we now think of as being “new” is little more than an unconscious continuation of some reconfigured past experience. What we’re looking for, unconsciously, is that familiar sense of self-renewal that comes with finding something similar to what we already knew, even though it has never fulfilled us before.

Before something genuinely new can appear in our lives, something old must pass...

...the wish for something new to occur [is]...born from knowing that being wrapped up in the old can only produce more of the old.

"Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2Cr 5:17 KJV)

A Quote For Today

"Make room for the new you. You may not have totally determined who the new you is going to be, but you probably have decided that there are some things about the current you, that you want to change. Well while you are working on what the new you will be, start 'cleaning out a room' for the new you to live in. Get rid of the junk in your life both physical and mental that doesn't fit you anymore. Take things out of your schedule that are taking your time away from finding out what you want to do. By making room for the new you, you will create a vacuum that the new you will rush in to fill and you will be on your way to the top." -- Edward W. Smith, Sixty Seconds To Success

2 The LORD gave me this answer: "Write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance.
3 Put it in writing, because it is not yet time for it to come true. But the time is coming quickly, and what I show you will come true. It may seem slow in coming, but wait for it; it will certainly take place, and it will not be delayed. (Habakkuk 2:2-3 Good News Bible)