Tag: Overcome

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Weekly Blog

Come on Man/Woman…Enough is Enough

I don’t know about you, but I am disgusted by what’s going on in our country. With the exception of how politicized it has become, I’m not even talking about the pandemic. I heard a report today that the riots, that continue in many of our cities, in just May and June cost us $2 billion. With it being mid-September, what’s the modified price tag (dollars), in addition to the loss and injury to life, loss of businesses and livelihoods, the destruction of property, and theft, especially in our poorest communities.

I watch more news than is good for me…because I just saw a report about abuse of our elderly. What happens to a society where the sanctity of life means nothing, a society that has killed 10s of millions of unborn babies over the last several decades. It’s the same society where murder rates have increased so dramatically recently, disproportionately in our inner cities. Rarely discussed, rates of suicides, addictions, and overdoses continue to climb. And the use of pornography is overwhelming, including by our kids at younger and younger ages.

Add to the above a stark example of depravity in our society, a pornographic movie now on Netflix, called “Cuties”. It’s beyond the pale. It’s pure pedophilia. It’s the exploitation of 11-year old girls. You can’t possibly watch it and believe anything different. And yet Netflix not only continues to broadcast it, but defends it.

There’s a phrase that rings so true and that is, “the silence is deafening”. It is astonishing the number of people, especially those with a platform, who have not spoken out about “Cuties” or any of the other things identified above. Simply astonishing. Very sad.

Previously a big fan of the NFL, I used to watch ESPN’s Sunday morning show, with Chris Berman, Tom Jackson, Mike Ditka, Cris Carter, Keyshawn Johnson, and others. Each Sunday, they had a segment, where each commentator called out strange or egregious behavior with the phrase “come on man”. It was funny stuff.

In praying through this week’s blog, it’s the phrase that kept coming to mind. With the craziness that’s going on in our world…come on man (and woman)….enough is enough!!!

Photo by Engin Akyurt from Pexels

What Can We Do?

What can we do? My wife and I were discussing the other night the fact that we feel that we need to do something. Just sitting quietly makes us feel helpless. What can we do? I’d suggest a few things:

  1. Pray – our country needs prayer. We are broken. So many people are searching. So many people, as exemplified by their actions, can’t possibly know the love of Jesus Christ. It literally just occurred to me last week, that I need to pray for the rioters. We all need to pray. In Matthew 5:44, Jesus tells us, “but I say to you: love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. And pray for those who persecute and slander you”. We need to pray for those who are being hurt, those inflicting the pain, and for ourselves.
  2. Care for Others– people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. We need to love others. We need to care for others. As part of the Great Commandments, Jesus told us in Matthew 22:39, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself”. Our world desperately needs more love and it begins with each of us individually. How are we caring for those closest to us? How we live inside our homes dictates how we live, how we treat others, outside our homes. We need to love one another, those in our inner circle and those we meet for the first time.
  3. Charitably Speak the Truth – there is far too much misinformation in today’s world. Truth matters. Truth is important. That said, truth needs to be delivered charitably. As stated in #2 above, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. We need to love one another and part of that love is sharing the truth. We hear about the division in families over tough topics, i.e. politics. I’d argue that discussing tough issues is important and needs to take place…charitably.

So in closing, come on man/woman….enough is enough!!! Let’s do something about what’s going on in our world. Numbers 1, 2, and 3 above are a good start.

As always, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with questions, comments, concerns, or challenges. Happy to pray for you as well.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

Exhausted…You Need Some Balance

Have you ever had a couple days that have wiped you out? It could be the length of the days you’ve worked or the gravity of the issues. Maybe every Friday you feel that way….after a long week.

Leaving my office 6PMish this past Friday, I called my wife, who asked what I wanted to do that evening. Exhausted I said, “not a lot”. Cyndi said, “perfect, I’ll make us a pizza, we can watch a movie, and go to bed early”. Now Saturday morning, when I’m drafting this, it was nice to get to bed early and get a very good night of sleep. I feel rested and ready to go.

We need our rest. We can’t do without it. In fact, based on research that my wife has done, sleep is more important to our wellbeing than exercise. That’s not to say that exercise isn’t important. It is to say that you’re not doing yourself any favors by being on the elliptical everyday if you’re only sleeping 4-6 hours a night.

Photo by Marcus Aurelius from Pexels

We Need Balance in Our Lives

Just like we need our rest, we need to balance our lives in other ways. Categories include:

  • Physical
  • Emotional
  • Intellectual
  • Spiritual

What we’ve discussed above is part of the physical. Exercise is important, even if less so than sleep. So is eating and drinking a good diet. I’ve heard it said…you wouldn’t feed a $1mm race horse food from a fast food restaurant, yet what is it we put into our bodies?

Speaking to the emotional, to me there are two pieces:

  1. How you feel about yourself – do you have a healthy view of self, understanding “who” (not your “do”) you are as a child of God? Do you know your God given gifts, and what your purpose is? Do you have a life of peace, joy, and fulfillment?
  2. What do your personal relationships look like? Are they positive or negative? Do they feed you or tear you down?

Whether spiritual or emotional, it often starts in the heart. And the heart leads to the head, the intellectual. I’ve heard it said that you can judge the character of a person by the books he or she reads and the people they associate with.

  • What are the things that you read, watch on TV, or on your phone, including social media?
  • Who do you associate with?
  • Who’s in your inner circle (a subject covered in my book)?

Are the above making you a better version of yourself?

Last (it should be first in our lives) is the spiritual, which is so vitally important because it grounds us in who we are, each of us loved unconditionally and put on this earth for greatness. Through prayer, we connect with our Lord, Who helps us discern the right path, showing us the way to peace, joy, and fulfillment.

Balance is so important in our lives. Maybe you’ve heard the phrase, “everything in moderation”. I’d agree with that as long as they’re the right things. Take care of yourself physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually and you’ll have a great life…the kind of life our Lord designed for you.

As always, feel free to contact me with comments, questions, or challenges that you may have at [email protected].

May God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!!

Mark Joseph
need our rest. We can’t do without it. In fact, based on research that my wife has done, sleep is more important to our wellbeing than exercise. That’s not to say that exercise isn’t important. It is to say that you’re not doing yourself any favors by being on the elliptical everyday if you’re only sleeping 4-6 hours a night.

Just like we need our rest, we need to balance our lives in other ways. Categories include:

  • Physical
  • Emotional
  • Intellectual
  • Spiritual

What we’ve discussed above is part of the physical. Exercise is important, even if less so than sleep. So is eating and drinking a good diet. In one of Matthew Kelly’s books, he points to the fact that you wouldn’t feed a $1mm race horse food from McDonald’s, yet what is it we put into our bodies?

Speaking to the emotional, to me there are two pieces:

  1. How we feel about ourselves – do you have a healthy view of self, understanding “who” (not your “do”) you are, your God given gifts, and what your purpose is? Do you have a life of peace, joy, and fulfillment?
  2. What do your personal relationships look like? Are they positive or negative? Do they feed you or tear you down?

Whether spiritual or emotional, it often starts in the heart. And the heart leads to the head, the intellectual. I’ve heard it said that you can judge the character of people by the books they read and the people the associate with.

  • Who do you associate with?
  • Who’s in your inner circle (a subject covered in my book)?
  • What are the things that you read or watch on TV or on your phone, including social media?

Are the above making you a better version of yourself?

Last (should be first in our lives) is the spiritual, which is so vitally important because it grounds us in who we are as a beloved child of God, each of us loved unconditionally and put on this earth for greatness. And through prayer, we connect with our Lord, Who helps us discern the right path, showing us the way to peace, joy, and fulfillment.

It being Mental Health Month, I wanted to speak to how balance is so important in our lives. Maybe you’ve heard the phrase, “everything in moderation”. I’d agree with that as long as they’re the right things. Take care of yourself physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually and you’ll have a great life…the kind of life our Lord designed for you.

As always, feel free to contact me with comments, questions, or challenges that you may have at [email protected].

May God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!!

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

Our Upside-Down Lives

The following was posted on Facebook by a friend of mine last week. Called The Paradox of Our Age, I’ve not been able to get it out of my mind….it rings very true. It was written by Dr. Bob Moorehead, former pastor of Seattle’s Overlake Christian Church. I’d suggest reading it slowly.

 

Photo by Philipp Birmes from Pexels

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less; we buy more but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life; we’ve added years to life, not life to years.

We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things. We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.

We’ve split the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less real communication. These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships.

These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight…. ….or to just hit delete.

Remember, spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember to say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

Remember to say “I love you” to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak, and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

I know the above is different than my traditional blogs…hope you enjoyed it. As always, feel free to get to me with questions or comments.

God Bless you on your continued Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

Week #9 – Forgiving and Healing

This is the 9th of our 14-week program, where we provide Lesson #9, Forgiving and Healing. It’s interesting…no matter who I talk to, it seems this is a critical part to their journey. Some questions to consider as we kick this lesson off:

  • What is eating at you? What bothers you on a regular basis?
  • Are there things that you regret that took place in your life? By you? By someone else?
  • What feelings do these circumstances create within you?

In past lessons, we’ve discussed how tragedies occur in our lives, a universal truth. We also talked about how we’re sometimes hurt by others. Both create wounds.

An important part of our spiritual journey is healing from those wounds. Often much easier said than done, it takes time. And although it’s said that time heals all wounds, I needed to bring intentionality to it…it wasn’t going to happen on its own.

My Experience of Forgiving

My experience would indicate that healing has much to do with forgiving. Interestingly, for me to forgive others, I first needed to forgive myself. WHAT? Yea, for me to forgive other people, I first needed to go through the process, albeit painful, of forgiving myself. Once I did, I was able to own up to my role in the circumstances, not gratuitously but substantively. With that “power”, from a position of strength, I could now genuinely forgive.

BTW, forgiving doesn’t mean condoning the behavior of others. Although we are called to be charitable and compassionate, we can’t own others’ faults and failings. We can find in Scripture why we are called to forgive, which we’ll discuss in this Friday’s video.

Photo by Norbert Kundrak from Pexels

Sometimes It’s Not Our Fault

Be clear, I am aware that some tragedies, some hurts are NO fault of ours’. Although reflection of self is always part of the process, healing from these things involves additional principles. Sorry, but we unfortunately don’t have the time here to discuss the healing required for “no fault” healing. If you’d like more information, please reach out to me.

The truth is….there is no way to live a life of peace, joy, and fulfillment without healing from the wounds created from our tragedies and hurts.

Suggested Actions

How do we heal from our wounds? How do we forgive?

  • Think about doing the following things:
    • Bringing someone along side you, i.e. therapist, Priest or other Religious, mentor, friend (very much helps if the person has experience and can be objective)
    • Spending dedicated time thinking/praying:
      • Look at it from the other person’s perspective
      • Try to find the positive in what transpired, including lessons learned
  • During your morning prayer routine this week:
    • Try to be in a place of gratitude, thanking God for everything that’s taken place in your life. What positive thing from that tragedy would not be present in your life today?
  • Watch this Friday’s video on this same subject….it will be emailed to you.

Please join us next Wednesday for Week #10 when we talk about our Becoming the Best Possible You. As always, please feel free to get to me with questions, comments, or concerns at [email protected].

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph

 

Week #1 – Being Overwhelmed
Week #2 – Earning the love of others
Week #3 – Lack of self-love
Week #4 – Fear
Week #5 – False gods, False happiness
Week #6 – Life’s Tragedies
Week #7 – Wounds, Resentments

Week #8 – Discovering God’s Love
Week #9 – Forgiveness and healing
Week #10 – Becoming the best Possible You
Week #11 – Path to Peace
Week #12 – Finding your Purpose
Week #13 – You were made for Greatness
Week #14 – True Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment