Tag: prayer

Week #14 – True Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment

Post author By Mark Joseph
Post date August 5, 2020

This is the 14^th and last week of our program, where we provide Lesson #14, on True Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment.

We’ve started several of these lessons with some questions. How about this one? What’s preventing you from experiencing what I refer to as the “Big 3” in your life:

Peace
Joy
Fulfillment

If you’ve hung with us through the first 13 lessons, you know that the primary culprit to not achieving the above three is being overwhelmed. Practically everyone experiences it and in fact very few ever figure out how to overcome it. As explained, the source of us being overwhelmed begins when we’re young…we grow up believing that we have to earn the love of others. That “conditional love” most often turns into lack of self-love, which always leads to fear, preventing us from being, doing, and trying all that we’re called to. As such, regardless of fame or fortune, no matter what the successes, very few of us meet our full potential.

Believing what the world tells us, although our experience indicates differently, we try to fill the god sized hole in the center of our chest with what is never going to make us happy. I refer to them as the 4 Ps, prominence, possessions, pleasure, and people. Overwhelmed and on the hamster wheel of life, we try to make it go faster and faster, pursuing these things that will never bring us peace, joy, or fulfillment.

Photo by Simon Matzinger from Pexels

God is Our Only Answer

The ONLY solution to the above is to understand and internalize God’s unconditional love and forgiveness. This is accomplished through conversion, which begins when we determine that life can be better with Jesus as a part of it as opposed to not…when we turn away from ourselves and towards Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

It’s ONLY when we understand God’s unconditional love, that we come to know three things:

The unimaginable is achievable
We can live Heaven here on earth
There is a distinct Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment

It’s the combination of several thing that allow you to come to this place…understanding God’s love, embracing your purpose, exercising your God given talents and desires, knowing you’re made for greatness, and surrendering all to God’s Will. You do these things and you’ll be fulfilled. You’ll experience true peace and have a joy that you’ve never experienced before.

Suggested Actions

So, here’s my suggestion for this week:

Go back to Lesson #1, which was emailed to you Wednesday, May 6^th. Read and reflect on it, in addition to Lessons #2-14 (emailed every Wednesday) in sequence. Do it in one sitting or over the course of a week.
- What most speaks to you?
- What applies to your life’s experiences?
During your morning prayer routine this week, think about three things:
- How have you been overwhelmed in your life?
- What would it feel like to live a life of Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment?
- What needs to happen for you to decide to do the latter?
Watch this Friday’s video on this same subject….it will be emailed to you.

Thank you for joining us on this 14-week journey. We sincerely hope that you got a lot out of it. If you have ideas on other information or resources that we could offer, that would help you in going from Overwhelmed to Fulfilled, please let us know.

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

Tags catholic, Christ, fullfillment, God, Greatness, Jesus, Joy, life, Mark Joseph, path to peace, peace, prayer, tragedy, virtues

Weekly Blog

Week #13 – Made for Greatness

Post author By Mark Joseph
Post date July 29, 2020

This is the 13th of our 14-week program, where we provide Lesson #13, on You Being Made for Greatness. Let’s start with my three favorite Scripture verses:

Jeremiah 1:5 – “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you went forth from the womb, I sanctified you. And I made you a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
John 10:10 – I have come so that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.

To me, these verses mean that we are made for Greatness:

God conceived of us thousands of years ago
Made each of us with special gifts, talents, desires
He made us for a specific purpose
He made us in His image and likeness
As part of His grand plan, individually and as a part of all of humanity
God doesn’t make mistakes; He doesn’t make junk
On a scale of 1-10, we are all 10s
God loves you more than you’ll ever know, no matter what you’ve ever done
He wants the very best for you
He wants you to be happy
In fact…God made YOU for Greatness

We all want to live good lives, to be successful and to be happy. To do so, we have to embrace God’s plan for our lives (simple, not easy)…that’s how we find our Greatness. That’s how I found mine; that’s how you can find yours’.

Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy

With what the world emphasizes as making us happy, I’m not suggesting that surrendering to God’s will is an easy thing. It can be done though by following the steps detailed in these lessons. As discussed, it takes conversion. For me, it also required understanding just how little control I had (have), in addition to coming to a place of finally believing that God:

Loves you more than you love yourself,
Knows what’s best for you, and
Wants your happiness more than you do.

Greatness here isn’t defined as wealth or power or prominence; it’s not notoriety or fame. The greatness we are talking about is being the very best you can be with the significant and unique gifts God has given you. It means responding with a full YES to whatever God is asking of you. You’ll know you’re on the right track because when you start living this way, you’ll no longer feel overwhelmed. Instead, you’ll be fulfilled; you’ll experience peace and have joy in your life.

Lastly, I’m not suggesting that living this life will eliminate all of your problems. We all encounter challenges in our lives. You will continue to do so. What I can guarantee you is that you’ll be able to endure those struggles in an entirely different way. I can also guarantee you that living this life of Greatness that God calls you to will change your life forever….for the significant BETTER!!!

Suggested Actions

So, here’s my suggestion for this week:

During your morning prayer routine this week, think about two things:
- What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
- Given your talents, desires, and needs, what is God calling you to? Listen for His voice, which will lead you to your God given purpose….your GREATNESS!!!
Watch this Friday’s video on this same subject….it will be emailed to you.

Please join us next Wednesday for Week #14 when we conclude these lessons by talking about True Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment. 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

Tags balance, bible, catholic, Challenges, greantess, Joy, leadership, Love, Mark Joseph, prayer, purpose, success, the path to peace

Weekly Blog

Week 11# – The Path to Peace

Post author By Mark Joseph
Post date July 15, 2020

This is the 11th of our 14-week program, where we provide Lesson #11, The Path to Peace. Some questions to consider as we kick this off:

Do you have a sense of peace in your life?
In reflecting on this program to date, what’s stealing your peace?
Who’s stealing your peace?

When you boil it down, my thesis (sounds so official…ha, ha) is that being overwhelmed doesn’t allow us to experience the peace, joy, or fulfillment that God intended for us. I’ve shared the life lessons that have allowed me to go from there to here….by God’s grace.

My experience indicates that a full life, an impactful life, the life all of us really yearn for, includes all three…peace, joy, and fulfillment. That said, it all starts with peace.

Several years ago, in a moment of unconscious competence (they ring as true today as they did then), I defined the Path to Peace as Surrender, Gratitude, Humility, and Love. Although the sequence isn’t absolute, my experience would indicate that there’s something to it. Let’s explore each individually.

1) Surrender
First, we cannot control life, no matter how much we try. Many might think that isn’t true. With a good plan and solid people around you, it’s possible to control things. Sure, when it comes to planned events, we have a certain amount of control, as long as we allow for contingencies, but even then, things don’t always go perfectly. In fact, most of life is beyond our control. Other people and their choices and behavior are beyond our control. Tragic events, disease, accidents — these things are all way outside the scope of our control.

Second, we have God, who loves us more than we can imagine, who wants to see us happy, who designed us for a specific purpose, uniquely and individually, who knows best for us — the God who made us for greatness.

So why not surrender to the God of the universe, who is all-powerful, almighty, and all-loving? Instead of conceiving of something on my own, relying on myself to get it done, and then facing the consequences alone, I can choose to follow God’s will, discerning what He wants for my life and particular situations, and relying on Him for whatever happens. I use my unique and God-given gifts to do my very best, leaving everything up to Him and understanding that everything in life is part of His grand plan. As long as I know his love, it just doesn’t matter what others think. All of this takes the pressure off of me…..a big win!!!

2) Gratitude
Be thankful. As important, believe that everything happens for a reason, that there are no coincidences in life. It’s true. Everything is part of God’s grand plan. So, live in a place of gratitude; be grateful for everything that happens, even the crises you experience.

God wants only the very best for us. We can trust that absolutely, regardless of life’s obstacles and challenges. Surrender teaches us to let go of the need to have things our way. Gratitude allows us to look past any short-term pain and be grateful for what God wants to do with it for our good.

Gratitude isn’t just good for the soul, it’s good for the body, too. Experts have indicated the benefits to living a life of gratitude, including being happier, healthier, more optimistic, more spiritual, a better friend, a better boss, etc. A true “attitude of gratitude” is one that allows us to see the hand of God in all things and trust that everything will turn out for our best.

3) Humility
Humility is the opposite of ego, which we previously defined as our false self, the identity that we create that is often very far from the truth of who we are. The truly humble person lives from the truth of who he is and can step back from the chaos of trying to prove himself to others.

A humble person has a sense of self-worth, believes in himself, even loves himself, and doesn’t live in fear. Humility has much to do with self-love. This is because humility helps us know exactly who we are, with all of our weaknesses, yes, and even more with all of our strengths given to us by God. Those who have a healthy self-love, who are humble, have no need to look down on anyone, nor do they look up to anyone except Jesus Christ. We were all created by the same God, with the same perfection, in his image and likeness. To God, we are all “10s”.

A humble person is genuinely happy for others in their successes. He is accepting of others’ ideas and thoughts (accepting doesn’t mean always agreeing), always very willing to engage in dialogue and even friendly debate. The humble person doesn’t always have to be right, doesn’t always have to be in control, doesn’t always have to win. Humility allows us to accept others for who they are, rather than judging them or trying to change them.

Humility means accepting and loving others unconditionally. This does not mean we shouldn’t discern right from wrong, but we must never condemn others. Being humble is understanding that it is only in God working through us that we can perform or achieve anything worthwhile. It is his doing, not ours.

BTW, this isn’t easy stuff. On this journey now for a while, my biggest challenge is humility. It’s that old sin of “pride” that keeps creeping up on me. We’re all a work in process.

4) Love
The final step (and the ultimate goal of this journey) is love. Above all else, we are called to love. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves, second only to loving God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. We need to love. When we fail to love, we leave those around us empty, and we are empty, too. Yet we certainly can’t love others if we can’t accept them, if we’re always competing with them or judging them. We can’t love them if we always have to be right or always have to be on top.

Without relationships, life is meaningless. True relationship is impossible without love. To love, we need to be vulnerable; we need to trust; we need to care. Having gratitude for the people in our lives is vital to loving them. And gratitude brings joy, which is also essential to love.

As I have learned since my conversion, you cannot truly love others unless you first love yourself. It can be a slow journey, but practicing surrender, gratitude, and humility strengthens and confirms us in who we are, which opens us up to loving ourselves and others.

Suggested Actions
This blog has been longer than most in this series. As such, let’s wait till this Friday’s video, where I’ll share suggested actions you can take to get on and stay on the Path to Peace.
Please join us next Wednesday for Week #12 when we talk about Finding Your Purpose. 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

Tags catholic, Challenges, fulfillment, Hope, Humility, Jesus, Joy, Love, Mark Joseph, path to peace, prayer, purpose, Relationships

Weekly Blog

Week #9 – Forgiving and Healing

Post author By Mark Joseph
Post date July 1, 2020

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.

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

Tags balance, catholic, Challenges, companionship, Conflict, Family, forgiveness, Friends, healing, Mark Joseph, Overcome, prayer, purpose, Relationships