In reflecting on life recently, the only conclusion I can come to is: I thank God for my life.

I think that is an attitude we should all have as we go throughout life. So much of our life is what we make of it. It’s about our attitude. It’s about our choices. There are going to be ups and downs. There are going to be trials and tests. There are going to be tough times. But in spite of all of that, we get to live our lives.

We get to experience so much everyday that we take for granted.We get to have a relationship with God, travel, have great relationships, have bad relationships, go to school, go on vacations, go after our dreams, have crushes, get disappointed, fall in love, experience success, experience failure, go to family picnics, go to high school reunions, take classes to improve, interact on Facebook and twitter, go to church, serve our communities, network, listen to music, exercise, eat great food, smell flowers, see wildlife, shop, drive, watch great movies, you could go on forever on everything we can experience in life.

Life is Beautiful

The bottom line is: Our lives is where the action is. This is the only time in history that we get to live. The people we come in contact with, we may never come in contact with again. This is where we get to dream big and go for it. Everything here is a once in a lifetime experience. Enjoy the journey. Go after your dreams. Take nothing for granted. Realize that there is hope in the midst of any situation you may be in. Keep going. Don’t quit. Don’t get discouraged. When life is bad, realize it will get better.

Live your life for Everything it’s Worth.

Thoughts?

Who inspires you? Who influences you? Someone does. So many things we do in life are the result of the inspiration & influence of someone else. It could be something they said, something they did, something they wrote, or somewhere they went.

Because of the inspiration of others, I’ve set goals, traveled to certain places, ran a marathon, do P90X, eat a certain way, listen to certain artists, blog, have a bucket list, have certain items on my bucket list, manage my time, use my social media strategy, dream, & live my life.

I can also say that because of the inspiration and influence of others I’ve: done drugs, got drunk, made horrible decisions, etc.

However, that won’t be the focus of this post, this post will be focused on inspiring and influencing for good.

When I think of who inspires me and influences me for good on a daily basis I think of:

Financially – Dave Ramsey, John Walczak, Mike Steidel,

Leadership - John Maxwell, John Nuzzo, Larry Bettencourt, Zack Blair, Jessi Marsh, John Walczak

Lifestyle: Ben Rath, The Steidel Family, David and Natalie Rice

Blogging: Michael Hyatt, John Saddington, Jeff Goins

Ministry: John Nuzzo, Larry Bettencourt, Zack Blair, Keith Moore, Kenneth Hagin, Craig DeBower

Networking: Larry Bettencourt, Cindy Shafer

Relationships: Zack and Lauren Blair, Larry and Kim Bettencourt

Family Life: The Steidel Family, The Bettencourt Family, The Moore Family

Fitness: Carl Deikler, Tony Horton, Michelle Myers, David Faulk, Matt Crummy

Travel: Mike Steidel

If you notice, the people who inspire us and influence are the ones we allow to shape our lives and experiences.If you show me who inspires you, I’ll show you what your life is going to turn out like. Where I am today is a result of the inspiration & influence I’ve received from the people above.

Inspiration and influence can come through many channels: one one one, a book, a cd, social media, a blog, a sermon, someone’s example, etc.

My question to you is, #1.) Who is inspiring and influencing who you are becoming and what you do with your life?

And the better question . . . 2.) Who are you inspiring and influencing, for good? Who’s life is better because YOUR in it? Who are you inspiring to dream? To go for it? To live their best life? To get drug free? To live for God?

Use every means you can to inspire & influence others! Meet with people one one one, live an interesting life, live for God, use social media, mentor others, write book or a blog, preach a sermon, create audio lessons!

³⁷ The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” -I Samuel 17:37

David said this right before he fought Goliath. Saul had just told him how ridiculous it would be if he fought Goliath. David went on to say, “Listen, this isn’t the first time I’ve faced impossible. God got me through impossible situations before, and He’ll do it again.”

David’s memories of what God had done in his past gave Him confidence to face anything that came against him in his life.

When David told Goliath he was going to kill him, he said, “And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and He will give you to us!”

Two lessons to draw from this:

We Need to Realize Who is Fighting our Battles -David never said it was his battle and that he would kill Goliath. He said it’s God’s battle. I think we put too much pressure on ourselves in life. The Bible says to cast ALL your cares on God, for He cares for you. That isn’t a statement that just sounds nice, it’s a command from God’s Word. In the midst of any storm you find yourself in, learn that it’s God’s battle to fight!

We need to Keep Our Memories with God in front of Us at all Times – David had his memories with God embedded in his heart. He was able to rely on the things God had done in his past to give him the confidence that God will continue to do great things in his present and his future.

What has God done in your past?

If you don’t already, get a journal and start to record all the great things God has done in your life in the past. Record all the times He’s gotten you through impossible. Record all the times He has come through.

Then, the next time impossible shows up in your life, take that journal out and say, “Wait a minute! God’s gotten me through things like this before! He was with me then, He’ll be with me now!” Then run into battle! Face your tests and trials!

Your memories with God will give you the confidence to face anything that comes in your way!

Thoughts?