I’ve been reading a lot about courage lately and I’ve been surprised at how many throughout history have placed it as the foundational quality (see part one here) on which to build.  People with courage live compelling stories that leave a legacy, which is what this site is all about – living your story and exploring your world.

As Christians we are called to be bold, to be courageous, to be “salt and light” in an apathetic world.

… sounds kind of crazy.  But crazy good, right?

I challenge you to boldy go.  Be adventurous.  Be crazy (and get a toast from Steve Jobs).

What does courage mean to you?  What can you do to be courageous today?  Leave your thoughts below.

One that reminded me how little control I actually have (I don’t know about you, but I need these reminders from time to time).

It also reminded me of what is it like to fully rely on God.

To place everything in His hands and be at peace.

It’s a hard thing for me to do.

The day began like any other.

I woke up, rolled over, and rubbed my wife’s baby belly.  My son kicked back at me.  I was grateful to know he was in there.

It was my morning off from the gym, so in lieu of working out I french pressed some coffee and sat down to write.  I was getting ready to leave for my office when I got the call.

It was my wife.  She was rear-ended in traffic.

She is also 7 months pregnant.

I can’t even verbalize the range of emotions I experienced, much less the flurry of thoughts that induced vertigo as they flew through my head.

In my confusion/anger/helplessness/disbelief, I did the only thing, and I mean the only thing, that I could think of.

I dropped to my knees and prayed.

Instinctually.  

Fervently.

With total abandon.

To be honest, I haven’t prayed like this (out of immediate personal need) in a long time.  I was praying before I even knew what I was doing, and harder than ever before as I struggled to do the one thing I didn’t want to…

Let go.  Relinquish the illusion of control.

The rest of the day was a blur.  When my wife went to visit our birthing center, they measured a couple contractions close together.  We got scared again.  Is he coming early?  Is he injured?

After some time, we went home to continue monitoring the situation.  The next two days were spent together.  What began again as worry and uncertainty gave way to us resting, praying, and believing for our baby’s (and mommy’s) health.  It was powerful moment for us.

But, we had to come to a place of letting go.  A place of faith.

A place of peace.

So what happened?

To finish the story, my family is doing well.  We had an amazing number of family and friends praying with us, who we are eternally grateful for.  The contractions have stopped and I still feel little man moving around in there, making his presence known.

Now I see with greater clarity how much I have to be thankful for.  This accident ultimately brought Casey and I into a deeper reliance and relationship with God, and with each other.

Maybe I’ll remember this time how little control I have, and I will continue to let go each morning lest I get comfortable and need reminding.

Your turn.  When was the last time you had to let go?  Share your story in the comments (and if you enjoyed this, consider sharing it on twitter or facebook).

I can see you in there,
kicking, stretching, pushing against
the boundaries of your world…

Soon, little man, there will be a
great big world for you to discover.
It needs you to push against your boundaries too.

It’s beautiful, scary, and amazing
all at once, but don’t worry
I’ll be your guide.
We will explore it together.

You’ll learn to create, to share, to give.

To Love.

I Love You.

And until we meet face to face
I’ll keep counting heartbeats
and dreaming of you.

Arete ( /ˈærətiː/; Greek: ἀρετή), in its basic sense, means excellence of any kind.  In its earliest appearance in Greek, this thought of excellence was ultimately bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function: the act of living up to one’s full potential.

Just think of what would be possible if we lived this way, trying to use up every last drop of ourselves during our short time here.  The apostle Paul lived this way.

Imagine what could be done to spread God’s Word to the ends of the Earth if we lived this way too…

We would change the world, leave a legacy, and live a lifetime of adventure.  May we all strive for Arete.

We want to be writers.

We want to be communicators.

We want to be influencers.  But…

Wanting is not enough.  How do we remove the shroud and become writers?

Enter: You Are a Writer by Jeff Goins.

youareawriter.com

In his latest book, Jeff somehow distills some of his biggest ideas with personal stories and practical advice to help you become who you are, a writer.  Ideas like:

• When do you become a writer?
• Who do you write for?
• Picking yourself.
• How to stop writing for accolades and start writing for passion.
• Creativity hijacking productivity.
• Finding your voice.
• Building your platform, brand, and connections.

Becoming a writer may sound ambiguous, possibly even ludicrous.  Where would you start?  This is where You Are a Writer begins.  With you, your thoughts, your words, and your need to create.  What we often fail to realize is the cost of not pursuing our art for the sake of living comfortably.

What Jeff has done here is create a clarion call to the everyday artist living inside each of us.  The world needs you more than you know, he beckons.  Will you answer the call?

Graciously, the rest of You Are a Writer guides you through the process of achieving success in this craft.  The book was deftly divided into four sections, allowing quick reading and easy reference without breaking the experience from beginning to end.

1. Becoming a writer.
2. The truth about writing.  Tools, platform, branding, and connection.
3. How to begin.
4. Before your first book.

As I finished You Are a Writer, I found myself as I always do after reading Jeff’s work… inspired.  But this time there was something different, a true sense of clarity about how to implement the wisdom existing within it’s pages.  I choose to be a writer, and You Are a Writer is my roadmap for the journey ahead.

Visit the website for You Are a Writer

Buy now on Amazon

The City is Contagious

Photo Credit - Ravandel - Creative Commons

Empty streets, crowded alleys
not a soul to be seen
unless you know where to look.
Change is in the air
traveling as hushed whispers
and uncertain glances.
An invisible feeling is
ever-present in the hearts and minds
of those who call this home
casting shadows darker than before.
Sinister plans disguised as hope
and catalyzed with fear
abscond with our ambition and
weaken our resolve
as we feign ignorance
to avoid responsibility
for the decay and depravity
that has crept within our walls.
A black mold plaguing our foundation
that is hiding in plain sight.
Without vision cities perish
consumed by it’s residents
and reduced to ashes.
Unable to sustain life
it is abandoned and forgotten,
the ruins standing as a testament
to our pestilence.

Copyright © 2012 Cole Bradburn

Is your courage showing in your life and art?

Well… is it?

Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

I’ve been doing some of these handwritten images on facebook and twitter.  This one had a particularly great response, so I wanted to share it here and see the discussion it sparks.  Please share how your dreams have changed or been let go of and why.

Let me share with you what I believe.  

Nerve Function Chart - click to enlarge

Our spine is the connection between our brain and body.  It carries all the vital messages between the two, allowing our central nervous system to perceive our environment and adapt to it.  These messages, when properly conducted, allow us to express life, to grow, and to learn.

The spine also regulates the tension in your central nervous system.

• If your spine stays out of balance, it can put tension on your nervous system
• If you live in a state of chronic tension, then you throw your entire nervous system out of balance.

“Abnormal tension in that system distorts the expression of health and life through that nerve system.  Kind of a big deal, right?”  - Dr. Steve Tullius

Unfortunately this abnormal tension often goes undetected, but it is disturbing your ability to live to your fullest.

Why?

When perception of the environment has become distorted, your brain can no longer properly control your body’s response to that environment.  This communication breakdown interferes with your body’s ability to heal and adapt… the messages sent through the spine are garbled, like watching a static-y old antenna TV.

Your brain and body should be communicating in crystal clear 1080p HD.  When it’s not, your nervous system is not learning, growing, and adapting as it should.  Meaning, you are not fully expressing life or experiencing health.

What happens when the abnormal tension gets bad enough?  It manifests as what we call “symptoms.”  Headaches, back pain, allergies, inability to focus, low energy, etc… (see the nerve function chart above).  These signs are your body’s way of letting you know there is a failure to adapt and it needs help.

What Chiropractic Is/Isn’t

The only thing that chiropractic does is release abnormal tension and re-establish communication so you can live to your fullest and naturally heal on your own.  That is why I am so passionate about chiropractic.  It empowers people to be their best and brightest while experiencing a lifetime of health.  I can think of nothing greater.

To finish the quote from Dr. Tullius above: “Abnormal tension in that system distorts the expression of health and life through that nerve system.  Kind of a big deal, right?  Sadly, very few grasp that importance, let alone take care of their spine and have regular chiropractic check ups.”

I hope and pray that you do.

I’d love to see what you could do with an optimized nervous system

Me?  I’m going to change the world.

I just wrapped up three decades on this big blue ball hurtling through space.  Crazy, I know.  Actually comprehending that sentence propelled me on an introspective journey that I’m going to share with you.  Here we go.

Looking back to consider where I thought I would be at this point in life, I realize how expectations, dreams, and priorities change over time.  I have gone from:

• Having to be right to desiring to be influential.
• Wanting to take over the world with ideas to desiring to change the world with words.
• Being unattached to putting down roots… and loving it.

One day, I’m not sure when, the desire to truly help people instead of trying to change them was birthed in me.  I didn’t know that I was being selfish and imposing at the time, but it is easy to see in retrospect.  It was at that moment I realized that life wasn’t about me, but those around me.  Dreams changed.  Priorities changed.  Life qualitatively improved–for me, and for those I love.

I’m not going to lie, I still feel the pull of freedom and youth (no responsibilities) for fleeting moments… but that is tempered with gratefulness and enjoyment of each day.  I’ve come to learn that structure, which I initially rejected, allows an artist’s creativity to flourish more than total freedom–which can be paralyzing.  In the last ten years specifically, I’ve learned to define my boundaries and maximize creation for that space.  This is the soul of meaningful work.

There are also times when I’m trapped between who I am, who I want to be, and what the world wants or requires me to be.  This familiar tension surfaces subconsciously when I am feeling conformity or inability to change circumstance.  I think that all of us who have big dreams or live creatively feels this hard to describe, palpable pressure.  It comes in different forms, but has a singular message: Time is short, we need you now, get to work.  This urgency can be overwhelming.

But if we are defined by the choices we make, then I want to be authentically me.  That is how the world and I will change each other.

In this journey, I have discovered self-imposed limitations (are there any other kind?) that have stifled my growth.  Most are hangups from earlier in life that I thought resolved.  It turns out these failings like to creep back into life unannounced when I’m under stress or not living consciously.

• The desire for acceptance – I always liked to belong, it feels good.  Until it’s made me something I’m not.
• To be liked – On days where I didn’t necessarily like myself, it was easy to determine my self-worth by what others thought of me.  This can be addicting, and miserable.
• To prove people wrong – The “I am smarter than you and I’m going to show you in order to feel good” disease.
• To not make waves – I know, contradictory to proving people wrong, but for those I really care about I would put keeping the peace about what I knew was right.  Their feelings would be more important to me than delivering hard truth.

At one point, all these have kept me from worthwhile pursuits.  I have learned from it all, and being mindful of my purpose and remaining grateful seems to be the solution.  However, I would like to avoid becoming an uncompromising, cantankerous old man who holds contempt for everything he doesn’t support.  So here is what I’ve concluded.

• Be yourself, and let others see Christ in you through your actions.
• Live for ideals, but do so with love, forgiveness, and grace.
• Be uncompromisingly honest, but deliver it with the sincerest of intentions.
• Be friendly, but you don’t have to be everyones friend.
• Brighten people’s day, but do not let them dictate your happiness, or self-worth.

Maybe lessons from my odyssey can teach you something.  If so, please share this post.  It’s more likely that I can learn from your journey, and I invite you to leave your story or lessons in the comments.  Thank you.