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THIS WEEK’S GOSPEL IS JOHN 7:37-39
We’re all hungry for something. The world will tell you to satisfy that hunger with a million things—money, power, lust, the newest gadget…but it doesn’t work. Luckily, God has a different answer. Watch today’s video now for a real and lasting solution that will fill you with a new sense of hope.
Since Aristotle first spoke of “the good life” almost 2,500 years ago, it seems everyone has been on a quest to experience it. I have heard many people speak about it and I have read many books on the subject. Some people think it’s about success and accomplishment. Others think it’s about money and things. Some think it’s about love and family. Others think it’s about food, wine, travel, adventure, education, meaningful work, independence, friendship, and pleasure.
There’s nothing wrong with these things, unless these things are all you’ve got. Because even all of these things together will not deliver the good life.
There is only one ingredient essential to the good life. So essential that without it, the good life is impossible. You would think that such an ingredient would be widely sought after. It isn’t. You might think that such an ingredient is scarce. It isn’t. You may think this ingredient is expensive. It isn’t. You may think people would be clamoring to get their hands on it. They aren’t.
When people talk about the good life, you get the impression that it is mysterious and only available to a select few people. This isn’t true.
There is no secret to the good life. It isn’t a mystery. No exceptional talent is required. It isn’t only for the rich and famous. It is available to everyone, everywhere, at all times.
What is the essential ingredient of the good life? Goodness itself. The secret to the so-called good life has always been right before our very eyes. If you wish to live the good life, fill your life with goodness. Fill your life with love, kindness, gratitude, compassion, and generosity.
Take risks with your goodness. Test the limits of your goodness. Don’t just love, astonish people with your love. Don’t just dabble in generosity, live a life of staggering generosity.
How would your life change if your only goal was to do as much good as possible? Let’s find out. Don’t let this question remain unanswered. Celebrate goodness every chance you get.
Don’t waste your gold dust.
Matthew Kelly
From Life is Messy
How Many Sundays Do You Have Left? Don’t Waste Your One Short Life
“My brother Simon is thirteen years older than I am. When I was a child, he used to sell life insurance, and he later went on to become a financial adviser. I dedicated my book The Dream Manager to him, because in many ways he was the first person to play this role in my life in a more formal way. He has a lot of stories, analogies, and paradigms that he uses to illustrate his philosophy about life and business. This is one of my favorites:
How many Sundays do you have left?
I am 48 years old. The actuaries at life insurance companies tell us that on average an American male lives to 78. On average an American female lives to 81. These life-expectancy statistics are always changing. For example, in the year 1900 the average life expectancy was just 31 years.
Anyway, Simon loves to talk about how many Sundays are left. At 48 years of age with a life expectancy of 78, I have 1,560 Sundays left. It sounds like a lot, but they go quickly.
As Simon loves to say, “Don’t waste a single Sunday. If you don’t waste Sundays, you will be less likely to waste Mondays Tuesdays, Wednesdays…”
BREAK the Habit of Just Surviving – Matthew Kelly
“We have real and legitimate needs, but too often we focus on our wants and sacrifice our needs.
Our legitimate needs are best understood in relation to each of the four aspects of the human person—physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. These needs exist not only in these different areas, but also on different levels.
There are some things we need simply to survive. We call these primary needs, and this category includes the fundamentals that are necessary to sustain human life. Examples of primary needs would be food to eat, water to drink, and air to breathe. Without these primary legitimate needs, our lives would very quickly be brought to a grinding halt. Our primary needs are fundamental to our existence. We need them just to survive.
But life is not just about surviving, it’s about thriving, about becoming the-best-versions-of-ourselves.
Our secondary needs are not critical to our survival. We can survive without them for years in many cases. But they are essential if we are going to thrive in any (or all) of the four aspects of our lives. When our secondary needs are being fulfilled, we begin to blossom and bloom as human beings. The satisfaction of our secondary needs allows us to achieve and maintain optimum health and well-being. Among them would be needs such as regular exercise, a balanced diet, and healthy relationships.
Every day we attend to our primary needs—those things necessary merely to sustain our existence. In many cases we do this without even thinking about it. You don’t have to remind yourself to breathe, you just breathe. You have made a habit of breathing. You do it now by instinct. Similarly, you eat and drink several times a day. You probably don’t have to think too much about it. Eating and drinking have also become a habit for you. You are in the habit of surviving. You take care of your primary needs, because you have to.
On the other hand, we often neglect our secondary needs, either because we are too busy or too lazy or we simply don’t consider them urgent.
The question is, are you satisfied being in the habit of surviving, or are you ready to get into the habit of thriving?
For a moment, think about each of the four areas: physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Which are you thriving in and which are you just surviving in?
Our secondary needs are the key to thriving. They may not seem urgent in light of the 105 things you have on your to-do list today, but they are probably more important than anything on that list.
The first step in our quest to become the-best-version-of-ourselves is to define our legitimate needs. The second step is to create a lifestyle that fulfills those legitimate needs.
We all have legitimate needs. The fulfillment of these needs is one of the very practical ways we can learn to embrace our essential purpose. If we are wise enough to seek their counsel, our legitimate needs will advise us what is necessary to maintain health of body, heart, mind, and spirit.”
The most practical wisdom I have ever received about prayer was from an old priest many years ago, when I was first starting to take my spiritual journey seriously. The initial excitement had worn off and I was experiencing the early signs of dryness and desolation in prayer. Our natural and very human reaction is to wonder what we are doing wrong when prayer doesn’t “feel good.” We often aren’t doing anything wrong, and prayer should never be judged by how it makes us feel. Prayer isn’t about feelings.
“Just keep showing up,” the old priest said to me. When I asked him what he meant, he replied, “I’m speaking plainly. No hidden meanings, boy. Just keep showing up. Show up each day regardless of how you feel or if it is convenient. Just show up and let God work on you.” Matthew Kelly
Becoming Perfectly Yourself
You Were Created for a Purpose: DREAM Like it! – Matthew Kelly
“Before the beginning of time, when you were just a dream, your purpose had already been assigned. Purposefully created, and created for a purpose, you are here at this very moment to become the-best-version-of-yourself—not to become some poor imitation of your parents, your friends, your siblings, or your colleagues— but to become perfectly yourself.
Life is not about doing and having; it is about becoming.
Could you have a better dream for your children than to want them to become the-best-version-of-themselves? Could you have a better dream for your spouse than to want him or her to become the-best-version-of-him-or herself? It is the ultimate dream— and when we turn our attention to living this dream, our lives are flooded with energy, enthusiasm, passion, purpose, and a real and sustainable joy. It is time to start living this dream.
When we are healthy in a holistic sense, or in any one aspect of our lives, we are driven by this dream to become the-best-version-of-ourselves. Why are there so many products and programs available that help people transform different areas of their lives? Because there is an enormous demand for them. Marketers know that people have this insatiable desire to improve themselves. This desire is what drives us when we are healthiest.”