Showing Up!

Archery, Bullseye!

How do you show up? Are you the one 37 minutes early, fully prepared, and organized? Or are you 4 minutes late, in your pajamas, 2 different socks on, and have no clue what’s going on? How about you—are physically present, but your mind is not there?

Those are 3 examples, but I am sure you can figure out your own unique mix of traits on how you show up to an event, but the real question is how are you showing up in life?

I used to just show up, do what I had to do, but with no drive to better myself. I felt empty, sad a lot of the time, and hopeless. Don’t get me wrong from the outside, I was doing pretty well. Wonderful wife, a couple of sons, nice house, lots of toys, etc. On the inside, it was a completely different story. I was just empty. I had no drive to succeed. I had believed the lie that I was incapable of success, or at least any more success than I had already achieved.

What changed me was the realization of the fact that I have no limits on my life. In order to use that freedom fully, I had to change my thought process to align more with God’s view of me. He sees me as a perfect creation, capable of anything I put my mind to, intelligent, and a man of integrity. My goal is to live up to that vision of myself.

I fall short a lot of times. I am far from perfect, I make mistakes every day, and I struggle daily to do the things I need to do to become closer to that vision. That doesn’t mean, that I give up and say, “I fell short today, I guess I will never get better.” NO!! I get up and take intentional steps to make every day the best It can be. 

I get up early, get some exercise, I pray, I recently started a challenge and read my bible and write in a journal every day. I am trying to start my day right so that I can control the day and not have the day control me! Let me tell you, that is life changing. I am more pleasant to be around, I am much more productive, and just generally in a better mood. Do I want to wake up at 5am? No, I don’t, but it is worth it. I also received some life coaching that showed me some blind spots I had in my life. It was well worth the effort as well.

So, how do you show up in life? Really do a hard look at yourself and see what you are doing well at, and also what you could be doing a little better. Be honest with yourself. If you can’t see anything wrong with what you are doing, ask someone you can trust to be honest with you, because everyone has areas that they could be better at. The vulnerability, as uncomfortable as it can be, will be well worth it. Trust me. 

Proverbs 15:31

“If you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise.”