Today is December 3rd, 2015. On December 3rd,2014, I posted my first #TodayIWill commitment to myself. 366 days later, my life is drastically different. It is drastically different because I made a decision to make a commitment.
I am a better Christ follower, husband, father, friend, mentor, and dreamer based on the daily commitments I have made to be better at SOMETHING every day! It has been an unstoppable force in my life that has pushed me to do things that I would have never done. Talk to people I would have never talked to. Express myself in worship unlike any way I have ever expressed. Taken risks based on faith that I have never had. Loved people… anyway. I never knew how powerful a decision could be until I made it. And then I made it the next day. And the next day. And then someone else told me they made it that day. And then someone else the next day. It all started with a decision I made sitting in a chair in our bedroom on December 3rd. Below are just a sampling of some commitments that have impacted me and how I am different now because of it.
January 8th, 2015 – #TodayIWill look every person I talk to in the eye. I use to think it was intimidation, but realize it is respect and caring for others. This simple act is so important but yet I had a wrong perception of what it conveyed. I made a commitment to improve that and it has made my relationships more meaningful. I have been able to convey more caring, interest, and confidence to others I meet face to face with. I also notice it in others now and encourage them to look others in the eye when they are speaking or listening.
January 17th, 2015 – #TodayIWill pray with my mom. Believe it or not, I had never audibly and in her company prayed with my mom. I trust God with my most precious relationships, yet I had never specifically prayed for her while holding her hand. That day I did. And we went to church the next morning, we went to the alter and I prayed with her again. My mother trusts God more today than she has in a long time. All because I made a commitment to put my awkwardness aside and overcome the uncertainty of how she would respond. We talk about our faith a lot since that day.
March 18th, 2015 –#TodayIWill be a true friend. The week leading up to this day was very difficult. I learned that being a true friend involved telling the truth even though the truth may hurt…badly. I became a better friend this day by having one of the hardest conversations I had ever had with another Christian brother. Through daily prayer (and I mean serious alone at the alter on a Tuesday afternoon prayer) and a commitment, I was able to do it. I am a better friend today because of my commitment to do something very difficult that day. I remember it like it was an hour ago. I love you brother! I hope you still know that!
March 29th,2015 – #TodayIWill not be embarrassed to raise my hands in church. It is time to get out of my comfort zone & worship freely. Will u join me? I became closer to Jesus this day. I was allowing what other people thought of me to keep me from expressing what was inside. I learned how to risk embarrassment to experience true joy. And I have not turned back since. This commitment has translated far beyond church and into every day situations where I am willing to risk embarrassment to experience joy.
April 2nd, 2015 – It was not so much what I committed to as it was seeing the impact I had on a young person. She tweeted #TodayIWill focus only on what I can change to better my life and ignore the unchangeables @TEdge73. I truly believe this is the day she let go & let God. I have seen her grow and now do things that only the power of Christ can inspire a young person to do. This was the day I knew making my own daily commitment was reaching & inspiring others.
June 5th, 2015 – #TodayIWill relentlessly pursue a life aligned to exactly who God created me to be not distracted by who the world says I ought to be #BOOM. This is the day I defined my God triangle of young people, technology,and golf. I remember writing down a paragraph of who God truly created me to be without the limitations of what the world thought I should be and specifically what we think we have to sacrifice to achieve it. I am still living that commitment today.
August 8th, 2015 – #TodayIWill remind myself … No Energy, No Excellence. Excellence in any tasks first starts with full positive energy towards it! This day I truly embraced that I had the gift of encouragement and energy. I had to use both of them to achieve excellence in my life and inspire excellence in others. I realized that people must have a foundation; must start with positive energy to achieve excellence in anything. I say No Energy, No Excellence all the time now to remind myself where it starts.
I could go on and on. As I reflect back over the last 365 days, what I have ended up doing is establish a habit of excellence. Do I crash and burn? You better believe it. Do I doubt my direction? Way more than I’d like to admit. Do I feel excellent every day? Not even close. But I realize now that commitment is the seed of habit. Excellence is achievable and maintainable when it becomes a habit.
Is #TodayIWill easy? Absolutely not. Are there times in the beginning when you will be sick and think you’ll let yourself skip a day? Yep. But commitment says you don’t . There are people depending on you. You just don’t realize it yet. But you will. Make a decision today to make a commitment and get it after it. And wake up in the morning, and get after it again. And the next day when you’re sick, your spouse in a moment of weakness doesn’t trust you, your dad has quadruple bypass heart surgery, you are in a foreign country, or you have completely failed at being a dedicated follower of Jesus … look yourself in the eyes of your heart & get after it again. The only thing standing in the way of you becoming an unstoppable force of love & excellence is a decision to commit!
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