6 Life lessons I have learned this Summer

Sometimes while I am driving home from work I think about how my choices have led me to a good place in life. I am still working on a lot of things and I am still learning to better myself more in spirit and character than anything else lately and by doing that it leads to success in other areas of my life. So here we go. 

Lesson 1: BE TEACHABLE

There is a quote in a biography about Coco Chanel that says something like; you're proud- you'll suffer. Well guess what, I was. In certain areas of my life I don't like admitting to not knowing or not being able to do something so I just either ignore it or act like I do know about whatever it is. For example, I have been shooting archery for years and years. I thought I knew what I was doing. I had been hunting successfully. But I had what is called target panic because when I'd look at a target with rings on it...or for a time just when I pulled the bow back I dreaded it because I felt rushed and that I had to shoot RIGHT NOW. I never told anyone until recently when I asked a volunteer who had been shooting a lot longer than I had about what I needed to fix. And then I had to shoot my bow in front of people- another thing I dreaded. By doing that he noticed what I was doing wrong and it was things I could easily correct with some practice and now I have never felt more confident in my shooting and it will only keep getting better.

Lesson 2: Your hobbies are not your identity

If you put your identity in the hands on your hobbies what happens when you mess up? Does it crush you like it did me? That is what happened all the time by messing up with archery or even when I did good that would be my identity. A failure or a success. But in the back of my mind I would wonder if I can keep repeating that success or if it would come back to failure. It is not a sustainable thing because it changes all the time. And you know what- it doesn't even matter. I gave an activity that I like to do so much power over me that it wasn't fun anymore. So I gave that power back to God, because my identity is in him and he never changes. He sees me as a wonderful creation, his daughter, and so precious he died for me. He sees you that way too. And after I did that archery just became a fun activity again. My shots no longer define me and I have room to get better and give myself grace with it. These first two have to deal with archery but can be applied to soooo many aspects of my life. 

Lesson 3: A quiet and gentle spirit 

This may make some women mad at me but a quiet and gentle spirit far outweighs one of a loud and dominating one. In the Bible it refers to women in this verse but gentleness is a fruit of the spirit that everyone should practice. In 1 Peter 3:4 it says “But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.”  It is also very precious to the people who interact with us because that is the type of person folks feel comfortable around. When I was teaching classes this Summer I was told so many times that they liked my classes, it was a very calm vibe and that they felt comfortable around me to teach them, their kids, and to ask questions and learn from me. I make people feel like it is okay to learn- I still am, too! A quiet and gentle spirit makes it easy to get along with everyone even in a conflicting situation. It makes it easier to forgive and keep the same attitude before problems even happen. 

Lesson 4: The fruits of the spirit should be used everyday

Those of you that don't know what I am talking about here it is: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law" - Galatians 5:22-23. There is no law against these things because no matter what you believe everyone likes things like peace, joy, love etc. In every situation I try to bring these fruits to the table. I should be faithful, then people see me as trustworthy and reliable. I should have patience, I am no doctor but things take time so don't rush. And self-control is great in whatever life throws at you. Be kind to everyone and the greatest of these is love. I love people and that helps when I would teach a class. I like them to be happy and want to learn about things to do outside. It must come across good because at the end of archery classes people clap for me and say they can tell I enjoy what I am doing. That makes them have a better experience too is when you like your work. 

Lesson 5: Work hard

Well this is obvious but at your job you should work hard. It is always easier to do when you think about it that you are working for God and not for men. Oh do I have to pull weeds? Well this is God's Earth, he put us here to take care of it and tend the garden he made. We aren't in the garden but work is still good for us. When we work hard we can feel good about our accomplishments and not be bored through the day. 

Lesson 6: If it makes someone happy and is a few steps out of you way just do it and get some exercise. 

What I mean by that is if you are going to the store to get cheesecake because it sounds good and you see a big one that a lot of people could enjoy with you just get that one and share it. Chances are is that cheesecake will sound good to other people too and it might just make their day a whole lot better. It was a little more expensive but to make so many people happy is worth it. The more you do (exercise) acts like this the easier it will become until you just start thinking about other people as much as you do yourself.