Advisors and mentors, both alike, will tell you that you should give some thoughts about what you are about to do, make good choices, do the right thing, or some other positive encouragement. I like to add, what you can live with without regrets.  

Life is full of choices. Some are as easy as sleeping on the left side of the bed or the right side. Others are much more serious such as purchasing a house at your first assignment, knowing that you are going to be constantly reassigned. “For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 2:10).

In the poem, The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost, he gives some excellent antidotes about decision making. “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

He could have taken the other path that seemed more travelled but he did not. His biographer states that he was a loaner by default. He felt comfortable within himself to be non-popular by choosing the path that seemed less crowded.

Making decisions is an important part of life, and there are many factors to consider when making a decision. By following these three steps— defining the problem, gathering information, and considering the consequences—you will be better equipped to make informed decisions that align with your values and goals. https://medium.com (Feb 14,2023).

So as in life, you will find that those who feel that they have support or backers are more willing to take chances, whereas those who do not are more guarded in their decision making. There are no guarantees that the choice you made are going to bring you total happiness.

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before your life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

There is not a single person, including myself, who has not had to deal with disappointment at one time or another. Some more than once or twice. However, unpleasant as disappointments may be, we can always learn something from them.

Many people successfully work through their disappointments. They somehow, have the willpower to pause, regroup, take stock of what has happened to them, learn from the incident, and move on. They come out of such disappointments stronger.

Some people seek to avoid disappointment by turning into underachievers. They set the bar low and avoid taking risks, to prevent themselves or others from being disappointed. Their strategy is not to have high expectations about anything. This could lead to a mediocre and unfulfilled life.

Others, follow a very different path, seek to avoid disappointment by becoming overachievers. Although they tell themselves that their expectations of perfection are appropriate and realistic, the bar can be set too high to ever make whatever they want to achieve attainable.

Also, there are people with a more balanced developmental history. Their parents didn’t try to be perfect, and didn’t expect their children to be perfect. By being “good enough” parents, they created a secure base for their children.

These children feel secure in their relationships, supported rather than controlled, and are able to play, explore, and learn, thereby acquiring the inner strength to cope constructively with the inevitable setbacks that will come their way in their journey through life.

Disappointment is not meant to destroy us. If taken in stride, it can strengthen us and make us better. In spite of its devastating emotional impact, we may even consider encounters with disappointment as journeys toward greater insight and wisdom. This is what the New Testament Scripture says about it.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance (James 1:1-3). Trusting God through our trials pushes us toward the Christ-like maturity of trusting God more, and more deeply, and with greater endurance (James 1:12).

Overthinking involves thinking about a certain topic or situation excessively, analyzing it for long periods of time. When you overthink, you have a hard time getting your mind to focus on anything else. What you are thinking about gets in a loop. Research suggests that overthinking is associated with feelings of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

You are sometimes left thinking that you can conquer anything. This used to make me a poor test taker. Instead of looking at just the questions as they were asked and answer them, I thought about that which was not there. Most times it was because of the fear of making a mistake.

In fact, the longer you think about something, the less time and energy you have to take productive action. Plus, thinking about all the things you could have done differently, second-guessing your decisions, and continuously imagining worst-case scenarios can be exhausting. So, you just give up.

You might try to convince yourself that thinking longer and harder helps you. After all, you’re looking at a problem from every possible angle. But overanalyzing and obsessing actually becomes a barrier. Much research has shown that thinking too much makes it tough to make decisions. Very little is accomplished.  

One way to avoid overthinking a subject is to incorporate Scripture and prayer into one’s thoughts. The psalmists give us excellent examples of this.  “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, your consolations delight my soul” (Psalms 94:19).

Many of the psalms were written by overthinkers who were facing danger, emotional unrest, fear, or despair. They boldly wrote out their anxious thoughts and then turned them into the worship of God.   

Satan capitalizes on our inclination to overthink by creating doubts and fears about spiritual things. Some Christians who overthink have difficulty resting in their salvation because they over-analyze their grace-based relationship with God rather than resting in “the simplicity that is in Christ”. We may think that we have gotten so far away from God that He cannot use us.

You hear it all of the time, “Patience is a virtue”, but what does it mean? A proverbial phrase that reminds the listener or reader about the societal and moral value of waiting to get what they want until a more convenient time. Some see it as a choice, only to be carefully taken.

The role of patience in our life isn’t exclusively individual. Being patient also helps you develop strong, healthy, long-lasting relationships. Your relationships with friends, family, and coworkers thrive when you practice patience. We may not be born into a perfect family, but we are stuck with them.

Patient people may also experience fewer negative emotions. That’s because with patience, you’re better equipped to deal with stressful and challenging moments in life. This helps your overall mental health and well-being.

Patient people may have an easier time being empathetic, kind, cooperative, and selfless. Being compassionate when others make mistakes helps create relationships where flaws are accepted. If you can’t change something, change how you feel about it.

However, it’s important to understand that patience isn’t transactional. When you are patient with a person, don’t expect them to do the same. Patience is about sustaining and bettering relationships — sometimes holding onto your own sanity.

Patience in the Bible is the ability to endure difficult people and situations without giving into anger or giving up hope. Because God continues to show us patience when we are doing disappointing things, we can show others patience when they disappoint us. 

“You also must be patient. Keep your hopes high, for the day of the Lord’s coming is near.” “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

“Also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts.

A fact is a thing that is known or proven to be true. However, in this case we are talking mostly about the person who is rambling on about whatever subject/subjects they are talking about, and the other person is just wanting them to get to the point quickly, so they can go on their way.

Some attribute the phrase to Joe Friday, the protagonist of the Dragnet radio and TV series. In his investigations as a police detective, he would run into eccentric, talkative, emotional people but he remained unflappable and tried to keep them from going off on tangents.

However, it’s often claimed that the actual phrase never came out of Friday’s mouth on Dragnet but instead derived from Stan Freberg’s parody record “St. George and the Dragonet.” Point taken.  

“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”, John Adams, in defense of British soldiers in the 1770 Boston Massacre.

Some ramblers enjoy the attention that comes from people listening to them. They could be attention hogs, or even people that just don’t get enough attention in general, and they can be trickier. When all else fails, you need to just avoid them. If at all possible. 

As a youngster growing up in South Georgia, I used to set my clock every day to listen to Paul Harvey. At his peak. He had about 22 million listeners on some 1,300 stations. I did not always understand what he was talking about or his views, but it was short and succinct.  

The bible has a few words about facts. “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29).

Today we have a tendency to blame technology for the majority of our communication problems. Why, because those having technical skills can sway millions of people of a narrative that may or may not be true in a matter of seconds.  And since the information is never really destroyed, someone can find it and keep it going long after the originators have gone on to another narrative.

Hearing is a sense. Listening is a skill. However, listening (not) has been the action of humans for as long as there has been written history. It has been demonstrated in the writings of poets and even scripture writers. We have a tendency to talk too much, too quickly, for whatever reason; more than we listen.

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit there of” (Proverbs 18:21). The tongue can be used as a weapon to harm and destroy or as a tool to build and heal.  Today, we could add fingers (key strokes). Cunning, mean people have a tendency to use both tongue and fingers. 

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” This quote is attributed to Epictetus, a Greek philosopher who spent his youth as a slave in Rome before gaining freedom after the death of Nero, under whom he served until around 60 AD.” http://www.nordangliaedu nordangliaeducation.com.

“Understand this, my brothers and sisters. Let everyone be quick to hear [be careful, thoughtful listener], slow to speak [a speaker of carefully chosen words and,] slow to anger [patient, reflective, forgiving]; for the [resentful, deep-seated] anger of man/woman does not produce the righteousness of God [that standard of behavior which He requires from us].” (James 1:19).

These scriptures have been very helpful for me. “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27). One of my principals reminded us that when we received an angry message from a parent, to answer it but do not send.

It has saved my marriage, friendships, and other relationships as well. I am reminded of an incident where a passenger was cursing out the porter at the bus station. When it was my turn, I asked the porter why he did not get angry. He replied, “he is going to Philadelphia, but his bags are going to Albuquerque. 

The new me would have tried to get him to go back, apologize, and give a large tip. We have to constantly remind ourselves that there are sometimes dire consequences for our negative behavior. It’s called Karma.

Proverbs 26:27 says “whoever digs a pit will fall in it, and a stone will come back on him/her who starts it rolling. “

Many of you, including me have made New Year’s Resolutions. Twelve days have pasted and you are already behind, and wishing that you had chosen another task. Why, because you got caught up in the moment and made a decision too quickly.  I am here to tell you that it is not too late to pick up where you left off, or change it to something within reach.

It took me many years before I was able to start writing. I felt like a failure at every year’s end because I had not done what I said I wanted to do. I wanted to write a book.  It did not dawn on me to do something else. Then one day I receive a phone call, during the pandemic, from one of my fellow Chaplains in the Civil Air Patrol (USAF Auxiliary).

I had finished a unit of CPE (Chaplains Pastoral Education) at one of the hospitals just before the pandemic.  During the pandemic, not even chaplains were allowed to be with the ill and dying patients. They had to do it remotely. One of the saddest times is when someone has been ill a long time, had lots of visitors, and dies alone. Sometimes the last visitors just left.

He told me how painful it was to not be able to physically spend time with the one he had loved so many years. So, he decided to write a blog in order to convey his feelings within himself and to others. This was the catalyst that pushed me to write a blog. It was a deviation, but you write books in parts, chapters, at different times.

“Our human tendency is to quit too soon. To stop before crossing the finished line. It shows up in the smallest of things—a partly cleaned room, a half-read book, or abandoned weight loss plan. Or it shows up in life’s most painful areas like a cold faith; a wrecked marriage, an un-evangelized world” Max Lucado.com.

 Sometimes you have to tweak your resolutions. The bible doesn’t teach quitting. James 5:11 says, “Behold, we count them happy which endure.” “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

It has been said that a teachable spirit is a key trait for success with God and men/women. Both King David and Solomon emphasized it. We are born ignorant, so we must be taught everything. Growth requires change, and change requires criticism and reformation.

When I started my blog, Blogging with Jerry in 2021, it was birthed to inspire others to take a chance at moving forward from their past of fear to a time when they could be the person that they had desired to be. It is my prayer that I have done that without swaying too much.

Since then, I am happy to say that I have written over 50 posts. I have leaned toward one of the phrases that Dr. Doug Chatham, a professor at Beula Heights University (seminary) used to say often. “Lord, give me a teachable Spirit.”   

As the book of Proverbs was being introduced, King Solomon listed the various intents of this collection of wise sayings. But in the midst of those purposes, he inserted this challenge, “Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance” (Proverbs 1:5).

Stop being a “know it all.” Even when you know something allow the other person to impart their knowledge or opinion. There may come a time when you are on your road to failure, with all sorts of spectators around who could steer you in the way of success, but allow you to continue on your way.

Why, because no one appreciates a know it all. They may tolerate you. Most of the Worlds experts know almost everything there is to know about one thing, or species. In Beetles of the world, Maxwell Barclay and Patrice Bouchard— two of the world’s foremost beetle experts. They are entomologist, called A Coleopterist.

‘It is impossible for a man/woman to learn what he thinks he already knows (Epictetus).” Don’t underestimate the power of passion, it gives wings to a dream, makes the impossible possible, and turns obstacles into opportunities.”

If you did not do well on your last year’s resolutions, and want to a head start on your next New Year’s Resolution, make it a point to surround yourselves with positive minded people. “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones (Proverbs 17:22)”.