In Acts, the bible relates what happened when the day of Pentecost came.

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 

(NIV, Acts 2:1-2)

What is interesting about this event to me is when the day came, the sound was sudden.

Tony Robbins, a world-renowned speaker, has said that change happens in an instant. He has talked about clients who had been contemplating breaking a habit, smoking for example, and could not seem to do so. Then a life-changing event happened and suddenly they quit.

Or have you had a relationship that was trying your sanity or a habit you had been wanting to break, a trauma occurred, or you become fed-up, then suddenly you ended the relationship or broke the habit? Or have you ever been working on a project for a while not knowing when you will get your intended result and suddenly you got your breakthrough?

What happened? The day came. But that day would not have come if that incentive was not repeated, you did not keep on showing up or you did not keep doing the required actions. You do not know when your first or next suddenly will happen. It is said the darkest hour is just before dawn.

Persist until your suddenly.

When we reflect on our lives, we are likely to notice the big and obvious things for which we should be grateful.

Yet sometimes, we take for granted the little and unseen things and miss the opportunity to be thankful nonetheless. Like, the fender bender on the road we did not know we avoided, the grief we were unaware we missed by passing on a particular meeting or relationship or avoiding a headache we could not have imagined by not landing a position we wanted.

So, let us continue to remain grateful daily. Today, Thanksgiving is a reminder to do so.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! 🍇

If you have ever visited a waterfall, you would agree that it is an awesome sight. I once visited Niagara Falls and took the boat ride toward the sheet of falling water. All passengers were covered with blue raincoats. The closer we got, the more excited I became to witness the falls up close. Interestingly, when we got close enough, I could no longer perceive the water falling but just a white sheet. Fascinating, I thought.

The largest waterfall is said to be Victoria Falls, located in Southern Africa. It measures 360 feet high (one football field), 5,603 feet wide (15 football fields) and its highest recorded flow rate was 444,965 cubic feet per second (about 200 million gallons per minute). It has even been included as one of the seven wonders of the world.

Would you believe the largest waterfall is really in the ocean? It is located below the Denmark Strait and, its flow rate is estimated to be over 55 billion gallons per minute. This is over 275 times more gallons per minute than Victoria Falls. It measures 11,500 feet high (about 32 football fields).

Hoover Dam generates 4.2 billion kilowatts per hour of hydroelectric power, which converts to 114 million gallons. Victoria Falls would generate almost two times more electricity than Hoover Dam but the falls under the Denmark Strait would generate about 482 times more electricity than the Dam. That would be enough hydroelectricity to power New York City about 34.5 times. Amazing!

This is a stirring reminder to me that we serve a humongous God. I am sure that since He was able to manage such grandiose creations, He can handle whatever little issues by comparison, we take to Him.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon, and the stars, which you have set in place; what is man that you think of him, and a son of man that you are concerned about him?

(NASB, Psalm 8:3-4)

In “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Steven Covey’s fifth habit is Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood. It is said that we see the world not as it is, but as we are. So, the fifth habit advocates striving to first understand how someone else sees the world before expecting them to attempt to see it from our viewpoint.

To illustrate how our own perspective often appears to be reality, look at the picture below and guess the age of the woman. If you saw a young one, you’d expect that your neighbor would see the same. Conversely, if you saw an old woman, you expect your neighbor to see that one.

In an experiment to test what woman participants saw, they were divided into two groups. One group was shown only the young person and the other only the old one. When both pictures were combined, those conditioned to see the one they were shown earlier, saw only that one. Group one expected group two to see their picture and group two expected group one to see their picture. If not, the other group was wrong. Imagine how much more ingrained certain beliefs are after years of programming.

By seeking first to understand your neighbor, friend or loved one, you are positioning yourself on their side of the table seeking to perceive the image from where they sit. Which woman do they see and why, so to speak. This more easily enables them to regard you as an ally. You may not always agree, which is not necessarily the objective anyway. But they feel validated in their position. Think of the tensions that can be eased and barriers that can be broken in communication among people and even countries if this was used frequently.

Today, try it. Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

Not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interest of the others.

(NIV, Philippians 2:4)

In a Native American legend, it is told that one evening, a Cherokee elder was teaching his grandson about life.

“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. This battle that goes on between the two wolves is inside us all.

One wolf is Evil. He is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

He continued, “The other is Good. He is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” Wisely, the grandfather simply smiled and replied, “The one you feed.”

Practices that satisfy one wolf over the other is determined by having the right mindset

While I was on active duty in the military, we undertook physical training that at times pushed us to the limit. Trainers were there to test and push service members to strengthen more than just our bodies, but our minds. So, when we get into the harsh conditions of combat, we’d be more likely to survive because we would not have lost the battle in our minds.

Daily we engage in mental battles. They occur at work, school, home, or traffic, in perceived threats, conflict, temptations, or tests among others. When our minds are strong, we increase the likelihood of exhibiting the courage needed to consistently feed the right wolf, even when the wrong one may be distracting us.

Three of twelve ways to strengthen our brain according to Dr. Daniel Amen, MD, in his article on BrainMD entitled “12 Ways to Strengthen Your Brain” are,

1. Dedicate yourself to new learning.
2. Improve your skills at things you already do.
3. Break the routine of your life to stimulate new parts of your brain.

For God has not given us a spirt of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

(NKJV, 2 Timothy 1:7)