The Light

(c) Staci Stallings, 2004

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:104

My dad always says that God doesn't put the light on your head so you can see way out into the future, He puts it at your feet so you can see the next step. While doing a walk recounting Jesus' journey to Calvary, I was with a large group of women. The walk began at dusk and continued as the light around us faded and slowly vanished.

The leaders had given each of us a battery-operated candle. A single light. I hadn't used mine most of the trip-preferring to walk the pseudo-journey up the Via Dolorosa in the dimming light as the world shut itself off around me.

Then as we rounded the curve after Jesus was crucified and on the way to see Him laid in the tomb, I realized that the older lady next to me was holding her candle closer to the walkway in an apparent attempt to see so she would not stumble. Immediately I took my candle out of my pocket and turned it on to help.
Unfortunately those candles were made to inspire the soul-not to light darkened walkways. My mind immediately said, "Gee, Stace, fat lotta good your puny little candle did." At that moment from directly behind me, someone turned on a mega-watt flashlight, and the whole walk was clearly visible.

In that instant, I got it. I don't have to light the whole way for those around me. All I have to do is turn my candle on, and Jesus' light will be right there to back me up. I simply must have the courage to believe in His light rather than my own so that I never think that I have to do it all myself. It was a lesson I needed to hear, and one I'm eternally glad He sent me on a walk through the gift He gave me.

~*~*~
Blessings & Peace! Staci

I'll Win It For You

(c) Staci Stallings, 2003

The game was tight. Archrivals had faced off for three and a half periods in a seesaw battle that was going down to the wire. As the clock ticked down, the two sides traded the lead back and forth. Neither could be assured of victory because with the game so close, anything could happen.

From the sideline, the coach watched his team getting more and more apprehensive as the seconds ticked away. They were missing shots they never missed. They were missing opportunities they didn't miss. Even their body language said, "This is bad. We might lose this one."

With less than a minute left, the coach called a time out. Now he knew that every girl on that court had been over the plays a million times. They didn't need elaborate help to set up a play for a last second win. They needed to calm down and play the way they knew how to play. So when they bent into that huddle, the coach told them something more than a little unconventional. "Go out there. Play the game. Have fun. Do your best, and I'll win it for you."

No pressure instructions. No you have to win this or we lose to our rivals. No anxiety-inducing strategy. Simply, "Go play, and I'll win it for you."

To my way of thinking, that was an audacious statement because in reality, it wouldn't be the coach taking the shot that would win or lose the game. He would be standing on the sideline with no direct control whatsoever. However, this coach knew something about the training these girls had been through, and he knew without a doubt they could do it. The problem was they didn't know they could do it, and so, he let them rely not on themselves for the win but on him.

The amazing thing to me when I really started thinking about this statement is that what that coach told his team is exactly what Jesus tells each one of us: "Go out there. Play the game. Have fun. Do your best, and I'll win it for you."

We think it's all on us-that we have to get everything right, do everything perfectly, or our "win" will never materialize. In fact, we get sucked into this mentality that Heaven may be just out of our reach no matter what we do. However, I think the reality is that Jesus is the coach standing on the sideline having full faith that we can do everything He's trained us to do. We can love just like He's shown us. We can give; we can live-not because we can do it on our own but because He's right there, and He has faith that we have been given everything we need to win through Him.

I'm sure you know the end of the story. When the buzzer sounded, the team who had just gone out, had fun, and done their best was victorious.

One day the final buzzer of your life will sound, and the question at that moment will be this: Did you allow Jesus to be your coach? Did have faith that He would win the game for you-or are you still trying to win it yourself? It's a question worth contemplating.

~*~*~
Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

Thoughts on the Road to Emmaus

(c) Staci Stallings, 2003

". . . their eyes were opened, and they recognized him . . ." -Luke 24:31

Two friends-people who had known Jesus, who had walked with Him, talked with Him, and eaten meals with Him every day for three years didn't recognize Him even on a long walk down a dusty road. Have you ever wondered about that? I have. How could that possibly be?

The reality is: the disciples were looking at a man who happened to be traveling along the same road they were. They did not see Jesus because they did not expect to see Jesus.

How many times on our walks through life do we not see Jesus? How many times do we talk with a co-worker or a parent or a child or a friend or even someone we have never met before and fail to recognize that this person holds a precious piece of Our Lord and Savior within them? And because we don't recognize Jesus in them, we treat them not as we would treat Jesus, but as just our friend, or just our co-worker, or just our child.

It must make Jesus terribly sad that for all our flowery words and pious presumptions, we still do not recognize Him in each other.

Moreover, consider this: Is it possible that in religious settings, we look at one another, and instead of seeing Jesus, we see only the other person's religion, their label? And because we don't see Jesus, we say, "You are so obviously not spiritual-look, you stand when we are kneeling, or you use crucifixes instead of picturing the risen Lord, or you pray to statues and icons instead of to the living God, or you don't have our label, and so, obviously God is not going to let you into His kingdom."

Thus, we spend so much time questioning each other's commitment to Jesus and so much time fighting over man-made rules and laws that we forget about those people who are lost and hurting. We forget to do God's real work-ministering to those who are hungry for His word and His truths to come into their lives. Instead, having been seduced by Satan to believe that God's kingdom is some kind of exclusive club, we spend our time fighting with each other about who is going to get in and completely fail to see that the world is going to hell around us.

However, we have the choice to open our eyes and commit ourselves to do God's work here on earth. Rather than judging, we can reach out to the lost souls-not by telling them about God's love, but by showing them how great God's love is. Witnessing by how we live and how we treat one another, so that they look to us and say, "I want to be like them. I want what they have." And then maybe God's grace will touch their hearts and make them ask, "How do I get it? What do they have that I don't?"

But living this way hinges on whether or not we see Jesus in every single person we happen to walk down a path with in our day-to-day lives. When we look at another person, do we see someone who is worthy of Christ's message? Someone whom God loves beyond measure? Do we see Jesus Himself-lost, hurting, and alone? Or do we see just another person.

I tell you truly, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. -Matthew 25:45
Think about the inherent admonition in these words. Our goal should be to treat others not as we want to be treated but as we would treat Jesus Himself. That is God's real work. We are commissioned to spend our time ministering to God's children-rather than trying to improve our status in His eyes or to impress one another.

By opening our eyes to Jesus' presence in the those around us, we will come to see His spirit manifesting in our own lives. And thus we can say as the disciples did at the conclusion to the Emmaus story,

"Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road . . ."-Luke 24:32

Open your eyes. This opportunity is with you right now. Don't waste this chance to get to know the Jesus who is in your midst at this very moment.

*~*~*~
Staci has a special project in need of prayers. If you'd like to light a virtual candle in support of this dream to see one of Staci's books on the big screen, go to: http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=cwby Click on a candle and walk through the instructions. I would be honored to have you all praying too!

When Evil Turns

(c) Staci Stallings, 2006

Have you ever noticed how beautiful evil is the first time you encounter it? It looks fun and exciting, like the answer to all of your problems. Whether it's that first drink, that large bag of chips, that joint-or even those less obvious introductions-like that first time a little lie will remedy a situation and "no one will ever know," or that first time tired seems more important than church, or that first time you realize your friends all curse and you join in to feel a part of something. Boy, do you feel big. It's as if for the first time in your life, you finally fit in. Yes, this finally is the answer you've been looking for.

If and when you take that first step toward evil, the next is much easier, and the next easier than that. Evil looks at you softly, knowing it has you already, but wanting only to lead you further, deeper into the darkness. It never shows you the darkness to which you are heading, instead it holds out false light, false beliefs, false hope. It will convince you one experience at a time that yes, indeed you have finally found "the answer." It will convince you that this, finally, will take away all the bad things in your life. It will help you to escape from feeling separated, alone, and scared. It will make you feel like somebody.

Oh, yes. Evil looks beautiful-at first.

I've always sensed this fact. I've always kind of known that evil doesn't look evil the first time we encounter it, the first time it tempts us toward its side. However, that understanding was never put into so concrete terms until I saw "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe." In the movie, as in the book, the character of Edmund stumbles into the realm of the Witch, who is evil personified perfectly. She is not a hideous, deformed creature. No, she is beautiful in an icy, sinister way.

At their first meeting, the Witch instantly sizes Edmund up as the way she can get what she wants-a way to kill those who are meant to destroy her. But rather than demand anything from Edmund, instead she "sweetens him up" literally. She feeds him beautiful, delicious Turkish Delights. And while she feeds his body empty magic, she feeds his mind empty magic as well. If he will just be on her side, if he will bring his brother and sisters to her, she will not only give him more Turkish Delight, she will make him a king with his brother as his servant.

This, of course, sounds wonderful to Edmund as it does to us. You see for me, the Turkish Delight was success, achievement, and accomplishment; and being a queen meant my work would be recognized and revered. Now, the insidious thing about this for me is that Satan used something that looked holy and good to lead me further onto his side. I was using my writing to serve God. I was working for God. I wanted to be published so I could spread God's word to all the world. Such a noble goal that, and so ultimately hollow and untrue because my efforts were just that mine not His.

"I will give you all of this..." That's what Satan told Christ as they stood on the mountaintop, and that's always where Evil starts with us. He doesn't start at the throw us down on a cross and crucify us part although whether we turn to his side or not, that is always, always where we end up when the world is in charge of things.

You see, Satan doesn't care about us except for how we can help him further himself. (And it is the same with evil people in the world as well.) As soon as we are no longer needed to further his goals and ambitions, we are expendable. Worse, when we realize he thinks so little of us and we try to turn from him, our death and destruction inevitably results from his innate, seething anger and his distrust of us. In fact, he knows better than we do where evil leads-into a selfish, jealous, power-hungry pit of separation, desperation, and fear, and if we continue to follow it, we might even become more evil than he is, and he can't have us be the ruler of his domain. So, our destruction at his hand is inevitable at the outset of his plan. All he really cares about is using us until we are no longer needed to further his purposes.

In the movie, Edmund is taken in by the Witch's treats so much so that he voluntarily leaves his brother and sisters to seek her out. He crosses a great wood and a mountain range to get to her because he believes her to be his only friend. Let me tell you, when Satan convinces you that he is your only friend, you're in serious trouble. Upon entering the witch-queen's palace which is a cold, lifeless place, Edmund is at first afraid. Then he realizes how "superior" he is to those who are now stone statues in the Witch's "kingdom."

It is telling how very few lives there are in her kingdom. Only the three servants who do her bidding are animated with life. That should've been a hint to get out of there, but of course, we always think that we are the favored one of her majesty, Evil. These others were just dumb about it. This could never happen to us. And so we are drawn deeper and deeper into the lies she has us believing are real.

After a heart-stopping moment with the queen's guard, Edmund is led into the queen's throne room, and for one more moment he is allowed to believe the illusion. Symbolically, he walks up to her throne and sits on it. He has done exactly what got Satan tossed from Heaven. He has pictured himself on that throne and wanted it for himself-not for the benefit of anyone else but because it shows his power and his right to be lord over everyone else.

Immediately, however, we see the Witch, the queen herself standing, watching him. She sees Edmund, sitting on her throne, and in that moment, the turn happens. You can see it in her eyes and her countenance as her eyes narrow and her face drops to a malicious scowl. Then, for one more moment, she pulls the illusion of nice back to her as she steps over to him. "Like it?" she asks.

And that is exactly what Satan asks us. "Like it?" Then he smiles because he knows we have truly fallen for the ultimate lie.

Edmund, knowing he has overstepped his place, jumps out of the chair, but it's too late for him. She has him, and she knows it even if he doesn't. The next scene is telling. She questions him about his service for her, and he tries to talk his way out of why he hasn't done what she told him to do. Then, humanly although stupidly, he asks for more Turkish Delight.

The next that we see Edmund, he is literally in shackles and chains. Very poignant symbolism because when we have begun to see evil for what it truly is, we are instantly chained to keep us enslaved to its bidding. To us, these "chains" may look like a lot of things-habits that we can't break, addictions that have a hold on us, friends we don't want to turn our backs on because they've been nice to us in the past, ways of living that are so comfortable that we don't want to risk doing it a different way, guilt for all the things we should have done differently, and the ultimate chain, not seeing that life could ever be any better than it is at that horrific moment.

Edmund is now given not Turkish Delights but stale bread and air for water. He's miserable. He knows he made a huge mistake, but how to get out of it? The saddest component of this part of the tale is how intensely he's trying to do the right thing but how acutely clear it is that HE has to do the right thing. There is no back up. There is no guide. There is no one to help him. Just him and his own resources fighting to do the right thing in the coldest, scariest place in the world.

For me, this moment was when I realized how empty the world's acclaim ultimately was. I had spent two solid weeks traveling to do book signings and appearances only to come home depleted and empty. Whatever book sales were needed to feel "successful" hadn't been met (and no matter how many you sell, you could always have sold more).

Then my publicist emailed telling me she was going to get a copy of the television appearance with the intention of judging my performance. I now see this as the way the world does everything. You have to know what you're doing (even if you don't), and then what you did is picked apart-supposedly to make you better, but we all know the lie that really is. Being picked apart may seem like it works because we've seen people who are pushed to their limits and beyond, who are going on their own power to get better, and it looks like that works. However, I submit to you that the "acclaim" the world holds out as your reward will feel like smoke in your hands if that is all you end up with. And it's not hard to see that if that's all you're going for, that's all you will end up with-even if you get it. That will be all you have to hold onto because that's the way Satan has set it up.

It is at this point in the movie that Edmund is again and again made to look at what he's done to those around him. The faun that Edmund so innocently turned in is brought before him and told of Edmund's betrayal. Edmund's guilt crashes in on him. Then the Witch uses the faun, beating him as Edmund watches to get Edmund's cooperation. By this point, Satan is willing to beat anyone, knowing that on our own we will feel so helpless as to do whatever he asks just to get it to stop.

And then he smiles at our helpless weakness. In minutes Edmund sees that even though he gave the Witch what she wanted to get her to stop beating the faun, ultimately she turned the faun to stone anyway. I think at that point Edmund is beginning to see that this will not end well for him. Going on your own devises, there is no way out once you've sold your soul to evil.

Thus begins a trek through the wood-deeper and darker the world becomes, and when we see Edmund again, he is bound to a tree, defenseless against the jabs and jibes of all the evil around him. He's been beaten, and by now, he knows full-well that he took the wrong path, but still he sees no way out.

Of course the story doesn't end there although in our own lives we often think that it does. No, Aslan, the Christ figure, sends a regiment out to rescue Edmund and bring him back into the fold. In a scene that we watch but never hear, Aslan talks with Edmund who is then released of his guilt in the matter fully.

Aslan tells Edmund's brother and two sisters, "What's past is past. You are not to speak of this to Edmund anymore." There is more to the story that you really should see the movie to understand-Edmund being further used by the Witch, her cruelty and utter contempt for Edmund's soul, her cold need to destroy him, how his soul is eventually ransomed and saved by the only one who can. But that is for another lesson.

For now... After the movie, my friend and I were discussing the meaning of this part, and I asked her, "So, when did evil turn on you?" I asked because this insight of evil being so nice to us and leading us to believe that it will be what saves us until we find out the truth was so clear to me.

Without hardly pause to think, she told me the answer for her. Until the moment evil turned, she had twisted her life to be able to gain her family's love. She had made foolish choices for herself in a vain attempt to get their acceptance. Over and over she had let herself down, pushed herself into a corner, and cowed to whatever guilt trip needed to be taken so that they would notice her and love her. What an insidious way for Satan to work because on the outside, her chains looked so loving and helpful and compassionate. Yet they really were chains.

The moment she described (and like Aslan with Edmund I shall let you see the lesson without hearing the actual words) made her see that killing herself and her spirit to gain their love would never work. Whatever she did, it would never be enough, and thinking that it would was a lie.

The journey back for her has been rocky at times, as it is with all of us. She is still on the path, but now she sees evil for what it really is, and trusting God's love for her and His path for her is getting if not easier, than clearly easier than the alternative. She is a soul who has seen evil for what it will do to you if you believe it and follow it.

As for me, it was less a single moment than a whole string of them that showed me how empty achievement and success by the world's standards are. The glitz and the gold the world holds out are nothing more than a shiny way to get you to walk toward them. When you get them, they are at first smoke and at the end chains that will destroy you if you don't find a way to grab on to the One who is real.

He is what you need. And He is all you need. Once you get that, really get that, then trying to prove yourself and your worth to anyone else simply feels pointless. You have seen evil for what it is, and you no longer need follow its beckoning.

How lucky are you if you are not chained by material things. How lucky are you if you are not addicted to the approval of others. How lucky are you if you do not fall for the delights that the world holds out to you. Yes, how very lucky are you... How lucky are you if you have seen evil turn on you and have used that moment as the incentive to grab onto the only Real Savior of your soul. How lucky are you... How very lucky are you.

~*~*~
Enjoy today!

Are You At Peace?

(c) Staci Stallings, 2003

Everyone is working so hard these days. Getting ahead-that's what most people call it. We've got cell phones, palm pilots, laptops, beepers, and pagers so that we never have to be disconnected from the world. In fact, there's one commercial that shows a man sitting on a mountaintop next to a pristine lake in the middle of nowhere working on his laptop! The tagline says something like: Keeping you connected no matter where you are.

It's a nice idea really-being connected to our fellow beings on the planet all the time, being able to contact practically anybody anywhere any time. In theory it's a nice idea, but in reality, I think that all this busyness is really a mask for something deeper. Being able to "reach out and touch someone" can easily begin to take over every waking hour so that you increasingly do not have time to get in touch with yourself. And that's a problem.

In her book, "A Return to Love," Marianne Williamson talks about goals, but she doesn't jump on the "how-to and why-to" bandwagon that most inspirational authors do. What she says instead is that rather than praying for and focusing our energy on attaining goals that we've set, we should pray for and focus on being at peace no matter what happens.

She's not saying, "Sit on your tail, and do nothing." What she's saying is that because we inhabit such a small speck of this immense universe, we cannot possibly know what is truly best in a given situation. For example, say you want a job with XYZ Company, and you truly believe this job will make you happy-that it is the perfect job. So you pray really hard every night that you will get this job, and you do affirmations 100 times every night, "I will be hired by XYZ Company. I will be hired by XYZ..."

Chances are, because of the power of the mind, you will be hired by XYZ Company. However, as often happens, a year down the road you're miserable and you wish you had never heard of XYZ Company. Why? You got the goal. You got what you wanted. You got what you thought would make you happy. But you missed the opportunity to get what you really wanted, and that was peace about the situation of wanting to work for a great company.

You thought that getting that job would give you peace and happiness, and now you think you were wrong. Have you ever heard the saying, "Be careful what you ask for because you just might get it"? This is the lesson that saying is talking about. You are asking for what you think will make you happy instead of asking God to make you happy no matter what.

Grasping and truly implementing this lesson requires letting go and letting God take over. Trust to the nth degree. It is embodied in the saying a wise friend once told me: "In the end it will always be okay. If it's not okay, it's not the end."

So, pray for peace in your life. You never know. You just might get what you ask for.

*~*~*~
Love, joy, & peace for this beautiful day! Go out and enjoy God's gift to you which is this day!

An Everyday Lesson from a Very Rich Man

(c) Staci Stallings, 2005

Four years ago I wrote an article called, "Living in God's Hands." It was about how God had led me to a seminar by a man who helped me to learn to market on the Internet. The man's name was Corey Rudl. There was so much to talk about in the story at the time I had to skim over the top of it and hit only the high points. It wasn't until this afternoon when I found out with complete disbelief and grief that Corey had died in a car accident that I took the time to remember the rest of the story. And what a story.

You see, I signed up for one seminar that led to a smaller seminar that Corey was giving. At the time I knew it wasn't unusual for Corey to speak to upwards of 1,000 people in a seminar, but this one was to be very small-only about 25 people. So I was excited to say the least, and I was not disappointed. For three hours we sat riveted as Corey strolled around the room, talking at the speed of lightning. By the end of the first three hours I had 12 pages of notes.

At the lunch break I dashed out and down the block, grabbed something quick, and headed back. We had an hour. It wasn't like I had to rush, but I was afraid my car would break down and I would be forced to walk back. I certainly didn't want to miss anything because I was dilly-dallying around.

When I got back, I was the only attendee in the room with about 40 minutes to spare. Corey and his small staff of about four were still working. Unfortunately something in the computer system had gone wrong, and it wasn't working the way Corey wanted it to work. At the time he was worth in the neighborhood of $20 million. In a suit that could've bought a small island, here he was crawling around on the floor under the tables trying to figure out which cord hooked to which thing to fix the glitch.

As this was going on, one of Corey's staff members, Travis came up and started asking me about my experience-why I was there, if I was getting anything out of the seminar, how many pages of notes I had, what kind of books I write, that kind of thing. Every so often, Corey would pop his head up over the table and ask, "Is lunch here yet?"

Apparently the restaurant they'd ordered lunch from was running behind, and as time dwindled down, their window of time to eat was thinning quickly. The "no" would come from the back of the room, and Corey would say "okay" before diving beneath the table again. This is going to sound unbelievable, and thinking back on it now, it is even to me, but while all of this was going on, Corey was asking me questions as well. He was interested to hear how I had found his stuff, what I thought of it as I read it, what things I had already tried, what things I planned to try. There was no end to the questions!

To this minute I don't know how he did it, but he managed to fix that computer. Lunch arrived, and he inhaled a sandwich and fries. With five minutes to spare, he put on his jacket and was waiting with a smile when the other people came back. I'm sure they never knew the chaos that had surrounded him for the better part of an hour. He looked like peace personified.

Yes, Corey Rudl was a very rich man. To me, he was the servant God gave five talents to, who used them, and they multiplied many fold. In fact, if you are reading this now, you can thank Corey for it because I never could have found you on my own. Corey used the talents God gave him to make his own fortune, and then he willingly passed that knowledge onto others. In fact, when he was married a year ago, he invited all of his subscribers to his wedding-for free. I didn't get to go. I wish I could have.

A huge, sad void has been left in the Internet Marketing world with the passing of Corey Rudl into God's Kingdom, and it has nothing to do with the money he helped anybody make. It has to do with the man he was. The man who had enough money to sit back and do nothing for the rest of his life but instead chose to spend his time crawling around on the floor, looking for the cord that wasn't hooked up properly, waiting for lunch that was late, and doing it with a grace and a peace and a kindness that defy human logic.

Yes, Corey was rich, but it had nothing to do with money. I'm grateful for that lesson and wish only that he could've stayed with us longer to teach me more just like it.

*~*~*
Be sure and check out the Oct. 31 post about the free book. The address will only be up through Friday!

Life Lesson: Be-Do-Have

(c) Staci Stallings, 2002

This revelation hit me the other day while I was listening to a cassette on having financial balance in your life. On the tape, the author talked about a goal setting seminar he went to. The lesson he was revealing is that too often when we set goals, we are setting the "have" part of the equation, then "doing" the work of getting to the goal without ever making the effort to "be" anything.

If you're paying attention, there's a math lesson that translates to this message. Any math person will tell you that there is a definite order to life. A + B = C, and if you get it out of that order, even the simplest of ideas can get overwhelmingly confusing. So this equation must begin with "be" not "do" or "have."

For example, people set a goal of meeting the right person. That is the "have" that they want, so they begin "doing" the things the world says make sense to get to that goal. They go to bars, they go to church, they go to work, they go to parties, they go to school-all with the spoken or unspoken intention of acquiring what they do not have, a partner. Years ago they called the females with this mindset, "Mrs. Majors."
They were not in college to get a degree; they were in college to get a husband.

In today's world some of these types-men and women-have the "have" and "do" parts down to a science. One manifestation of this is the book, "The Rules." This book purports to explain exactly what you have to "do" to get the goal of "having" a mate. The problem is that this is completely senseless when you understand the equation of "be-do-have."

When you truly get this life lesson, it will have a profound impact on every aspect of your life. No longer will you focus solely on the goal-now you will focus on who you must first become, and the attainment of the goals will follow.

I know, it sounds Pollyanna. It sounds so simple. But it's the simple-sounding things that are often the most difficult to actually do. I see this turmoil in teenagers a lot. They think that their identity is created by who they are with, what they wear, what their outward appearance is. The reality, however, is that identity is based on who you are.

That's why you hear of 10- and 20-year high school reunions in which the popular kids are now struggling and some of the most unpopular kids are now the successful adults. When you understand this equation, it makes perfect sense. Think about it. In high school, the "popular" kids already "have." They have the status, the good looks, the admiration of others. Why work for something you already have?

The unpopular kids on the other hand are forced to find their true identity not in the outer world, but in the inner world. So they work on themselves rather than on what the outside world says is important. Thus, 10 or 20 years down the road, they who have been forced to "be" are now "doing" and "having" in much greater proportion than those who "had" everything.

To be sure, this is a vast generalization. There are popular kids who take time out to work on themselves and "become," and there are unpopular kids who want to "have" so badly that they contort who they are trying to fit in. The exceptions are there, but so is the rule.

You have to be before you can do, and you have to do before you can have. If you don't, nothing you ever get will be enough. And if you do, whatever you have will be plenty. With this in mind, find some time today to fit a little "being" time into your "to-do" list. It may just turn out to be the best time investment you could ever make.

Have a great weekend!