3 Things… December 7th, 2017

Jonathots Daily Blog

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That Happen Right Before You Succeed

1. You stop complaining

2. You begin to find and correct your own mistakes

3. You study and dissect the flow and direction of the market

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ProbOne … November 1, 2013

Jonathots Daily Blog

(2053)

Problems are the difficulties that come our way which tend to deflate us instead of invigorate.

Why?

Because we are convinced that change is both unnecessary and unpleasant. (Matter of fact, it’s good that evolution is a slow, tedious process or we would resist it every step of the way.)

So our reluctance to view problems as vehicles to get us to a better place creates the first wall of resistance.

The second impairment is the persistent belief that our problem is unique.

After many years of travel, family life, counseling and living, I will tell you that all problems break down into three categories, and if you learn how to handle each category, your dilemmas will not seem nearly as problematic, but instead, doorways to new opportunities. Over the next three days I will talk about each one of these individually.

The first problem that faces all humankind is: “It’s not fair.”

Something happens or we find ourselves in a situation which is uncomfortable, unfamiliar or undesirable. Our first inclination is to cry foul. We complain to ourselves, our friends, our spouses or even our God. Our message is clear: “If life was right, I wouldn’t have to deal with this wrong.”

To escape the dark cloud of “it’s not fair,” I suggest you seek the answer to these five questions:

1. Who am I working with? The success of any project always hinges on personnel.
2. What needs to be done? Until all the personnel involved agree on the destination, everybody will have a tendency to go in their own willful way and therefore pull against each other.
3. Where will we need to work? After all, certain climates are more conducive to warming to great ideas. If I go to Antarctica, I will need boots and a coat.
4. When is the deadline? Is it negotiable? Is it arbitrary? Is it up for discussion? Ninety percent of the disagreements humans have with each other could be resolved by pulling out a calendar.
5. Why is it being done? Often in the pursuit of trying to resolve a tribulation, we may find that the resolution is not necessary at all, or that the trial we think we’re going through has been misrepresented.

There you are–ProbOne. “It’s not fair.”

Checking out the who, what, where, when and why of your surroundings will take away much of the sting of your oppression and replace it with some realistic ideas or a good laugh over why such a fuss was made in the first place.

So there are some ideas about how to handle ProbOne.  Try them. You might like them.

Which leads us to ProbTwo: “It’s not enough.”

See you tomorrow.

The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity

Please contact Jonathan’s agent, Jackie Barnett, at (615) 481-1474, for information about personal appearances or scheduling an event

The Fear Gear… October 31, 2013

Jonathots Daily Blog

(2053) 

Happy Halloween.

Is that an oxymoron? I mean, is Halloween happy?

I do understand that great fun happens from dressing up, eating candy and having the fellowship of interacting with one another. But is Halloween rooted in the tradition of human warmth, or is it a delivery system for scaring people? And is there a difference between being scared and being fearful? Probably.

Yet fear is such a devastating sensation to the human spirit that sometimes I’m a little anxious to flirt with it by just scaring myself.

Fear is at the root of all of our problems. There’s no doubt about that.

There are seven attributes of great human beings:

• Love
• Faith
• Joy
• Hope
• Mercy
• Passion
• Creativity

Fear is a toothy monster, nibbling on the corners of each of them.

1. Love: the absence of fear. When I believe that nothing can separate me from the love of my Father, I don’t have to allow worry to conquer my heart.
2. Faith: the control of fear. Even though I have doubts, I intelligently branch out my belief in a direction of improvement.
3. Joy: ignoring fear. It’s a decision to have good cheer without denying circumstances, but instead, changing them by giving ourselves an attitude to succeed.
4. Hope: the replacement of fear. Yes, fear takes up space. It pushes out any notion that things can get better, and thus, must be evicted by a new idea.
5. Mercy: the insult to fear. When we step out of ourselves and express kindness to others, we are spitting in the eye of our fear of being rejected.
6. Passion: the remedy for fear. For after all, fear is when we cease to believe in what we’re doing anymore and start to accept that a certain amount of doom is inevitable. Passion is the only way to chase that demon out of our minds.
7. Creativity: the opposite of fear. When we continue to contend that we have the talent, ability, energy and initiative to make something out of what we have instead of standing at a distance and mocking it for its lack, we generate a counter-culture in the ruling class of fear.

I don’t have anything against Halloween. Matter of fact, the only thing I’m scared of is fear. Because when fear is perfected inside us, it makes us think that gloom is normal—and we lose the seven powerful precepts listed above.

At that point we are at the mercy of the dark kingdom—we are bled dry by the vampires and eaten alive by the werewolves.

The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity

Please contact Jonathan’s agent, Jackie Barnett, at (615) 481-1474, for information about personal appearances or scheduling an event

Exceed — October 13, 2011

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Sometimes I really miss elements of kindergarten.  That’s why I enjoy my granddaughter, Lily–so I can sit down and color with her, appearing to be a caring grandfather–when really I am vicariously returning to being a little kid.

Likewise, I used to love “Connect the Dots.” It had two aspects that pleased me. First was using my intelligence to trace a line from number one to number two and on to number three–and then to do it as fast as I could, to compete against my friends and  be the first one to reveal the hidden dinosaur from amongst the numbers. 

Candidly, I think we would be better off as adults if we did a lot more “connecting the dots.” For instance, instead of reading the Bible as a duty or as great literature, as if it were spawned from the pen of Shakespeare (even though we don’t have a Stratford-on-Avon-idea of what it means), we choose to understand that one thought follows another and therefore might be trying to show us a picture.

Case in point: the Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes, which I have shown you is really a challenge to reveal our own hearts and get simple. Once we’ve arrived at simplicity, we have unlocked the key–more or less split the atom–of what causes us to be powerful. So what do we do with the power? Do we flaunt it? Do we use it to subjugate other human beings? Do we walk around with our noses in the air, acting self-righteous? These are options that the religious community has used over the years to turn their salvation experience into a club for beating others instead of a gentle rope, cast to save the lost and dying. What should I do with the fact that I am the salt of the earth and the light of the world?

Honor reality. There is a reality going on in the world that can not be ignored, prayed away or simply negotiated from being bothersome. I remember the first thing I did after the 9/11 tragedy was to grab a Koran. If these people–or at least, the more militant among them–wanted to be my enemy, then my best defense was to learn as much as possible about their belief system.

Jesus phrased it well in the Sermon on the Mount when he said he didn’t come to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them. It reminds me of writing a play. Words on paper are quite interesting and even have potential, but you really don’t know how good the writing is or how fulfilling the story can be until the actors put it in context by performing the material.  That’s what Jesus meant. While the theologians of his day were debating the finer points of doctrine, Jesus brought a visual aid and lived it out in front of the people. He fulfilled it.

This is missing in spirituality today.  In an attempt to package God into a more palatable form for the masses, who do not want to consider difficulty or to be challenged to change, we have removed all sense of responsibility for living out truth as a visual example in front of mankind and thus fulfilling righteousness. Honestly? I just don’t learn until I see it in motion.

I often sit in churches and listen to the readings from the Bible and it seems to me that even those who speak the words from the lectern get lost in the middle of the sentence, failing to garner any true meaning. We have a responsibility to fulfill the law and prophets. And then, Jesus goes on to say that we also have a great opportunity to exceed the righteousness of those who already think they know God, but have offered very little comfort to our suffering world.

Yes.  Jesus said “except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of God.”  Because … where IS the kingdom of God? Jesus said it was within us. So if what is within us is not becoming obvious in the real world, then we have done nothing more than those who have already failed to practice what they preach.

So how do we exceed--to succeed? I am so happy to report that this is one of the easiest concepts I will ever share with you. Here goes:  whenever you are given a task, ask two quick questions: (1)  now, what is it exactly that you want me to do? and (2) when do you need it?

If you want to fulfill truth and exceed the righteousness you see around you, just do a little more than Number 1 and do it a little sooner than Number 2.  You’ve already been told what the expectation is–and if you decide to do just a little bit more and do it a little sooner, you will stand out in this mediocre world as salt and light.

For example, a friend of mine has asked me to edit a play he has written. So I posed the two questions. What exactly is it you want me to do and when do you need it? His reply was, “Well, I’d just like you to make it better and I need it one week from now.”  You see? So all I have to do to come across like an absolute genius is to put in a few more improvements than he expects and deliver it at least one day early. He will not only be astounded, but he will give me the greatest gift that any human being can give to another–trust.

See how it works? So we’ve connected the dots. If you’re willing to get simple about yourself–not being so pompous and fearful of losing your place–you will be powerful and begin to usher in a new world in your soul, projecting salt and light to others around you. If you use that power to exceed the expectations of the world around you by the philosophy of “Do a little more,” you will end up being a friend of sinners, a companion of God and a trusted human being.

So there they are–all three. Get simple.  Be powerful.  Do a little more.

If you follow those three things in order, you will gain the prominence and place you desire in any business, organization or family situation.  And it all comes from connecting the dots from the thoughts and teachings of Jesus.

• Get simple.  “I’m not even as good as you think I am.”
• Be powerful.  “I don’t want to hurt me; I don’t want to hurt you. Therefore, I can’t hurt God.”
• Do a little more.  Ask the two questions. “What is it exactly you want?” and “when do you need it?” Then, simply go a little further.

Try it.  See if it works. Create a visual to the gospel that you believe in your heart–or be prepared to be evaluated on the results of what you do … anyway.

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Jonathan sings “Let”

Jonathan Sings “Spent This Time”

Jonathan and his partner, Janet Clazzy, play “The Call”