Passive No More: 10 Days To Purposeful Living

Informações:

Sinopse

Passive No More exists to help people break free from passivity and play an active role in their own life.

Episódios

  • Two too many on the treadmill

    09/07/2016 Duração: 05min

    It was a Sunday afternoon: not my usual time to take a run, but I was feeling a little overwhelmed with life... Do you ever feel that way? My Sunday norm is usually reading a book or taking a nap for an hour or so in the bedroom. But, on this Sunday I knew I needed to “shake it off” with some form of exercise and music: very loud music.   It seemed every song that played on Pandora was just for me and my 20 minutes of isolation in the garage.  I was needing a “me moment” and it seemed Pandora agreed. I ran faster than my typical speed, and I sweated far greater than when I normally exert myself.  I was on the last stretch, and the last song was the best one yet. I was coming into focus in my head. My pace was picking up, and I was going to finish most likely with a high kick when I was done. Suddenly, I felt a “thump, thump” behind me and a scrape at my leg. Feeling a strange terror surge through me, I tried to balance my run, look behind me and reach to shut off the treadmill all at the same time.  That’s w

  • How do you know so much?

    19/06/2016 Duração: 04min

    I've been thinking a lot lately about what I call "perceived scarcity." It's hard to define it with words because... it's a feeling. It's the feeling I get when I write out our budget at the beginning of the month, and I feel anxious about not putting enough into savings. It's the longing I sometimes have for a new car, a new couch, or for a home we own. But most of all, it's that little, nagging thought that says I've just been lucky to make it this far (financially), but I'll never TRULY be successful. I'll never quite have enough. I need more. I say "perceived" scarcity because that's what it is, a perception - and a very inaccurate one at that. You see, I have ALL my essential needs met. Housing? Food and clean water? Clothing? Transportation? Yep. Covered. I can't even remember a time when I lacked any of those things. It's that little, nagging thought that says I've just been lucky to make it this far, but I'll never TRULY be successful. I'll never quite have enough. I need more. I even have all my so c

  • Why is this taking so LONG?

    11/06/2016 Duração: 08min

    The turtle was slowly making his way across the side of our yard when Lily and I pulled into the driveway Monday morning. I quickly got out of the car! (Though I don't know why I thought I needed to move fast since the turtle was in no hurry.)  I got Lily out of the car to see the turtle for herself. I was excited for us to have this strange encounter with nature in our front yard. He was a good size fella who stood frozen in our presence.I took pictures and sent them to Josh and my mom. My mom has known of my fascination with turtles for years. Not the kind of fascination that I have my house decorated with turtles. I can’t go so far to say I want a modern rendition of a turtle on my wall.  But I do have a connection to them that started 19 years ago when I first moved to Florida. I had a dream you see: a dream about turtles that I have never forgotten but have not thought about in a long time. Seeing the turtle in our yard reminded me of this dream. Before encountering the turtle Monday morning, I was havin

  • 3 1/2 Tips to ease frustration

    16/05/2016 Duração: 08min

    To protect the guilty, I'll avoid going into too specific details, but someone made me really angry...Not "lose-my-temper-explode-and-go-to-jail" angry, but just plain-everyday angry; more of a deep frustration.This is where a carefully-crafted scathing text or email comes in handy. I've already written it out in my head, and it's beautiful.But it will never get sent.Why? Because I've learned I can be pretty good at being a jerk, and just because I'm "in the right" doesn't make it right to say whatever I want.Just because I'm "in the right" doesn't make it right to say whatever I want.The truth is it's not JUST this one person that has me feeling like punching through the nearest wall. It's him plus a dozen other things from the loudness of my kids to the two tickets I got last week: one for running a red light and one for overtime parking...I've been feeling my internal temperature steadily rising, and it's evident by the growing impatience I'm feeling; by the way I can't wait to get off the phone; by the w

  • Be stronger than the coffee

    15/04/2016

    I love coffee. It was an acquired taste to begin with, but through the years it has grown to a great morning pleasure. It started out with the simple lure of the coffee smell. The smell of whole coffee beans holds a strange comfort.  But upon first taste it proved bitter in its allure; however,  I pressed on to discover the joy of changing its pure black form to creamy and sweet. Cream and sugar brought the comforting smell in to taste, and for 20 years I have enjoyed coffee. But something cruel has taken place. I have found that I am approaching the years where indulgence is fun for a moment but I will pay for it later. The years of eating and drinking what I want have caught up to me. I’m having to put on the breaks and face reality. Coffee can’t be good for someone on a daily basis. Apparently Chocolate isn’t either... I am encountering a great dilemma in my soul verses my common sense.  Heartburn, acid re-flux: Lord, am I that old?  Lemon water, Nexium and decaf tea are trying to be my friends, yet they d

  • Are you afraid of the storm?

    02/04/2016 Duração: 06min

    Have you heard of the “thundershirt” for pets with anxiety issues? I’ve heard it helps calm them during storms, but I still haven’t spent the money to buy one for Lulu, my 4 ½ lb Chihuahua.  Instead, I put her in one of her many coats or tight dresses to see if it helps her. It doesn’t...  She just seems to sweat a lot and develop a bad odor, worse than her norm. Maybe it isn’t the rain that scares her. Rain is good, right? It waters the earth, helping to sustain life. Or in the case of the plants I just potted on my patio, it dramatically floods them causing them to drown in their own earth.  Frustrating... Rain is OK.  But lighting? ...thunder? They’re a little different.  I don’t feel afraid of the lightning and thunder unless I’m outside in an open field, which I never actually have been during a storm, so I can’t say I know what it’s like. But Lulu hates storms.  In the dead of night, while others are peacefully sleeping through the wonderful sounds of rain dashing on the roof, we are oftentimes awakene

  • Play ’til you WIN!

    18/03/2016 Duração: 07min

    Losing stinks. We all know that, right? We tell our children (or other people's children) stuff like "You need to be a good loser," or "When you lose, you learn," or "It's just a game!" I teach kids chess in a bi-monthly chess club I started years ago, and I've said a lot of phrases like those. They're all true... technically, but they don't really make losing feel any better.  Losing is disappointing. It hurts. Losing confirms your fears that you're not good enough, or it rattles the self-confidence that said you'd do it this time. Losing confirms your fears that you're not good enough. Losing kills your motivation if you let it. It makes you want to quit trying. Losing stinks. You've probably figured out by now I'm not just talking about chess and kids. I'm talking about you and me, and the fear of losing that can so easily lead to a lifestyle of passivity where we just accept what happens without active response or resistance. About 25 years ago, my brother Lowell taught me how to play chess, and of course

  • Band-Aids and “Bazzerts”

    11/03/2016 Duração: 08min

    Over the weekend Josh and I took the kids on a geocaching adventure. If you don’t know what geocaching is, here's a short definition from geocaching.com: Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location. It’s simple but it takes you off the beaten path and gets you outdoors discovering places you might not have known about if you hadn’t attempted the adventure.  Sometimes you have to walk into the woods a bit before you find the hidden treasure. Our first stop with Joshy & Lily was just that: a mildly wooded area with vines and stickers and things small children don’t like stepping on.   As you can guess, a scratched up ankle was in store for us within 10 minutes.  Joshy managed to scratch his ankle just above the area his Crocks stopped.  Now to Josh and me, this is no big deal. The excitement of being out on the hunt should override any sill

  • 3 Easy steps to clear vision

    04/03/2016 Duração: 06min

    I was listening to a podcast by Craig Groeschel from LifeChurch.tv and something he said really caught my attention. He said "Your strengths may impress people, but your weaknesses connect you to them." That's kind of where I'm going with today's article - I'm going to share with you where Jennifer and I are in our journey of life planning. We've both shared a lot of personal insecurities and "weaknesses" in the last two articles we've written. Jenn's was entitled "How big is your box?" and mine was "Why do we compare?" We've read a lot of self-help books and listened to a lot of material on making goals and having vision. In fact, we're currently reading Michael Hyatt's and Daniel Harkavy's new book, Living Forward. It's all about developing a life plan and closing the gap between where we are now and where we want to be. The thing is, though, it's really easy to read or hear inspiring content but to do nothing with it - nothing changes. This is where understanding and establishing clear vision is vital. Vis

  • Why do we compare?

    19/02/2016

    I was sitting in a meeting last week with a man I'd just met, and I noticed how cool he looked - nice haircut; cool pattern on his untucked dress shirt; slightly worn jeans with stylish holes in them - you know the kind of holes that are put there on purpose by the manufacturer.  And then there were his shoes... These awesome brown leather zip-up boots that had that old/vintage look to them. Now don't get me wrong, I don't have a habit of checking out other guys so closely, but I do notice stuff about people when I'm having a conversation with them, especially if it's someone I've just met and in this case, someone in a similar line of work. I specifically remember looking at his cool boots and then glancing down at my faux-leather shoes I bought from Walmart.  Although it was a great meeting, for some reason I left it feeling a bit down about myself and the simple way I dress.  My wife, Jennifer, tells me I dress "classic" but she also gets onto me for not budgeting for new clothes and for wearing the same s

  • How big is your box?

    12/02/2016

    If you let it, comparison will invade any goal you set for yourself and tell you that even if you succeed, you still won’t be as good as they are. I struggle with this on a daily basis.   I don’t know about you, but comparing my life to others has never done anything but make me feel “less than.” Even this morning, as I was praying, I felt like the Lord was telling me, “Don’t compare yourself with others today.”  Turns out He was warning me. I dropped my 4-year-old son off at school today. It was the day of his Valentines party, and every child brought a decorated box from home to carry all the valentine cards they would receive from their classmates. We had Joshy’s valentines all done and in his little box that was decorated in red with lots of stickers he likes. He got to class and he pulled his little decorated box out of his backpack (because it fit in his backpack). Did I mention “little box”? He took it over to where all the other children’s boxes were lined up. These boxes were amazing. They were way b

  • Does your fat itch?

    05/02/2016 Duração: 05min

    Does your fat itch? If it doesn't, there could be a problem.  First off, let me assure you I'll make up for the audacity of such a question! I try not to view myself as fat, but honestly, I'm probably about 40 pounds overweight. Ouch... That's why one of my goals for 2016 is to lose 20 pounds by adding running to my weightlifting routine. And I did exactly that. Starting this morning. I got on the treadmill; opened a free running app called "C25K" ("Couch to 5K") and started alternating walking and running as the nice but firm lady on the app commanded me to do so. That's when it happened. First in my butt and then around my waist. My fat started to itch. I'm not sure why it itched, and I really don't care because the point isn't really about my fat... or yours. The point is when you engage in meaningful life change; when you stand up and say "no more!"; when you decide growth is the only option you will accept -- you will experience some level of discomfort. It's not IF; it's WHEN. So when that happens, get

  • Good and thankful?

    29/01/2016 Duração: 07min

    “Good”  is a word I don’t use very often. It takes a lot for me to say that “I’m doing good.” I prefer vague words like “I’m alright today”; “I had an OK day”; “Fine… I’m fine…”  These responses are difficult to interpret, especially for my husband, Josh.  But these are words that give me room: room to get better or worse.  I feel like I’m lying if I say “I’m doing good” when the day has had its ups and downs, and I’ve struggled with my thoughts or my actions or my attitude.   To me, saying I’ve had a good day would mean somehow that the day went smoothly and strangely perfect. I don’t recall having too many of those kinds of days.  After talking to Josh about this struggle, I was challenged. Of course, I was challenged by the “Passive No More” guy!!! This is the man who has “good” days consistently. They've been good because he has determined ahead of time that they will be. He sees things as good because, well, they are good. If you take an assessment of our life, you would agree, we have a good life. Actu

  • Practice being wrong

    22/01/2016

    Did you know it's OK to be wrong? In fact, I'd like to encourage you today to PRACTICE being wrong. Let me explain... Have you ever taken a standardized personality test? You know, one of those that has a series of statements like "I enjoy managing details" and then asks you to rate 1-5 how much you agree with that statement. A "1" would mean you don't agree at all, and a "5" would mean that describes you perfectly. One statement I can relate to on tests like that is this one: "I am right most of the time." I mean, seriously, I think I'm right pretty much all the time. I used to joke about it saying, "I've never been wrong except for this one time when I thought I was wrong but then ended up being right, so technically, I was still right." If you want to punch me in the face right now for sounding arrogant, I really wouldn't blame you, but before we come to blows, let me explain why people like me think we're right. We think we're right because we pay attention to the details! We're the accountants of the wor

  • Paycheck or purpose?

    15/01/2016 Duração: 04min

    What do you do when you look around at your life, and it's not quite what you expected? The problem is you're not sure what you were hoping for, but you're pretty sure this isn't it.  That's happened to me a few times in my life, but this particular one was related to my work, and it struck me as I was looking at my LinkedIn profile. I was at a loss of what to put as my "tag line." You know, the thing that goes after your name: "Joshua Stewart, ______???_______"  I had just started a new job managing a local carpet cleaning company owned by my friend, John. The only caveat of "managing" a small cleaning company is that you get to do a lot of the actual cleaning. We had a guy answering the phones and then... me. After John trained me on the equipment and cleaning system, I was released, alone, into the wild world of traffic lanes, mystery spots, and pet odor remediation. I gotta be honest, it was pretty tough work for a guy who'd been sitting at a desk all day at his last job. It was good for me, though - I l

  • The myth of willpower

    15/01/2016 Duração: 04min

    There's a myth out there that says what you struggle with is different; that you're different; that just because it worked for them, doesn't mean it will work for you because they have what you don't. They have... WILLPOWER. What do you think of when you hear or read the word "willpower"? Do you have a conditioned response to it? "If" statements like: "If I just had more willpower, I could make myself go jogging and lose that 20 pounds of gut like I want to." "If I just had more willpower, I could be more productive in my off time instead of wasting my life away watching Netflix." "If I just had more willpower, I could shake off these suffocating feelings and DO something."  "If I just had more willpower, I could _______________." What's your response when you hear that word? Maybe it's one I just listed, or maybe it's something more complicated. And maybe you think you can't win this battle; you think you can't change. That's where you'd be wrong. You see, in the same way a runner builds lung endurance and a

  • What robs you of courage?

    15/01/2016 Duração: 06min

    The question came up in a men's group meeting at my church. There were like 7 or 8 of us upstairs in the old movie theater our church had renovated. The question was "What robs you of courage?" I had written down four things that readily came to mind: Apathy/passivity Depression Boredom Weariness The more I thought about it, the clearer it became, and although I'd told myself this group was going to be an opportunity for me to listen more and talk less, I went ahead and spoke up in the discussion. "I know what holds me back," I said. "Passivity. Passivity fueled by a mild depression and weariness." Everyone was quiet for a couple seconds, and Dana (our leader) said, "Do any of the rest of you guys identify with what Josh just said?" Every man raised his hand. We were all different ages from mid twenties to late sixties; former marines and army, a retired businessman, several of us in the first 10 or 15 years of our careers, and John, a young man with cerebral palsy and a keen, sharp mind. All of us felt t