The Best Things In Life Aren't Free

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Free truck, come pick it up. 555-5555. This was my Craigslist ad the other day when I was trying to get rid of a junk car from the yard of a home I was rehabbing. I received twenty calls in 35 minutes. The car was gone within two hours. I was floored by the response. Why would so many people want a junk car?

I believe it's because we have become a culture of people wanting something for nothing. We eat terrible food because our kids get a free toy with the meal. We expect our children to get a free education and then complain because they didn't learn much. We expect to remain free, but are we willing to do what it takes to remain so?

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day. Many of us will go camping or have a barbecue, without really thinking about why we can do so. Do we stop and reflect on those who sacrificed all so we can be a free people?

Do we think about the Pilgrims who colonized our shores? Are the heroes of the Revolution in our thoughts? Do we reflect on the soldiers of the Civil War who fought to keep our country united? How about the millions who gave their lives in WWI, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, and the seemingly endless campaigns of the Middle East? Do we think on those who may not have died in our service but who lived their lives working to keep us free?

Without taking these thoughts to heart we cannot appreciate the immense sacrifice made for us. I always hear people saying how we are so blessed to live in a free country. I agree we are blessed to live here in such prosperity. I worry that we think that this will always be our state. We seem to think that our freedom will be perpetual.

We can only remain free if we jealously guard the freedoms we have and work to become more free. Each and every day we need to spread the message of freedom. We need to become involved in our local governance. The first thing we must do is govern ourselves properly so that the government doesn't need to do it. We need to stop feeling entitled to anything.

The free car I gave away was a piece of junk as are most things we get free in life. The best things are always those which come most dear. This Memorial Day I hope we can reflect on the sacrifice made for us. I hope we can ponder on what our great grandchildren will think of us in their reflections. Will we be remembered as the generation that turned things around? Or will we be remembered as the one who let freedom slip through our hands?

I think we will be great in their eyes, so let's start paying the price now. Freedom is the greatest blessing and it comes at the highest price.

Drive Your Friends Crazy!

That guy drives me nuts! You've seen him, I know you have. Walking around, stupid grin on his face, oblivious of what's going on all around him. How could he be so darn happy all the time?

Putting the aggravation aside for a moment, could he know something we don't know? Is life easier for him? Does he have lots of cool stuff?

The difference between him and us is that he found out one of the great secrets of life. Happiness is a choice we make.

We all have challenges great and small. We can allow them to get us down or we can choose to be happy through the them.

I'm not saying that we just dumbly ignore them. According to my wife, challenges are the whole purpose of life. All of our best progress comes during trying times. These are the times when we innovate and learn. So instead of getting us down, when we are in the midst of a trial should be our best moments. It means that good things are coming, we are getting pumped up for the next big opportunity.

By choosing happiness we accept the challenge into our lives. We embrace it and it becomes a positive force. Letting trials get us down is what keeps us from progressing. Self-pity never got anyone anywhere.

So here's the challenge, next time things aren't going so good, put on that smile and chuckle. The bumps in life will keep on coming, why be miserable, be like the smiley guy. I guarantee life will be easier if we choose to laugh at it.

Live Life on Purpose

While hiking up a steep canyon, gun on my shoulder and pack on my back, I became extremely thirsty. I rested a moment in my quest for the high ridge and reached in my pack for a drink of water. As the water hit my tongue I felt this feeling of revulsion in my throat. The water had become warm and stale during the long day. I drank from sheer need but without enjoyment, barely quenching my thirst.

Jesus taught that we should be either hot or cold, if we were lukewarm we should be spit out.

It's easy to become wishy-washy in life. If you find yourself in this situation it is time to jump off the fence and stand up for your life. When you live your life on purpose, you're liable to ruffle some feathers. When we live on purpose we will find those who disagree with what we are doing. They will know what we are about. They will taste our water, so to speak, and it will not be spewed out. The flavor may be good or bad to them, but it won't be flat and tasteless.

Give some flavor to the world, live your life on purpose.