Post-It Note Wisdom #5 - The Way it Is
The last several weeks we've been exploring what I call Post-It Note Wisdom... little kernels of
truth to keep us moving forward, making good decisions, executing wisely, and reaping the fruit
of that wisdom day after day, and today is the fifth and final in the series. We may explore it
again-I think I told you I got a million of 'em! -but for now, we'll stop before it gets
obnoxious.
If you've missed the first four episodes, you may wanna go back to the beginning with Post-It
Note Wisdom #1: Life Accumulates. That's episode #35. If you did catch it, you'll remember
it's not the one choice you make-good or bad-but the accumulation of your choices that will
net you short and long-term results. Case in point, it's not the one day I fail to exercise, the but
the accumulation of many days of lack of exercise that impact my health, or not the one day I
DO exercise, but the accumulation of days that creates the result I want.
Post-It Note Wisdom #2, episode #36, was my momma's question when it was clear we were
daydreaming or procrastinating or just plain being lazy. "Am I dreamin' of the 'tater hole?" It is
the question you ask when you aren't moving forward. It'll remind you to take make a move,
and to overcome the inertia of inaction.
Post-It Note Wisdom #3 is "Bad news does not improve with age." It's not always pleasant to
deal with reality, to hear the bad news of our condition whether in health, business, love, or
loss. But delaying the news doesn't make it easier; it compounds the problem. So have the
courage to either deliver or receive bad news quickly. It'll set you up for problem solving and
moving forward.
Post-It Note Wisdom #4 from last week is ... The steady drip wears the rock. Become the
master of millimeters. The work may seem boring, or you may not see instant results, or even
results in a little while... but the process will provide progress, and the results will come. Your
faithful attention to the steady drip done over and over and over will produce a harvest.
This week's Post-It note came out of a conversation with some work colleagues. A few ladies
and I were meeting every week on zoom to encourage one another in our businesses, to share a
short devotional thought, prayer requests and generally support one another. We were all from
different states: Missouri, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky. Most Monday mornings we
talked business, health, money, and then prayed together before signing off.
One morning, my friend Aby shared that she'd gotten up early that day to do her exercise.
She'd risen at 6 that morning, and even though it was a rainy, miserable morning, she
persevered and accomplished her walking miles before breakfast and meeting with us.
True confession here... I've never loved exercise! These powerful women who do the work-out
thing, and work on their bodies every day, grinding at the gym, building muscles and slaying
their fat cells through sweat and perseverance, and from all accounts are LOVING it, are truly
mystifying to me! I get the whole endorphins and benefits and all, but I do not love it. I exercise
because I should, not really because I want to or love to.
So I was suitably impressed with Aby and her accomplishment. Leave the house at 6 am, walk
for an hour, in. the. Rain. Nope. That woulda been a day that I skipped for sure. I asked Aby
what motivated her to go out in the rain, and though I can't remember her exact words, it went
something like this...
"If I don't exercise, I'll be a grumpy pants all day, I won't feel good about myself, and I won't
make progress on my health goals, so I put on my big girl panties and got up and did the thing. I
walk so many miles every day..."
And then she said the thing that I literally immediately wrote on a Post-It note, and keep in front
of me with my goals....Are you ready? She said...
"That's just the way it is now."
Mic drop!! That's just the way it is now.
Post-It Note Wisdom #5: That's just the way it is now.
"Whoa! Whoa! What did you just say?" I asked her. She told me, "That's just the way it is now.
I decided that if I want to see this area of my life change, I have to make changes. So I tell
myself, That's just the way it is now."
Her six little words changed my life and how I think about goals and achievement and work. It
doesn't really matter what was before. As of NOW things can be different. I have to make the
decision, and accept that as my reality, and then move forward with the actions that affirm that
choice.
I recently posted a picture on Facebook of my refrigerator. A friend of mine said it looked like I
had the whole garden in there. No prepackaged junk foods, no left-over fast foods, no bowls of
sweets and or ready-to-eat stuff. It was raw broccoli, asparagus, spinach, cauliflower, other
salad fixin's, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries. A rainbow of produce to support the
decision. We want to eat healthy. That's just the way it is now.
When I realized that I wasn't connecting with God like I wanted to, I knew I'd have to make
time in my schedule to accommodate conversations with Him, time to listen for His voice, and
time to read His love letter to me in Scripture. I started getting up earlier. I created a designated
space to sit and meditate, to be silent in my mother's old glider rocker, easing into prayer time,
and relaxing in God's Presence. I set up a prayer corner complete with a cushion on which to
kneel and a poster-sized page full of-no surprise-post-it note prayers and scripture. All this,
not to be "super spiritual" but because connecting to God is high on my value list, and that's
just the way it is now.
That's just the way it is now is a mindset shift that takes me from what was-old habits or
behaviors that don't serve me well, old thought patterns that hold me back or create barriers to
progress-to what is TO BE. If I want something different, I have to choose differently. And if
the choice is already made, that makes life change exponentially easier. No options. All other
pathways denied. That's just the way it is now.
I think of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego... "Daniel resolved not to defile himself
with the royal food and wine..." Daniel 1:8 tells us. Daniel and the boys made the decision to
maintain their dietary purity. That's just the way it is now, even in Babylon, even when the
king's chief official insists. Daniel told him to put it to the test. "See if we don't fare better than
the others..." and they did.
This is not just an Old Testament idea, though. Paul wrote to the Ephesians:
17 With the Lord's authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly
confused. 18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because
they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. 19 They have no sense of
shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.
20 But that isn't what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have
learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way
of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts
and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God-truly righteous and holy.
(Ephesians 4:17-24 NLT)
In essence, Paul is saying, "This is the way it used to be. There was a former way of life before
you knew Jesus. It's no longer the life you lead. You are different. That's just the way it is now.
He said a similar thing to the Colossians:
7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid
yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from
your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its
practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of
its Creator. (Colossians 3:7-10 NIV)
New day, new way. That's just the way it is now.
What areas of life or business do you need to make a change? Where will you draw a line that
differentiates between what was and how you want it to be? That line is defined by a decision
that eliminates the wishy-washy, the waffling, the maybe-so's, and launches you into the
actions that will produce the results you're looking for.
That's just the way it is now. 6 am, rain or shine, when it's easy or hard, when people don't get
it, when it doesn't feel good, when you'd rather do something else, when you truly commit. It
doesn't mean perfection, but progress because the decision is real and it is made. And even if
yesterday I forgot my resolve, fell off the wagon, slipped back into old habits, today I can start
again. That's just the way it is NOW.
Post It Note Wisdom #1: Life Accumulates
Post It Note Wisdom #2: Are you dreamin' of the 'tater hole?
Post It Note Wisdom #3: Bad news does not improve with age.
Post It Note Wisdom #4: The steady drip wears the rock.
Post-It Note Wisdom #5: That's just the way it is now.
Father,
Thank you for the wisdom that comes from above, that James tells us is pure, peace-loving,
considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. (James 3:17) Your
wisdom will always take us to a better life, better choices, better outcomes. Your ways are life-
giving, I pray that we have the courage to listen and obey as you call us out of the former ways
of our thinking and our actions, into the new, improved life You have for us.
Help us be like Daniel and resolve to be different and do better. Your mercies will be there
when we forget, and when we get back up and try again. Thank you for Your love that covers a
multitude of faults and does not leave us where we are, but always seeks to take us higher,
further, and closer to You.
In Jesus's name, Amen.
Check out the links for Coaching and the next session of the His Power at Work Mastermind.
My Coaching is designed to take the ideas and possibilities that are in your head, that you may
only whisper to yourself and to God, and help you bring them into being. You can find more
about my Coaching at talkandpray.us or by clicking the link in the show notes.
The His Power at Work Mastermind examines how Jesus conducts business in Scripture and
translates that into practical steps for you in community with others who want to experience
more authenticity, more peace, more satisfaction in their life and business. Check it out at
talkandpray.us/mastermind.
