...?...(follow up)

Right, so here's the deal...you hear people say all the time, that they want to be successful. What does that mean? If you ask the question, "Why do you want to be successful? Why is this important to you?" the whole thing can take you some place you didn't know you would go.

Example: Why do you want to be a success at your business? Because I want to make good money.
Why do you want to make money? Because I want to be able to do the things and buy things that I want to do, things that are important to me.
Why do you want to be able to buy things? I want to be able to provide for my family in ways that demonstrate how much I love them.
Why do you want to be able to provide for them and demonstrate how much you love them? They are the most important thing to me on this earth.

Maybe this seems a bit tedious, but if you do this you can gain fresh perspective on the things you do everyday. Now, instead of being grumpy about having to get up and go to work, you can understand more clearly that the reason you are getting up and going to work and trying to be as successful as you possibly can is this - your family is the most important thing on earth to you and you are going to do everything you can to demonstrate that to them and take care of them. Therefore, it is critical that you do a good job at work and be successful. The focus gets taken off of the work and rightly get placed on why you are doing the work. For each, the answers may be very different.

There is no reason for me to get grumpy when my wife asks me to stop at the store on my way home and pick up some milk. Why am I getting the milk? 1) We need milk. 2) My wife asked me to. 3) By getting the milk I am honoring my wife by doing something she has asked me to do. 4) Not only did she ask me, but she asked me because she needs my help. If she needs my help, I will gladly give it. 5) As I willingly and gladly (maybe with God's help...) help her, my children see a dad that cares enough about mom to help her help them. They see an example of love in action. If I don't get the milk or am pissy about it, my children also learn from me... The reason I get the milk when asked is because I love my wife and my children enough to help my wife and set my kids up to see what love looks like.

The question of "Why?", or "Why not?" (as in why am I not doing this), I believe, can have profound impact on what happens in your life and in your home everyday. Take a minute and read Philippians. Read the whole thing, its not very long. See what it says about the importance of attitude. So...go ahead, ask yourself this question and check to see where you are.