Category: motivation

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Exercise motivation

Strength Under Pressure

Cartoon of a girl watching a boy stir with effort. The girl says, "That does it. You need to exercise more."

Physical exercise makes us stronger. When we run a distance, or lift weights, the resistance causes our muscles to strengthen. It prepares us for when we face a physical challenge and gives us strength under pressure.

Cartoon of a girl watching a boy stir with effort. The girl says, "That does it. You need to exercise more."

“If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small.”

Proverbs 24:10 NLT

Mental and spiritual exercises do something similar. When we feed our mind and spirit, when we make ourselves do the hard work, it will help us when we face bigger challenges.

Does that mean we love exercise? Hardly! Self discipline can be difficult, especially when we have weak areas that we know needs to be strengthened. When we haven’t been exercising for a while, and we discover how weak we’ve become in such a short time, it’s humiliating and discouraging.

And when conditions aren’t optimal, it can be even harder. We may try to job, but the weather is nasty. Then there are the times we are exercising our minds, but we are tempted to turn on the TV and watch some mindless program. Maybe the kids are loud and demand our attention. Self discipline isn’t easy, is it?

But the long-term benefits far outweigh the short-term challenges. When we set a long-term goal, it helps us get over the short-term reluctance.

Few of us are in optimal shape physically, mentally and spiritually. We may be overwhelmed in one or multiple areas. It’s okay! Choose one aspect to focus on today. Start with small steps and know that we will improve in the long-term. Here are some suggestions to tory today.

  • Read something challenging
  • Pray
  • Meditate
  • Journal or do some other form of writing to clarify your thoughts
  • Memorize something
  • Try a puzzle
  • Do some physical exercise

Any of these could be useful when we face pressure. And who doesn’t eventually need strength under pressure?

Editor’s Note: I originally published this blog on October 6, 2015. I revamped and updated it for timeliness and comprehensiveness.

Categories
Attitude cartoon motivation

Why change is so hard

There are very few of us that embrace change. We know that it makes people nervous and frustrated. Article after article affirms that. Yet if we’re honest, we will admit it is inevitable. Just why is change so hard?

Spear 3974

When I sketched this idea, I observed people about twenty years older than me resisting texting. Nine years later, many of that generation has accepted texting as just another form of communication. Time marches on!

Change is a deceptively difficult thing. We have no problem finding reasons that it is so. Even when everyone agrees changes need to be made, reform is hard. People may disagree on why and how the alterations need to be made. They may even disagree how much and how sweeping a change needs to be. It just isn’t an easy thing!

Continue reading “Why change is so hard”
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K! Magazine Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine motivation Parenting Cartoons teaching

The Best-Laid Plans Never Go as Planned

Cartoon of two people waist deep in water. A woman says, "I've learned there is a fine line between potty training and preschooler vandalism."
Published in "K! Kidzmatter Magazine"

If the last two years have taught us anything, we have learned that the best-laid plans never go as planned. There are circumstances and surprises that come out of nowhere. In fact, we may be tempted to utter along with Curly, “I’m a victim of circumstance!“

Children and the Best-laid Plans

I thought I had life all figured out until I had children. Planning was easy when my wife and I started our lives together. For the most part, we were on the same page and had similar goals. But when we had kids, I discovered they didn’t always share the same goals like when was the proper bedtime, how to behave at restaurants, and when was the optimal time to begin potty training.

Cartoon of two people waist deep in water. A woman says, "I've learned there is a fine line between potty training and preschooler vandalism."
Published in Kidzmatter Magazine
Continue reading “The Best-Laid Plans Never Go as Planned”
Categories
creativity motivation

Creativity Takes Courage

spray paint cans
Photo by Davide Baraldi on Pexels.com

It might not work. Some will like your style while others don’t. There are those who will get what you are conveying while others have no clue. Let’s face it. Matisse knew what he was talking about!

“Creativity takes courage.”

Henri Matisse

Whenever we do something new, we are going to welcome critics. Let’s face it, we don’t get what others are creatively doing either. We have our tastes and preferences. An artist could spend years working on a technique that appears effortless. And that appearance of effortlessness will make others dislike it.

Creativity is messy. It is also noisy. After all, one person’s musical symphony is another person’s rude noises!

Cartoon of two girls and two boys
Copyright ©2017 Kevin Spear & Kidzmatter Magazine

Perfection and Creativity

Not every creative endeavor is meant to make money or be popular. Who can really predict what is popular next week anyway? If we make those our goals, we may be in for a disappointment.

The pursuit of perfection can kill creativity. If we are searching for the perfect pitch, technique, or approach that will knock everyone’s socks off, good luck! That pressure will squelch creativity.

Besides, my view of what is perfect can be very different from yours. How can perfection be defined in artistic endeavors? Is it the reaction of the public? Or the guarantee of an award-winning project? Perhaps it’s the approval of a client. What if they had a bad day and you didn’t know they hate that shade of purple?

Business and Creativity

If we are working with businesses, creativity takes courage. Very few business leaders have that chutzpah. Editors will turn down books that become bestsellers. Movie producers will reject movie concepts until they become popular and demands sequels. That song that a producer was convinced was a flop is suddenly his favorite when it becomes viral on TikTok.

Creativity takes courage. It isn’t easy to put our ideas out there. But it is worth it. It is far better to try something and see whether it works than to stay safe and churn out the same old concept.

Categories
Bible motivation Proverbs

Why Is It Better to Search For Good?

Circumstances we weren’t expecting will happen. There are things we can’t plan for such as natural disasters, disease, and the unwelcome actions of others. Yet, generally, we are better off when we search for good things. This proverb answers the question, “Why is it better to search for good?”

“If you search for good, you will find favor;
but if you search for evil, it will find you!”

Proverbs 11:27 (NLT)

We really do find what we search for. Jesus said it well in Matthew 7:7. We will find what we search for. That can be troubling when we seem to find only bad news these days.

In fact, it is much more challenging for us today to find good. Mass media and social media aren’t helping us. It seems while we are starting to wind down a pandemic, war and inflation have given us more to worry about.

Unfortunately, we don’t have to search much to find bad news. But that makes it that much more important to search diligently for the good.

Several years back, my wife and I read Mark Batterson’s devotional, The Circle Maker. One passage referred to 2 Corinthians 10:5 and the phrase, “Take captive every thought.” It was a stark reminder to me how our thought life must be disciplined, especially today.

sketch notes on 2 Corinthians 10:5 "Take Captive Every Thought"
Sketch Notes Based on “Draw the Circle.”

Good Balanced with World’s Needs

This isn’t a call to pretend everything is awesome when it isn’t. We live in a broken world that needs fixing. Broken people need help that we can’t, nor should we ignore. We aren’t compassionate if we pretend everything is great when there are so many needs.

However, we won’t find any solutions if we are focused on how bad things are. We can bring hope to others. In addition, we can help those who need a hand when we know we can be part of the solution.

There is hope and a solution when we search for it. That is why it is so important to search for the good in the world. If it just isn’t out there, perhaps we can make some good happen.