How to Make God Smile

For the last few years I have been getting together with a group of buddies and fishing on a river in Oregon. It is always fun and this year was no exception. Due to health problems in our group -- we are all over 50 these days, there were some changes in the cast, but everything was excellent.

As usual my favorite moment was one that could never have been planned, it just happened. We had caught a nice fish and wanted some pictures to torture one of the group who could not attend this year. We staged ourselves with the perfect background and got ready to go. It was a great fish, colored up with bright reds and silver, a hook jaw and strong as a bull. We made fun of the missing member and reveled in our plans to take not just one but multiple pictures with this monster fish. One on the bank, then one in the boat, maybe one in the water with waders on. We had a story all cooked up about how even though the fish all looked alike they were in fact all different. We had just gotten into a group of nice fish that maybe looked similar. So up to the front of the boat we went for our first shot. And then this happened. That fish is living free as I write this, he's probably still laughing at the old guys who have grip the strength of a little girl.

There is a moral to the story: “If you want to make God smile just tell him your plans.”

Life Takes Courage –

A life without courage is a sad thing to behold, mostly because it lacks the fun and vitality that we all know it should hold. For some reason everyone around us can see how we should be living our lives, what careers we should pursue, who we should marry, how we should handle a difficult relationship, yet for those of us actually living our lives it is a constant struggle to make the right decisions.

It’s not the jump into the unknown that is most fearful; it is deciding for yourself how much to jump. Should I completely change my life, or should I just jump off the curb instead. No one is afraid of a six-inch leap, but a sixty-foot cliff is another thing altogether.

I have a friend who changed careers and was told that it would take a minimum of four years to achieve his goals, he did it in less than one year. He chose to burn the bridge behind him and left himself only one way to go, that kind of courage is uncommon. I cannot wait to see the results, I am certain that his leap will change the lives of those who know him, they have seen what is possible with their own eyes.

Others lack the courage to face up to the choices they made earlier. There comes a point in men’s lives where they have to reexamine themselves and what they have become. They may have gone down a path which led them to somewhere they did not intend to go, and yet there they are, their choice is clear – continue down the trail or jump off a new cliff. Both choices may take courage but usually only one is correct.

Make sure you are jumping for the right reasons, not to get away from something but always towards the noble choice. If you are jumping for yourself and you are a grownup make sure it’s you that matters most. When my friend jumped into a new career he had the backing of all who knew and loved him, everyone believed he could do it and he left no wreckage behind. It was a glorious leap.

Have the selflessness to make the good jumps and to back away from the bad ones. Listen to those who truly love you most, they can sometimes see with clarity things which evade us when we are struggling to decide our own destiny. Listen to the counsel of loved ones and be courageous in your choice, then follow the path with fortitude, it is the right leaps that make life worth living.