You know how to recognise a person who isn’t acting deliberately? Ask him “why?” If he doesn’t know, then he’s probably doing it “just because.” “Just because” is rarely a good reason. “Why do I need a reason for everything I do?” you might ask. Because that’s what it means […]
He wasn’t a believer, but Henry David Thoreau was a thoughtful and articulate man. This piece from Walden inspires and intrigues me. I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it […]
Does deliberate living spell death for spontaneity? I’ve been thinking this through over the last two weeks as several people brought it up in the comments here and here. Here are my thoughts. 1) The opposite of intentionality is not spontaneity. The opposite of intentionality is traditionalism. Traditionalism does something […]
To be deliberate is to always move forward with the destination in mind. Perhaps the most striking picture of the deliberate Christ is found in Luke 9:51: “He set his face to go to Jerusalem.” This is at least six months before his crucifixion, and yet Jesus Christ—the deliberate Christ—is […]
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Every believer is responsible to conduct himself deliberately. Let me explain what I mean. To live deliberately is to live on purpose. It’s the opposite of letting life happen to you. It’s the opposite of going with the flow. To be deliberate is to be careful, not careless. To be […]
I just spent what may be the most valuable $17.45 of 2010. That’s 2 x $4.60 for two flat whites, $5.50 for a large strawberry thick shake, and $2.75 for a pen when my other pen ran out. Oh, and I spent about four hours. This is an annual New […]
Lots of people have Christmas traditions but do you have any New Year’s traditions? Of course there’s always the old stay-up-til-midnight routine, but besides that. My New Year’s tradition For the last several years I’ve made a habit of sitting down sometime around the New Year and summarising my whole […]
It’s inevitable. You can run from it. You can hide from it. You can pretend it won’t happen. But as sure as the rising of the sun, things change. There are three truths we must face head-on if we’re going to successfully understand and navigate change. 1) Change is scary. […]
