steve penny » Attitude

Who ripped up the greens

Steve Penny — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:24:56 +0000

Played golf this morning on my home Course – Pelican Waters – on the Sunshine Coast. I forgot that they were renovating the greens, which basically means they are ripped to pieces- which helps them grow back better.
It makes it impossible to putt when the greens are so rough, and so in order to enjoy the game we had to make the following adjustments. Similar to life.

A. Make up your mind to enjoy the game.
The conditions of the road you travel in life should never determine your outlook.
There is always a way to enjoy every rough road in life.
Your attitude will determine how rough the road or season really is.

B. Change the rules.
We adopted a two putt maximum rule.
It helped us actually play better as we now focussed on getting onto the green in as few shots as possible.
Sometmes it is okay to change the rules as it can help you get through really rough patches in life.
Sometimes we try to live by rules that make life impossible. Lighten up and chill if it is getting to rough.

C. Hit the ball harder.
Because the greens are so rough we found that we had to putt the ball a lot harder to get close to the hole.
When life gets rough – sometimes you have to hit the ball a bit harder. Give it a little more effort. Put the foot down on the gas peddle and smooth out the bumps on the road.

D. Don’t play in the comp.
We decided not to play in the competition as it would reflect badly on our handicap.
Don’t let the rough patches in your life set your handicap. You are better than that – so wait until the conditions improve and post a great score.
Too many people value themselves according to their down days. Never do that – always value yourself according to your premium performances.

So you see – life will always deal some rough patches. Make sure you adjust to such seasons to come through as best as you can – so you are ready to excel as the conditions improve again.
Incidently I still posted a great Stableford score of 40 points. Go figure. SJP

HANDLING PAIN

Steve Penny — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:07:15 +0000

A few weeks ago I injured my elbow and have had constant pain since then. Pain is an insidious enemy that works constantly to spoil our quality of life.

I have great empathy for people who live with constant pain as it seriously reduces one’s quality of life.

There are various remedies for physical pain – all offering some level of relief for some period of time.

However I believe the greatest imposition to our quality of life is the emotional pain we carry on the inside.

Every person has been hurt emotionally in some way at some time.

To ignore these hurts and the pain that they produce is to court disaster later in life.

Pain in any form is an indicator of an injury or malfunction.

Emotional pain tells us that we have been hurt on the inside and need help to get back to wholeness.

Never ignore emotional pain. If left unattended it will produce layers of denial and deceit, in an attempt to protect from further hurt and pain.

These layers of deceit, tell us that it was no big deal and that we will just get on with life. Unfortunately the pain continues and then begins to manifest itself as anger in one form or another.

ANGER – is the fruit of painful hurts from the past. They have been buried and so they start to produce their fruit.

Anger manifests itself in three ways.

a. SELF INDULGENCE

People who have inner anger try to cover it over with self indulgence. Shopaholics, overeaters, alcohol consumption, compulsive exaggeration or bad language, or obsessive behaviour in any form is often an indication of hidden anger. We have been hurt by others, so we try to spoil ourselves to make up for it.

b. SELF HATE

When self indulgence doesn’t take the pain away then people actually turn to self hate. We believe it is all our fault for not being able to be free from the hurts of life, and so we start to think even more poorly of ourselves, and with such an attitude comes poor behaviour as well.

c. SELF HARM

Sadly hurt people feel a need to hurt other people. As this behaviour escalates so does the self loathing and poor self image, which then reinforces these damaging trends.

People who have been hurt by others consistently hurt other people until finally they feel that they are worthless and so they find ways to hurt themselves.

It all comes back to carrying pain on the inside.

Here are my suggestions to overcoming inner pain.

1. Find a friend, counsellor or mentor who you can trust.

2. Identify the cause of your pain. Make sure it is something you remember and not some event suggested by others.

3. Confess your pain to God and ask Him to release you from it.

4. Now start to be thankful for a new beginning – free from the pains of your past.

5. Renew your mind with God’s promises and your soul with His joy.

6. Plan to be happy in life from now on. Happiness is a choice.

7. Never again rehearse the pains of your past.

Exits and entries

Steve Penny — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:43:08 +0000

There is always divided opinion on the importance of both exits and entries. Some wax eloquent that exits are the greatest judge of a person, whereas others put more focus on the way a person begins a new project, relationship or season.
The Bible clearly shows where God puts His emphasis.
God told the people of Israel to record their journey to the promised land according to their beginnings. Tiherefore the account of their journeying is recorded after each new destination they planned.
You see – endings should take care of themselves. If you start the day well it will continue well.
If you start a new relationship on the right foundations then it will continue well.
If you begin a journey with the right attitude it will go well for you.
Endings are important – but they should take care of themselves if they are viewed as the open doors to a new beginning.
It is only when an ending has inherent within it a sense of loss that people struggle to accept it and then handle it badly.
However handling new beginnings well is of even greater importance as it lays a foundation for the next season of your life which in turn is shaping the future endings you will experience. Always begin with the end in mind.
Here are my recommendations for beginning a new season or project etc.
1. Accept it as God’s doing and therefore a gift from above.
2. Begin humbly – new seasons always make you look good.
3. Don’t despise the previous season – somebody worked hard to get to this point.
4. Dont take on something with a prejudice plan- wait to spy out the land first.
5. Love the excitement of new beginnings and draw strengh from the adrenalin rush it provides.
6. Don’t sell off what previous pioneers have given their lives to possess.
7. Do begin with awesome faith and joy as God is allowing you an opportunity to step up to a new level of grace and favour.
I am personally starting a new season in 2010 and am looking to God for it to be my most fruitful ever.
I am also very mindful that the way I start this new season will have a lot to do with how I finish it.
I want to start with the end in mind.

Pressure

Steve Penny — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:20:35 +0000

Pressure comes into our lives in a number of ways.
A. The pressure of circumstances
These pressure come and go throughout life and can be very disruptive and challenging. My response to circumstantial pressure is the famous quote, “this too will pass”.
B. Seasonal pressure.
In life there are various seasons that come and go like clockwork. It is important to know what each season does to you. Some people handle summer better than winter etc.
C. Life cycle pressure
Over time it is possible to measure the cycles of your life. Some people need breaks every six months. Some people change vocation or location every five years etc. Some people need to buy a new car every two years. Some people get depressed annually. These cycles bring pressure into our lives and if not identified cause us to react unwittingly and make unwise decisions.
These life cycles are very important as they have developed over time and must be addressed.
D. Relational conflict pressure
The pressure of relational conflict is one of the most extreme forms of pressure. The closer the person is to you the stronger the pressure.
Forgiveness is the only way to remedy relational conflict. If you cover it over it will become a root of bitterness that defiles you and hurts others.
You must deal with this kind of pressure because it goes deep into your soul. If allowed to reside in your soul it will produce all kinds of physical illness as well.
E. Reaping harvests pressure
There is pressure that builds over time from continual wrong decisions or habits. Bad behaviour produces it’s own harvest of pressure that cannot be avoided until the behaviour or attitude is confessed and then changed.
F. Inner flaw pressure
We all have areas of weakness that cause us to lack confidence in certain situations.
However if the areas of weakness are fed or allowed to grow they actually become areas of negative strength. These negative strengths then outweigh your positive strengths and therefore start to control your life in an adverse manner thus creating huge pressure. You need help to identify your blind spots and have people help you to see ways to overcome them and reduce pressure.
G. Leadership pressure
There is no pressure like leadership pressure. Especially moral and spiritual leadership. That is why there is such a vacuum of great spiritual leaders.
I am amazed at novices who profess to understand leadership pressure and I am also amazed to watch great leaders as they handle such pressure so well.
Pressure is important in our lives as long as we allow it to adjust us and change our lives for the better.
To overcome all kinds of pressure.
Stay thankful.
Keep good relationships
Do life with friends
Keep a generous spirit
Keep clean on the inside.
Learn to take the lid off.

ISLAND FEVER

Steve Penny — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:02:24 +0000

There is something unique about people who live on Islands.

However there is something even more unusual about people who develop Island fever.

Island fever is the attitude that people adopt when their little piece of life becomes everything to them.

Here are some of the things I have noticed about people suffering from Island fever.

a. ISOLATION – People with Island fever tend to isolate themselves from the general flow of life among the masses. Their whole perspective is limited to who they are and what they do.

b. SUSPICION – Island people are always suspicious of others from outside. They live in a small world and can’t ever quite embrace people from the mainland.

c. EXCUSES – Island fever people are always making excuses that their lot in life is different to the mainstream. “You don’t understand” – is used a lot by Island Fever sufferers.

d. COME ON OVER – Everything is about them and their Island. They actually have a high visitor rate in their life – but a low friendship retention rate. It is just too hard getting onto their little Island.

e. THE PARTY LIFE – Island life is often called the Party Life because it attracts the tourist who is there for a good time. The mundane things like routine and commitment just don’t seem to wash with Island Fever.

f. NO MAN IS AN ISLAND – Make up your mind that you need other people to go with you on the journey of life. Commit to them through thick and thin. Get rid of the short term tourist approach to life. Keep yourself in the mainstream of life and stay grounded no matter how high you fly.

Islands are great to visit and to have that well earned break, and even to party and celebrate for a while. Just don’t make the mistake of setting up your life to live permanently on Fantasy Island.

Steve Penny

SAY GOODBYE TO NEGATIVITY

Steve Penny — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:15:36 +0000

SAY GOODBYE TO NEGATIVITY

Negativity is the cancer of the human soul. It destroys more lives that all other physical ailments put together.

The problem is that some of us are raised in a positive environment and some of us are raised in negative surroundings.

We inherit many of our family traits and not all of them are positive.

Some of us see the glass as half full, while others see it half empty.

I am one of those who sees the glass half empty. Wherever I go, I have such a high expectation that I am invariably disappointed when I get to the actual event.

Because of this I used to struggle with disappointment, which can then lead to negativity.

Let me tell you what I have learned in my journey to overcome what was becoming a destructive attitude in my life.

Learn to love life the way it is.

Stop dreaming of a

When Birds begin to Sing

Steve Penny — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:51:40 +0000

Sometime toward the end of August something happens to the birdlife around our home. It seems like the birds decide to wake up and start singing. It doesn’t happen in winter but just as spring is approaching the birds change their behaviour and start announcing the dawn of every new day. I love it as it reminds me that I should be up and ready for a new day. I am usually up well before the birds but if not I love God’s alarm clock helping me to get the most out of the new day he has given to me.
It also awakens something in me as to the change of season. Spring is upon us. Everything changes when spring arrives. I find it the most exciting time of the year. Winter is over and the beauty of new life springing forth can be seen everywhere.
I also use it to change my behaviour by adopting a springing forth attitude. It is a great time to have a go at new ventures and look for new opportunities to grow and expand.
The sound of the birds singing outside our bedroom window is sweet music to me and one that I look forward to every year. Can you hear the music of a new day and new season. Sounds like sweet music to me SJP

REMEMBER WELL

Steve Penny — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:56:34 +0000

Today is the sixth anniversary of the death of our son Andrew.

Six years have passed so quickly and life goes on as usual. However there is still a huge hole in our lives and so often at the most random times our loss will be felt in such real ways.

Nothing can change the sad things that do happen in our lives except the attitude we have in remembering them.

Marion and I made up our minds that we would put some things in place so that our future was not held prisoner to our past.

We decided to remember well. – To focus on all the wonderful memories over the many years of Andrew’s life and not remember the short period of sadness leading to his death.

We decided to look forward – Our lives did not stop and our future is still to be played out. We can act out our future with sorrow and mourning, or we can act out our future with joy and dancing.

We decided to love the living – The rest of our family needed to be important to us and to feature in our future. Write a list of the people you want to feature in your future – and you will know what is important to you.

We decided on a no shrines policy – Having seen the emotional carnage that regular visits to shrines do to people, we decided that we would not become prisoners to a shrine of remembrance.

We decided to let healing happen – our worth and value is not in being the victims of an untimely death. We wanted to be valued as whole people whose worth was in our future – not lost in our past.

We decided to support others – who have experienced loss and to help them move forward in life and to possess their future.

We decided to live by faith – and to believe God for even greater miracles for the future.

We decided to let God be God – and to get on with living the best life possible for Him.

FRUIT THAT LASTS

Steve Penny — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:23:04 +0000

BUILDING A FRUITFUL TEAM

In developing a team of people who work together to grow your organisation, it is important that they understand the ingredients that make up a fruitful team member.

There are five ingredients that must be embraced in each team members life so that they continue growing with their team and their visionary leader.

1. FUNCTION IDENTIFY GIFTS AND START CONTRIBUTING

This first step is how we all begin. Use what you have to contribute something meaningful to the organisation. Do whatever is offered with whatever you have. Do not come in wanting a position but wanting to contribute something meaningful to the team. remember it is easier to plant a seed than someone who thinks they are a great tree. There is never room for the great tree, but there is always room in any organisation for the seed person.

FAITHFULNESS FAITHFULLY SERVE WHEREVER THE OPPORTUNITY

CROSSING THE WITNESS LINE

Steve Penny — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:23:28 +0000

Some time ago Marion and I had the privilege of visiting Israel. I was fascinated with the Holy Land as place after place gave new meaning to the scriptures I have read since a child.

One of the most fascinating scenes was the valley in which David fought the Philistine giant – Goliath. It was so interesting to see the size of the valley and the distance David had to run to actually engage the giant in battle.

Contrast this to earlier that day when David arrived at the battle scene, only to watch his brothers and Sauls’s army flee from the fight whenever Goliath roared in defiance.

I have been very challenged of late in regard to giving in – on the witness front.

I can identify with David’s brothers who had been in the battle fray for some time. They knew the strength of opposition and the defiant nature of the brutal giant opposing them.

In other words they had been intimidated by their enemy.

David arrives and suggests that God can break through and give them a huge victory. When challenged he responds with the classic line, ” Is there not a cause worth fighting for?”

I suggest that the witness line must be crossed in absolute boldness – with a do or die attitude – to see great results.

To back away every time someone says they are not interested in religious matters, is to run from the battle at the first sound of defiance.

David was not concerned about protecting his reputation or his standing in the community. He knew that the armies of God were being challenged and that this position had to be reversed.

Sometimes when the situation regarding your witness seems to be going against you – it is time to raise the stakes and cross the line and go on all out attack.

In the book I read – God wins, and so I suggest we raise the stakes and start to run toward some of these arrogant opposers who so easily belittle our Christian faith.

Not in an angry or violent physical manner but with the most lethal of all spiritual weapons – the love of God.

There is no force created that can withstand the power of God’s love. Go for it. Invade someone’s space with unqualified love and watch them melt before the presence of God.

Talk to them with genuine God kind of love – and it will stop them in their tracks – like a stone to the forehead.

However in order to get close enough to unleash God’s love, you must boldly cross the witness line to engage those still lost on the battlefront of life.