Rescue Mission Blog

Why it's Always Hard to Finish

  

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It's hard to finish because completion is always opposed, challenged, resented or feared. By others and by yourself.

While those closest to you often cheer and celebrate you, others will be unsettled by you completing. Even if the completion is related to simple tasks. Completion threatens others, it pushes others to examine why they've not finished what they've started.  

It is also difficult because completion means opening yourself up to critique. Once you determined that something is "finished" you have to put it out there to be judged. For many people that can be difficult emotionally.

Completion is difficult because everything in us fights against it. We comfort ourselves with thoughts like "I've tried", "At least I got started" and "It's just too difficult" in order to make us feel better about not finishing.  

It's also a spiritual problem, we are opposed on a spiritual level. Everything in this world fights against victory and completion of something good. To finish is to do something spiritual, no matter how practical the task.

So whatever it is, work hard to finish, to complete what you've begun. You'll experience emotional, personal and spiritual breakthrough whenever you "complete."

What thoughts, discouragements and beliefs keep you from completing? In my life I've noticed that I struggle to complete tasks that seem to "stretch on forever". The task becomes bigger and bigger in my mind, making it hard to want to finish. Share with me what you think about completion.

David Curry

Why Your Belief System is Important

  

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Everyone has a belief system. I'm not talking about a religious belief system, a number of people see themselves as without any religion, I'm referring to a set of theories, values, and ideas that you assume or accept as true. A belief system could be made up of ideas as simple as "Nothing good ever happens to me", "Good things come to those who wait", or "Money corrupts everyone".  

We all have hundreds of these kinds of ideas, sayings and myths as a part of our life. Some are true and some are not. 

A couple of important thoughts about belief systems:

If you don't know you have one, you are in trouble - Some people don't recognize that they have a belief system. Because of this they find themselves unknowingly controlled by a set of beliefs that they have never examined. They don't know what they believe, so they don't see where their beliefs are taking them. It's always better to know what you believe even if your ideas are not fully formed yet and are "under construction."

Deciding on your beliefs is better than blindly accepting them - We all receive programming in our youth, at work, from our friends. The culture we live in also pushes a set of beliefs upon us. Whatever set of beliefs you were given as a child, or by the culture around you, examine and study whether or not they are true, helpful, and are serving you well.

Every belief system produces results - If you believe that "Money corrupts everyone" then that will produce results in your life. It will lead you to make decisions based upon that belief, choose your friends based upon it, judge others, and make career choices. It will affect you in many seen and unseen ways. This is true of every belief - they all produce a result. If you study the circumstances of your life with absolutely honesty you'll see that many, if not most, are the results from your belief system.  

Are you aware of the messages you believe? Do you examine and question the assumptions that run your life? So many people have negative and destructive beliefs about themselves, their potential, and about life in general.  

In my own life I realize that I've had negative beliefs about my own talents, how much my time was worth, whether I controlled my own destiny and other important issues. What beliefs did you have in the past that you now realize were producing a negative result on your life? Share your ideas with me, I'd love to hear from you

David Curry

Richard & Chris - Catching Up

  

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In the March Newsletter, we published an article based on a follow-up interview with Richard and his son Chris, who moved into the Adams St. Family Campus in September of 2012. 

The interview with Richard and Chris was a lot of fun. We ended up talking about so much that we were only able to include a part of our conversation in the newsletter article. This blog post will cover some of what we had to leave out. 

(Richard) As far as I go . . . I’ve got a lot closer to God, which I wanted to be. Before I came here, into the program, I felt out of communication with God. And just a couple weeks ago, I just felt back to where I was close enough to His presence to where that communication’s been re-established. I feel peace. I’ve got direction for where I want my family to go. I’ll be graduating (from the New Life Program) in August.

(RM) So, what’s going on in the Youth Program?

(Chris) Yes, well last night actually, we went over to a DJ. Just hung out there. Other than that I’ve just mostly been focusing on school, ROTC program.

(RM) You did football, right?

(Chris) Yes. I did football this year. Over the summer there will be seasoning, pre-conditioning. But other than that…

(Richard) He’s taking track. He starts that next month. So he’ll be plenty busy. And he keeps dad busy too, cuz he wakes me up at 5:30 every day to take him to school. 

(RM) Is that a zero period for ROTC, or…?

(Chris) It’s for drill team; our last comp is this Saturday, at Prairie.

(Richard) He goes to school Friday morning at 2:30am, and they get home at 10pm Saturday. But kids have a lot more energy than dads, it seems like! That’s something else we’ve started too. Thursday mornings at 6am, we do an exercise workout here. No leaders, we just come in and do it. It’s the Insanity video – we put it on that tv right there to put a little health back in us. And it really does help a lot.

(Richard) So we’re getting the whole circle here. Physical, mental and spiritual now. We’re doing quite a bit of growing. I’m happy with it. He’s going to a youth conference, too. Youth For Christ at the end of next week?

(Chris) It starts on the 28^th, Thursday, through the 2^nd. It’s activities and concerts. It’ll be fun.

When asked about his experience with the Challenge Learning Program:

(Richard) I’m struggling a little bit with English, boy they’ve changed the rules since I did that! I’m getting registered for school. I’m going back to school for an associates to be a teacher, to go on for a transfer degree. I’ll have a certificate for social services and mental health. It’ll be open so I’ve got choices later. It’s a good background for us.

(RM) You have quite a plan!

(Richard) Yes. The biggest thing though, is the business that we want to open . . . It’s gonna be charity support services is what we’re calling it, which is a fancy word for party supplies . . . this business is a way of giving back. Helping charities out. It’s gonna be a couple of bouncy houses, a party tent, a karaoke machine, and a BBQ trailer. And what we’re gonna do is rent this out to charities for $350 a day, a 24 hour period. Which is a very good price, so that way they can sell tickets and raise money for their charity. We will eventually turn it into a non-profit to sponsor people like myself with families in other countries. Or single women with children . . .

When asked about the Case Managers, or mentors, that NLP participants work with:

(Richard) They do stick with you, they go through our work-books with us, through the intimate details of them . . . along with the group . . . we also discuss things as brothers . . . We give each other encouragement, or constructive criticism, which is a very delicate situation at times. But we do it with love. We’re not trying to hurt people. But sometimes you know, people say things and you take it a little harshly. But that’s part of the process too, learning to grow and to deal with that.

(RM) When you graduate the program, are you moving out of Adams, or going into the Applied Living Program?

(Richard) The Applied Living Program is great to know that it is there for us. We’ll probably take advantage of it for a couple months. But I’m anxious to put the program into action. And I know Christopher is, too . . .

(Richard) This morning I was listening to a ministry, online, that was talking about time is what life is made of, so if you love life so much, you should make the most value out of your time. I didn’t do that before. Before, it was all about materialistic things, and now it’s more about meaningful things. Spending time with my family. That’s what’s gonna make it more content in life.

Congratulations to Richard and Chris on their accomplishments and progress. We look forward to celebrating with them when Richard graduates the New Life Program.

Your Christmas Crew

  

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When I was a young man I was taught that "you can't fly like an eagle when you are stuck with the turkeys".  That was my youth sports coach's way of telling me to find good friends, people who wanted to be and do something with their life, and not get caught up in the wrong crowd.

Often we think we "mature" out of cliques, but we really don't.  Everyone is influenced by their support and peer group and it's critically important to surround yourself with loving, encouraging, positive, growing, life-affirming people...ESPECIALLY at Christmas!

Somehow Christmas often becomes a dread because we allow ourselves to be surrounded by people who are negative, or a negative influence.  For those who are in drug and alcohol recovery, surrounding yourself with people who will affirm your new life is critically important at the holidays.  Yet even for those who have never struggled with that challenge, it remains the same.  Who gives you life? Who brings joy and laughter to you in a positive way?  Are there people who bring out the worst habits in you?  

At Christmas, give yourself the gift of a good friend.  Spend time with those who influence you to keep growing...and toward your better self.

Who is on your Christmas Crew?  Who do you love to spend time with? 

Boundaries at the Holidays

  

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The Christmas season, and other holidays as well, can be stressful for everybody.  This may be especially true for people who are in recovery and have Christmas memories that are painful.  

One factor which makes the Christmas season, according to psychologists, is that there are so many events and expectations that are different from the normal routine.  

Having healthy boundaries, knowing in advance what you are committed to do...and what you won't do, will help to relieve some stress of the unexpected.

Many people know that they need good boundaries, but they miss one important element: Knowing what they want to do.

It's easy to feel trapped into obligations, other peoples expectations, and someone else's idea of a fun Christmas, but the question is: Do you have any better idea?  

Often we dont' even know ourselves what we would prefer to do, so we get stressed and bent out of shape by others expectations.  The more proactive way to approach it is to write out a plan for your best Christmas.  What would you like to do? Who would you like to celebrate with? What would you want to make sure you don't miss?  

Plan your Christmas around some of your own personal highlights so that you have some control over you life.  If you don't have a plan for your own life, don't be surprised if you end up getting pushed into someone else's plan.

What is a favorite Christmas tradition that you plan to do this year?  Share it with me, and what you do to have healthy boundaries at Christmas.

What is spiritual maturity?

  

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There are probably dozens of definitions for maturity, and what makes someone "fully developed" but I know for sure what it's not: perfection.

As long as you are living you will be needing to make course corrections, humans are easily distracted, discouraged, and turned around.  Yet growth is possible and here are a few things I think make someone spiritually mature:

Ability to calm yourself, and cheer yourself: We all need the ability to know when we are down, why we are down, and what we might do about it.  It sounds easy, but so many times it's hard to know why you are down.  So it is with encouraging yourself.  What are healthy ways to cheer yourself up?  Exercise, laughter, work, are all good ways to do so.

Ability to get yourself back on track: Spiritually mature people get off track just as often as others, but they get themselves back on track regularly, daily, and sometimes moment by moment.  When you grasp the depth of this idea, it will change your life and will help you stop kicking yourself all day long.

Ability to manage your day without supervision: Some people are grown, but without someone telling them how to make their day productive, they'd be all over the place.  Why does this matter?  Because productivity in a meaningful task gives your life purpose and direction.  If you cannot schedule your life, independent from the opinion of others, then you're not mature yet-keep growing.

What are some other things that make someone spiritually mature? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 -David Curry

Living it

  

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Recently while speaking to a group of up-and-coming leaders I was asked what was the "one thing" that summarizes a good leader.  Of course there is no "one thing", but I believe that a good summary of a what makes a good leader is this: "Ability to personify your organization and cause".  Good leaders don't just have a job, they invest themselves in a cause fully.  They immerse themselves in the challenges, trying to understand why things work the way they do and how to make them better.  

I suppose the same could be said for marriage, parenting and so on.  As long as you keep life at a distance, never investing too much in any one area, you will struggle to find meaningful success and depth.  When you go all in - when you live it - you begin to see life get so much wider, deeper, and richer.

Don't just exist, live life to the fullest.

Know how to Redeem

  

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Most of us seldom think about the word REDEEM, what it means and the power of it's intent.  When you try to redeem something you are doing something amazing.

Exchanging: Redeeming is exchanging something you have for something you want.  Often you may receive a coupon that can be redeemed for a product that has more value, and that you want much more than the coupon itself.

Convert:  When you redeem you convert one thing into another thing.  There's special joy in converting something of diminished value into something brand new.  

Recover: Often we have things that we believed had lost value, such as an antique object, that we can redeem with someone who knows it's true value.  

In every way, redeeming is a life-transforming idea.

What are you seeking to redeem? Is there a mistake you thought had no value, but you can redeem that by taking away an important lesson?  Is there pain that you thought was a waste and only served as a drain on you that can be redeemed by helping and teaching others what you've learned?

Redemption is one of the most powerful spiritual principles, don't miss out on the chance to be a part of redeeming previously wasted moments, pains, hurts, and moments.

David Curry

Impact of Negative People

  

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"Don't spend a whole days energy replaying, thinking, meditating on one negative encounter."

David Curry

Tyranny of expectations

  

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"Let other people live small lives, not you."  Jim Rohn

Most of us learn by watching others.  Without knowing how to do something, we resort to mimicking how someone else is seen to have done it.  Often this is helpful, but there are occasions when it becomes detrimental.  What is most of the people you observe are living below their highest potential?  What is those you mimic are on the wrong track and headed no where? What if the way they live, the habits you are shadowing, are going to lead them to an unhealthy and difficult season in their life?  

Who you choose to learn from matters.  Others can choose to live in crisis, stress, sickness, and anger.  You choose to go another way.  People may choose not to dream big, but instead decide to try to simply survive.  You decide to go for it, to shoot for your biggest dreams.  

There is a tyranny of expectations, a pressure to live up to what the group is doing.  If the group is headed nowhere, cut loose from the pack and head for the mountaintop.

What keeps you tied to others expectations?  

David Curry