The Next Step to Life

Your next step is living, its life.

What you do determines who you are.

Who you are determines your reaction.

Let's start with Charles Swindoll quote today.

"Life is roughly 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it"

The core idea behind it is that circumstances matter less than your response to them.

How do we even get to respond right, let's say make a better step.

Life has and is happening to all of us.

The past just as the future aren't in our full control.

We are often forced to make choices or let's say reactions.

Most of our response is based not on what we say but what we do.

The choices end up being us and also determine the next choices.

This means we are directly a product of our decisions.

Every choice is a zero one logic, no in between.

An easier decision will not cost that much.

A complex decision might just be your life forever.

Decisions can be simple or complex, small or big -- This is power of choice.

Free will

Free will is power of choice, we all have it.

Funny we all have different ends in the decisions we make.

We can make the same decision but end up in totally different places.

You might decide not to do it and end up failing and the one who did it succeeds.

What then affects our next best step

More often than not in decisions I have made I was the affecter -- positively and negatively.

Choice is best made outside you.

Your personality(ego) tempts you often that you don't have what you have -- need.

The best way to see this is an advice I received and made my thinking change.

"When in a decision point between two things and you don't know what to choose flip a coin and have each end assigned a decision."

This will often help you understand what side you really bet on and also takes away your control over the decision.

You'll often get your decision and based on the outcome take your control over it.

Having your control back, from the coin, you can choose to either obey the outcome or not to.

This helps you understand that as humans we would generally want to control our lives to choose better for ourselves based on our personalities (ego).

Personalities -- Ego

We spend our lives trying to save ourselves - chasing comfort, control, success.

This has been best illustrated with the coin that we will often choose self-improvement without external control.

Big decisions make you want to choose self-comfort, control and success over the coin.

It's the same as saying if she does this three times, she's the one, then you make her do it three times.

That is still self-control - an idol built quietly, often with good intentions.

I have done it, you have done it.

It has affected us greatly.

Then how do we escape that?

The External Control

In most of my decisions I have had to ask God.

Maybe for you you've had mentors, parents, friends etc.

But you have something or someone that controls your decisions from the outside.

Maybe even went and asked AI -- I have done this before, you aren't alone.

But a question,

"Did you do it?"

What the video said, the person or did you just manipulate the sign?

More often than not introducing an external factor adds an integrity factor to the decision.

The External Choice

Still even in the external control you have the choice to make, just as the coin.

Here it's your integrity at test, not control.

For me it has been as weird as:

"God come talk to me and answer these hard questions" -- I know the answer, just asking.

to:

"Give me a sign" -- Then often manipulate it.

You'll either choose to trust the video or not.

This means we should trust fully and accept the external control affect our choice integrity.

That is hard, isn't it? Yes, it is.

How hard is it even to know what God wants for our lives?

It's as hard as your integrity over the external.

This means change your intakes to be of your external control.

For me it's to get to know God better and interact more.

It is watching more, reading more, etc.

Whatever is already in your life is far much important than what is not.

It will take you towards the path for you.

So the more of the external the better.

Why do the external more?

The best next step is based on how much of the external is in you.

That is who you are on an integrity bias.

That is whatever is already in your life.

It's the next best step.

Faith doesn't show you the whole steps.

It tells you drop the ego(personality).

It tells you that you have what you already need for the step.

It tells you it is a process.

Giving In to the External Choice

I had to make the choice.

I had to read the book.

I had to write this blog.

I had to drop my ego.

I had to give God's control above my own, and there I find fullness -- present.

Clinging tightly to your life shrinks it; surrendering it expands it.

Luke 8:24 NIV

[24] For whoever wants to save their life lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

I have had to make decisions and yes, even after praying, more often than not I had my will seat in the inside and wish that it would happen to be so.

I have read books that told me to do the opposite of that I wanted.

That now is the challenge to giving in.

You can only end up thanking God for those closed doors and failed plans or saying yes the author had it right after it has happened.

The External Challenges

I have had series of open, closed, frustrating and all good doors -- choice between two good things.

That's not an easy way.

I have had very clear opportunities aligning with my then needs.

It wasn't an easy smooth path but a clear opportunity when I took it.

The path is more tough with how big the opportunity is.

It might be an open door but full of challenges and hurdles for you to leap over.

Those are the challenges towards your goal.

I have given up on most with an internal excuse of choosing the easier path and yeah it failed.

It was easier but not the right path.

Does this really mean I have lost, no.

It matters more on how many times you've chosen the path not how many times you've fallen out of it.

Then what is the fear

It is fear that protects your comfort, that fear isn't real fear.

Real fear demands precaution measures and you'll feel it.

Fear for a step is often the internal you what ifs and need for more external control - integrity.

It's more about who you are than what you do.

Make the Step

We have all it takes from our external control.

We made the external choice.

You can't simulate or prototype life.

Just take the next best step.

Yes, that one you feel to be the best, maybe hard.

Don't allow your next step be determined by pain.

Go be with that friend.

Go start reading that book on How to Swim.

Maybe stop reading the book and go swimming.

That's how I do my steps, not perfect but with the guarantee of God (My external control).

I am sure He's there in the steps, good and bad.

I am a step ahead, I am to choose again.

We all have what it takes to move the next step.

Let's all choose the next best step.