Practicing what I preach

As I continue to prepare my mind (learning the materials) for my upcoming training as a presenter for Rachel's Challenge, I find myself increasingly working on preparing my heart.  Going back and reading the books about Rachel, watching videos about Columbine and the aftermath, spending a lot of time in prayer.  I have so many thoughts, so many emotions that I'm dealing with that I'll probably have several blog posts about them in the weeks to come, but I think I'll start with this:

I am realizing more and more how much I need to work on accepting Rachel's Challenge in my own life. After all, if I'm going to travel around the country calling on young people and adults alike to accept these challenges, shouldn't I first be modeling them in my own life?

It won't be easy.  Nothing worth doing ever is.  So much of what Rachel's Challenge is all about goes against our human nature to put ourselves first.  I guess I'll just go right down the list, and make some comments about how I intend to put these things into practice in my own life.  I'm writing them down for you all to read so you can hold me accountable if you happen to see me doing the opposite.  I expect it will take some time for these to become second nature.  I hope you all with bear with me.



Challenge #1 - Look for the best in others.  Well, that should be easy, right?  Ha!  With some people, maybe, but we all have those folks in whom we have a very hard time finding any "best."  This is especially true when our first or most recent interactions with someone have left a bad taste in our mouths.  Sometimes, they earn our bad feelings, don't they?  They wrong us in some way, they hurt us, they speak badly about us, and we have a very, very hard time seeing ANY good in them at all. What we choose to see in someone is what we're going to see.  If we choose to look for the best, we'll probably find it.  I'm committing to looking for the best in others.  It may not be easy sometimes, but I'm gonna keep looking!

Rachel dreamed big

Challenge #2 - Dream big.  This one's pretty easy for me right now, but it certainly hasn't always been that way.  If you've known me for very long at all in the past fifteen years, you know how incredibly passionate I am about Rachel's story. The opportunity to represent Rachel and the Scott family by sharing that story with students and adults all around the country is a dream come true for me. It's a dream I might have missed out on if I hadn't taken the step of faith and contacted Rachel's Challenge about the position.  I could have found a thousand reasons why I shouldn't have, or why I wouldn't be what they were looking for.  So often the only thing holding us back from our dreams is us.  I'm committing to keep on dreaming big.  I'm going to set big goals, and I'm going to go after them.  If I fall short, that's ok.  I just know I don't ever want to go back to a life where I don't have something big to dream about, to chase after, to look forward to. Rachel had big, big dreams, and they all came true.  She didn't live to see it, but I think she was prepared for that too.  I hope I can live up to her example.

Challenge #3 - Choose positive influences.  We become like the people we surround ourselves with.  If you want to become a better person, find people modeling the life you want to live, and spend as much time with them as possible.  The television shows, music, movies, and books we take in will influence us too.  I'm committed to allowing influences that will push me to be a better man, a better child of God, whatever and whomever those influences might be.

Challenge #4 - Speak with kindness.  This is a big one for me right now, and the one I'll be focused on the most in the coming weeks.  By and large I think most people who know me believe me to be a pretty nice guy.  However, watch my facebook long enough, and you'll probably see me go on a rant about something.  A dig at a politician, a complaint about someone's behavior, etc.  Ask my kids if daddy always speaks with kindness after they've been fighting for an hour and absolutely will not listen to what I say.  Ask my wife if I always speak with kindness to her.  I'll save you the time.  I don't.  I am committing to only post positive things on facebook, etc.  I'm committing to think before I speak to my kids, to my wife, to others. I'm committing to resisting the temptation to speak negatively about people who speak negatively about me. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.  If I'm going to challenge others to do the same, I'd best accept this challenge in my own life.

Challenge #5 - Start your own chain reaction. 
This really boils down to doing the four things above in such a way that those around you can't help but notice, and start to do likewise.  So I hope that through writing blogs like this one, I can encourage you to take a hard look at your own life, and ask yourself the questions I'm asking myself right now. Rachel believed that little things could make a huge difference.  If we all started doing those things, little by little, we'll change the world around us.  It's a chain reaction.  So far, over 20 million people have heard Rachel's challenge.  Will you hold me accountable as I accept Rachel's challenge in my own life?  Will you accept the challenge with me? I'd love to hear from you.  Please feel free to comment below or message me on fb if you would like to comment in private.  Oh, and please keep the chain reaction going by passing this along.  Thanks!