Earlier this year, I hired a man who is an expert at optimizing websites for local Google search results. I agreed to pay him $900 per month to optimize my website at PeoriaInjuryLawCenter.com. For the purpose of this article, I’m going to call him “Jim.”
I recently heard about a conversation that took place between some members of my extended family. The question they were apparently attempting to answer was, Why does Harry take the time to write a religious article every week? They came to the conclusion that I probably have some deep-seated guilt about my past that compels me to write. Writing a weekly article is apparently the only way I can atone for my guilt.
Have you ever heard of Benjamin Percy? He’s a 36-year-old writer who has won several awards for his novels and short stories. His newest novel, The Deadlands, was just released. He is currently adapting his previous novel, Red Moon, for Fox, and is writing a new television series — Black Gold — for the Starz cable network. His favorite current project is writing the newest version of Green Arrow for DC Comics.
A few years ago in early January, one of my relatives who was in her 60s told me that her New Year’s resolution was to lose thirty pounds. In February, I asked her how her diet was going, and she told me that she had quit the diet. When I asked why, she said, “The first week I lost three pounds. The second week I didn’t lose any weight. The third week I lost only a pound. The fourth week I didn’t lose anything. After that, I gave up.”
Although we think and talk a lot about time, most of us never attempt to seek out or discover its true meaning. What is time? Can you come up with a simple definition? The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes time as “the measured or measurable period during which an action, process, or condition exists or continues.”
One of the hardest concepts to grasp is that “time” does not exist in heaven. On earth, from the moment a person is conceived until that person dies, he or she is limited by time and space. In heaven there are no such limitations. It’s hard to imagine living in heaven for eternity and never having to mention or be concerned with time.
Last month, there was an event that caused me to stop what I was doing and think back to 1989. That was the year I purchased The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, a book written by Stephen Covey. The event that caused me to stop and think about Covey’s book was a report on the news that he had passed away. Covey died on July 16, 2012, at the age of 79. At the time of his death, he was a professor at the John Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University.
In last week’s article, Habit Gravity & Escape Velocity, I told you about a New Year’s resolution I imposed upon one of my teenage daughters last year. The resolution was for her to make her bed every morning immediately after waking up. In the article, I provided one of the primary reasons most people don’t keep their resolutions – they fail to develop the new habits that are necessary to follow through on the resolutions. I also provided a formula that can be used to help facilitate the development of new habits.
Georgette and I still have three daughters living at home with us – Mary (20), Christine (17), and Teresa (15). Although Georgette has asked all three of the girls to make their beds every morning, only one has consistently complied with her request. The other two daughters have expressed various reasons (excuses) as to why they can’t seem get the job done every day, such as, “I don’t have the time” or “I keep forgetting.”