by Guest Blogger | Jan 2, 2017 | Blog, Overwhelmed |
by Cheri Gregory
I should be more like him.
As I sit through the memorial service for a truly amazing man—a beloved teacher and pastor to so many—this one thought plays over and over in my head.
I should be more like him.
Whenever Jon preached about God’s grace, he’d break down in tears, so great was his gratitude toward his Savior. His death opens a Grand Canyon-sized hole in our school and church community that none of us can even begin to fill.
I should be more like him.
But I don’t know how.
The “Should Be’s” Overtook Me
During conversation after the memorial service, Tim Z, our AP History teacher, asks me how my AP English students are doing.
“Do you think you’ll ever go back to teaching sophomore English?” he asks.
“No,” I reply. “I don’t have the patience for students who refuse to read. If they hate books, I don’t want to deal with them.”
Tim’s eyes light up. “Oh, I just love the kids who come into my class hating history!”
I stare, partly in admiration and partly in shame.
I should be more like him.
Tim talks animatedly. “I see every history-hating student as a future history major. I make it my personal challenge to figure out what it takes to help them change their minds.”
I nod dumbly.
I should be more like him.
But I don’t know how.
Accepting That I’m Exactly Who I’m Supposed to Be
I linger in the church after the memorial service, pondering the legacy of Jon Speyer and mulling over my conversation with Tim Z.
I should be more like them.
But how?
Train myself to cry when I talk about God? Force myself to enjoy aliterate students?
No.
Trying to be someone I’m not isn’t the answer.
What if …
A new thought begins to sprout, like a seed pushing up through the soil.
What if I quit trying to be more like him or them?
What if I start trying to be … (dare I say it) … more like me?
Nothing more or less than exactly who God created me to be.
I Stopped Worrying and Started Listening
It’s been four years since this epiphany.
Since I started regularly asking, “Who did God create me to be?” and really listening for the answer.
The tool that’s helped me keep the answer front-and-center as I make decisions throughout my work day is my Personal Manifesto.
One page of Spirit-led words that declares, “This is who I am and who I aspire, through God’s grace and power, to become.”
Two Things Your Personal Manifesto Will Do for You
Your Personal Manifesto says, “This is it!”
Which can be interpreted two different ways:
1 — Through your Personal Manifesto, you declare who you are.
Your Personal Manifesto is not an itemized list of who a parent or teacher or spouse or child or boss—not even a beloved role model—expects you to be.
Your Personal Manifesto is a pray-cessed expression of who God has created you to be.
2 — Through your Personal Manifesto, you define who you are not.
It helps you define who God did not create you to be, for yourself and others. This can be downright terrifying for those of us who are used to being “all things to all people.”
It’s your God-guided assertion that you’re done trying to be someone you’re not. (No matter how much others may want you to keep trying.)
There’s nothing wrong with having a role model or seeking out mentors. But our goal should never be trying to be more like him or her or them.
Your goal is to always listen to Him.
Who does He say you are?
Instead of making New Year’s resolutions (that will only last for a week), how about creating a Personal Manifesto that will carry you through the rest of your life? Sign up for great ideas and resources about how to get out from Overwhelmed and you will receive “How to Write Your Personal Manifesto” as our gift to you. Get off the overwhelming cycle of making and breaking resolutions and create a gentle plan for lasting life change.
And learn more about living out a life out of overwhelmed in our new book, Overwhelmed, How to Quiet the Chaos and Restore Your Sanity.
Cheri Gregory is a teacher, speaker, author, and Certified Personality Trainer. Her passion is helping women break free from destructive expectations. She writes and speaks from the conviction that “how to” works best in partnership with “heart, too.”
Cheri is the co-author, with Kathi Lipp, of The Cure for the “Perfect” Life and Overwhelmed.
Cheri has been “wife of my youth” to Daniel, her opposite personality, for twenty-eight years and is “Mom” to Annemarie (25) and Jonathon (24), also opposite personalities.
Are you a Highly Sensitive Person? Take the self-quiz and discover the surprising strengths of a tender heart.
by kathilipp | Dec 30, 2016 | Blog, Overwhelmed |
24 hours.
That’s how long the marketing experts told us to offer the special pre-order bonuses for Overwhelmed, our new book that officially releases on January 1.
“You have to create a sense of urgency! Otherwise, nobody will buy.”
We almost did what the experts said. We almost ran a high-pressure, TODAY ONLY, Cyber-Monday special.
But at the last minute, we changed our minds.
Why?
Well, for one thing, we knew that the last thing our readers needed was us pushing a our “sense of urgency” on them. (If there’s anything overwhelmed women already live with 24/7, it’s a sense of urgency!)
But more than anything, we had a feeling that our readers are just the kind of women to prove the experts wrong.
So, we said “no” to 24 hours of pressure tactics and “yes” to two full weeks of sharing the love, instead.
Your response?
You proved the experts wrong!
We’ve been totally blown away, in the best possible way.
A Gentle Reminder
In just over 24 hours, the December pre-order bonuses will expire. For each and every copy of Overwhelmed you pre-order, you get:
- The “Get Out from Overwhelmed Planner: Do Great Things, Be Less Cranky” + 7 short coaching videos by Kathi
- FIVE of our most popular book titles in ebook format from Book Shout
Getting your freebies is as easy as 1, 2, 3!
1 — Order Overwhelmed from your favorite retailer. (Out of stock right now with your favorite retailer? You can still order now and enjoy your free bonuses while you wait for your book to arrive.)
2 — Fill out this form to receive your bonuses.
3 — Check your email for your bonuses. (Be sure to check those promo or spam folders in case it gets misdirected.)
About Overwhelmed
Feeling overwhelmed? Wondering if it’s possible to move from “out of my mind” to “in control” when you’ve got too many projects on your plate and too much mess in your relationships?
Kathi and Cheri want to show you five surprising reasons why you become stressed, why social media solutions don’t often work, and how you can finally create a plan that works for you. As you identify your underlying hurts, uncover hope, and embrace practical healing, you’ll understand how to…
- trade the to-do list that controls you for a calendar that allows space in your life
- decide whose feedback to forget and whose input to invite
- replace fear of the future with peace in the present
You can simplify and savor your life—guilt free! Clutter, tasks, and relationships may overwhelm you now, but God can help you overcome with grace.
by kathilipp | Dec 15, 2016 | Blog, Overwhelmed |
HURRY! For this moment ONLY, you can get in on this DEAL OF THE DECADE!! But you must act QUICKLY! No time to think about it! This offer will GO AWAY any nanosecond! Just click, swipe, share and re-tweet RIGHT NOW with 500 of your closest friends! NO ONE WANTS TO MISS OUT!!! If you buy one product you get only one product, but if you buy 27 products you get 2 baby unicorns! ABSOLUTELY FREE! And if you buy 127 products we will give you something so amazing that legally we are not allowed to divulge, but it’s pretty darn fabulous and you WON’T BELIEVE IT’S AWSOMENESS! But only if you act NOW! If you take your next breath it may be TOO LATE!!!! Supplies are LIMITED!!! YOU MUST ACT NOW!!!
Does this seem Overwhelming to you? It does to us as well. So we’re not going to go that route. You have enough people screaming at you. But we do have something to share with you that we are pretty excited about it! There’s no big hurry though. In fact, why don’t you get a cup of your favorite beverage, put your feet up, and we’ll tell you all about it. Go ahead. Don’t worry you won’t miss anything. We will be here when you return.
Got that cup? Good! Take a sip. Relax…
We know how this time of year can be crazy, busy and overwhelming. Though feeling overwhelmed is not strictly reserved for the holidays, that’s for sure! So that makes us very excited about the birth our newest book, Overwhelmed: How to Quiet the Chaos and Restore your Sanity by Kathi Lipp and Cheri Gregory coming in January.
But we want to help you ease into the season with a little more balance and organization, so we’ve bundled some gifts for you early birds! And we chose these intentionally to help you implement your less overwhelmed life now. With your order of Overwhelmed we want to give you:
– A downloadable Overwhelmed calendar/planner (Can we just tell you how awesome this planner is? We have tested many of them and this could be very well be the last planner we will ever need! It’s customizable to fit your personal needs, you print out the pages as you need them, and it incorporates the systems you will learn in Overwhelmed. This planner will get you where you need to go faster! Also included are 5 FREE teaching videos tailored to get your planner up and running and perfect for you!)
– FIVE FREE ebooks (this offer ended 12/31/16) geared to refocus your priorities to live the life you crave. People, this is $80 worth of books for F-R-E-E (and some of Kathi’s favorites handpicked for you!)
– Get Yourself Organized for Christmas
-The What’s for Dinner Solution
-The Cure for the Perfect Life
-The Get Yourself Organized Project
-The Me Project
With these tools, you will feel more on top of this season than ever before. With more peace and joy too! We bet right now you are thinking of a few friends who would love to receive these free gifts, and we want them to as well! We hate for people to miss out because an offer was for one day only, so we want to give you ample time to share with your friends and decide for yourself.
For these next two weeks, December 15-31, we will keep this offer open to you and your friends. Wow! Christmas presents after Christmas even! That’s fun! No pressure. No gimmicks. No limitations. Just a heartfelt thank you for journeying with us on the road to simplifying and savoring life!
Order your copy of Overwhelmed here. Then jump over to http://overwhelmed.website/freebies to submit your receipt and get your bonuses!
Share with your friends here.
