SING A NEW SONG

My life is hitting a period of change.  Change can be unsettling at times as we let go of the familiar and take a step of faith into a new arena. Sometimes we run to grab a new opportunity. Sometimes the transition can be a little more tentative.  
This poem is about grasping change with a little help.  


Oh, grant me a new song.
A start again fresh with no regrets song.
One with a bridge to a new accord, 
a song with which I can get on board.
Something that strikes a stronger chord
with those who like me
long to be fully
factory
restored. 

A song with a fresher melody
(and I definitely need a different harmony),
something that's part of a wider symphony
maybe with an occasional solo part
for me.

A song that I can sing with greater gusto,
maybe to a slightly quicker tempo,
a step up from my imposed Adagio,
closer to a brisker Allegretto.

Oh Lord, 
you see me.
You see that I long to sing.
Can you please
wipe me clean
and write a new song with me.

by Steve Page

For more of Steve's poems, his latest anthology 'Not too big to weep' is available on amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1549894706/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_DGj4zbZZK23D6

SUCCESS IN 2017: STEP FIVE

We're now in the fifth and final week of what I hope has been a really helpful toolkit to enable you to see great success in 2017. We've looked at our thoughts and rituals, our roles and goals, and now we're landing on the ultimate challenge. Once you've done the other things, doing this final step will act like the final spinning cog of an elaborate mechanism, unlocking potential you perhaps didn't even know was there.

Get excited!

A lot's been said over the past couple of decades about the power of a positive mindset. It's easy to get cynical about that sort of thing, but looking back at what we've achieved over the past few weeks, surely we can know that success is possible.

And that should get us excited in the morning.

And if we're excited in the morning, we'll respond more positively to what life throws at us.

So...get excited every morning! Spend a couple of minutes every morning, thanking God for everything he's going to do for you and through you to others today.

Don't allow circumstances to define your positive outlook. Allow your positive outlook to influence your circumstances.

Get scared!

You might be afraid of spiders, you might be afraid of talking to someone really senior in your office, you might be afraid of what people will think if you bring in a packed lunch, or you might be afraid of how awkward the conversation would be if you invited a homeless person out for lunch.

It's easy to be afraid of things - life is full of unknowns, and negative results are a possibility...but let me tell you one thing for free:

Fear solves nothing.

Being afraid has a negative effect on you personally, and doesn't change the situation at all. So here's a good thing to do. Every day, do one thing that scares you. Once you've done it, no worries - no need to do anything scary until tomorrow. But don't let a day go by without scaring yourself on purpose.

Just see what happens!

Get focussed!

I don't know about you, but my life seems to get full to the brim of...stuff. Meetings, emails, tube delays, meals...and how much of it actually makes a difference in life?

You often hear of the 80/20 rule in business, where 80% of your effort leads to 20% of your results, and vice versa. What would happen if you worked out what your 20% was, and focussed as much attention as possible on that?

Go on, write a list. What are the top ten things that make a difference in your life? Now, prioritise those over everything else, no matter the sacrifice - it may annoy people at first, and you might experience some setbacks, but 80% beats 20% every day.

Thank you so much

I hope you've really enjoyed this little series with me, and I hope it's made a genuine difference to you.

I said in the opening post that I'm convinced that contentedness is a great state of mind to have. I truly believe that, and I believe you can be contented but still push for change, because my contentedness comes from a place outside of my life - and his name is Jesus.

SUCCESS IN 2017: STEP THREE

Over the last two weeks, we've looked at a structured approach to prioritising life choices, and started to build an action plan to change. I hope you've started to experience a greater sense of vision, control and achievement...but we've barely scratched the surface of true, lasting success.

It's good to create a to-do list, and it needs to be supported by an attitude that turns those one-off actions into natural habits. So let's set to work on that.

Who are you?

We're bombarded every day by messages telling us to conform to other people's view of what good looks like. That might mean having a body that's a certain shape, earning a particular amount of money, living in a certain place, wearing certain clothes...

A lot of dissatisfaction in life comes from putting expectations on ourselves to be someone that we're simply not. The Bible says, "Do not be conformed to this world" (Romans 12:2), and Oscar Wilde said:

Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.

So let me encourage you to do two things:

1. Ask yourself who you really are - what you're really like - and how people try to make you be someone different. Now, resolve to simply be yourself.
2. Write down a list of life experiences that have made you who you are today - good and bad. Now, accept that you can't go back in time and change them. You are who you are, and where you are, today, because of them.

What can you change?

Over the last couple of weeks, I've written a lot about things you can do to make a difference. And I expect you've thought at some point: "I can't change [enter your own circumstances here]."

Our lives are affected by the decisions of others, including our bosses, friends, family, politicians, and simple circumstances. And we can't change a lot of that. If there won't be a chance to be promoted until your boss quits, there's nothing you can do about that!

Your satisfaction will increase when you properly realise that you can't change everything.

And here's some even better news...there are some things that you definitely can change. What are those things you've always said that other people do that you can't? What would happen if you realised you could?

Maybe it's waking up half an hour earlier every day to learn a new skill, or a language, or to pray, or to read the Bible? Maybe it's building a budget...and sticking to it!

You will see greater success when you properly realise that you can change some things.

So we've looked at understanding and prioritising the most important areas of life, we've looked at our daily thoughts and rituals, and now we've looked at the attitudes that underpin those. Next week, we're going to take it to the next level, by taking proper ownership of our own lives.

THE MOVE FROM SNAKE TO SMARTPHONE, AND WHAT THAT MEANS FOR YOUR FUTURE

We did not have a home telephone at all until I was about 9 years old. If I wanted to communicate with people, I wrote them a letter!

I clearly remember when we moved house, and the new place had a phone line. I was taught by my parents that when I answered the telephone to clearly say:

• my name
• our phone number
• "how can I help you?"

I was one of three boys that used to run to the sound of the phone...who is it and what do they want!

Things gradually changed.

The spinning numbers were replaced by push buttons.

The phone directory that I used to try and rip up with my bare hands when the new one arrived was replaced by the internet.

What had once been hugely thrilling can now feel intrusive. I got an answerphone so that we did not have to take calls during family mealtimes...but it also took calls at other times, and just created a list of people for me to phone back.

I was given a mobile phone when I was almost 30 years old.

The brick that I carried round could call anyone anywhere, and if I was bored I could even play ‘snake’ on it.

Freedom.

I was no longer tied to only talking to people when at home.

I didn't have to wait for the phone when someone else was using it.

The call was always for me!

This week I finally got rid of my landline.

Nobody ever seemed to call (apart from cold calls seeing if I'd been miss-sold PPI) and nobody in the house ever bothered to answer it.

But more importantly...

My smartphone can now do everything!

• I no longer use a separate camera - I can take pictures with my phone
• I can spend and move my money so do not need to visit the bank
• I can have spoken directions via Google Maps, so no longer need a London A-Z
• I have not needed to buy my kids a set of encyclopedias, as they can look up information with a swipe of a finger

For many, ‘change is considered loss’, but as 2016 comes to an end and 2017 beckons, I want to look forward optimistically.

I wonder what new things will come and how life will change into the future...and I wonder what you will do differently in 2017!