Are You Living Life to the Full?

By: Jeff Standridge
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:40:08
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A portion of the following was excerpted from “The Abundance Principle: Five Keys to Extraordinary Living,” (www.TheAbundancePrinciple.com). Please forward or distribute this encouraging message freely to anyone you believe would benefit from it.

Have you ever moved to a new house and had to pack up everything you owned? Did it amaze you how quickly you accumulated all of that "stuff?" Many of us even trade our stuff with other people’s stuff. Jeff once traded a guitar he never learned to play for an automatic bread-making machine. His friend wanted to learn to play the guitar and Jeff wanted fresh, homemade bread. It was a match made in heaven.

Some people make a living traveling around on Saturday mornings from yard sale to yard sale, buying other people's stuff and selling it in their own flea markets and garage sales! It certainly validates the saying, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”

But seriously, have you ever stopped to think about how much stuff you actually do have? We have more phones than we have televisions. We have more televisions than we have Bibles. We often throw away more food than we eat. We spend money on things we never wear. Face it … we have an abundance of stuff. Some might even say we live "abundant" lives … that is, on the outside.

Our hearts, however, tell a different story. Emotional disorders and depression are at an all-time high. One out of every two marriages ends in divorce. Seventy percent of marriages report significant financial difficulties. Our friendships are shallow. We break promises to ourselves and to others. Sometimes we feel trapped in the "rat-race" of life, running from place to place, doing the same thing day after day, wondering if life will ever improve, or worse yet, if it will ever end.

Currently, the population of the world stands at almost six and one-half billion people. We are told approximately 32% are categorized as Christians – that’s more than 2 billion people. It is our conviction that if 2 billion of the world’s population were completely committed to Extraordinary Living, the world as we know it would be a radically different place.

We hear about better ways of living in countless numbers of sermons and motivational speeches and we read about it in books day after day; we assent with our minds and declare agreement with our lips. Yet a vast number of us drive away from churches every Sunday in expensive SUVs to elaborate homes, totally devoid of the personal fulfillment that ought to be ours – that can be ours.

According to research firm The Barna Group, when comparing social issues, Christians mirror non-Christians in divorce, addictions, domestic abuse, and financial difficulties, among a host of other things. Christians struggle with addiction. Christian marriages are in trouble. Christians spend themselves deeply into debt. Christians take a host of medication for ailments and illnesses brought about by excessive stress, anxiety and depression, all of which the Bible says we can have victory over through Christ. Somewhere there is a “disconnect” between what God’s Word says is ours, and what we actually experience. The fact is most of us have more than any other generation in terms of material goods. Yet statistics, current events, and daily headlines reveal a less fulfilled people today than ever before.

We have some good news to share with you. We can experience life as abundantly on the inside as we appear to be experiencing it on the outside. We can live extraordinary lives. This is what the Abundant Life ProjectTM (www.AbundantLifeProject.com) is all about. It’s about reclaiming a privilege belonging to every person on the face of the planet: The right and freedom to live an extraordinary life. We want to spread the word: Extraordinary Living can be the experience of everyone.

Our mission is to help people put arms and legs on their faith. We introduce our readers to five simple concepts we call the Five Keys to Extraordinary Living. As you’ll see, Extraordinary Living is the kind of living from which abundance flows – but not just in terms of material things. We’re talking about abundance in every major area of our lives.

We believe we do not decide our future. We decide our habits and our habits determine our future. From this point forward, your future is full of hope, fulfillment, and unlimited possibilities. You only have to develop the right habits.

We’re very careful when we say Five Keys to Extraordinary. We purposely don’t say THE Five Keys to Extraordinary Living. That’s because there are likely many more keys out there. However, we believe that if one could start by mastering these five important areas of ones life, life itself would take on a whole new meaning. Famed speaker Les Brown is fond of saying, “You don’t have to be great to get started, but you’ve got to get started to be great.” If we fail to take action, we’re left with the same debilitating habits that restrict us to lives of weakness, insignificance, and sometimes despair.

Now before proceeding, as the authors and founders of The Abundant Life Project, let us be the first to say … we have NOT arrived at our final destinations personally. We too remain completely susceptible to the ups and downs of life. We’re still “works in progress” ourselves. However, we try to wake up every day and pursue extraordinary living with vigilance. And as we consciously and persistently pursue this type of living, we’re finding it a little less elusive along the way. We’re convinced you’ll find the same.

Remember: An Abundant Life has been God’s plan for you from the very beginning. Start focusing on five simple keys to Extraordinary Living and see if your life won’t change for the better.

1. Master your thoughts and change your life.

2. Plan your life and live your passion.

3. Build and maintain strong relationships.

4. No matter how much you earn, spend less.

5. Give more and you'll live more.

Go ahead, what’s stopping you? You can do it. Go for it!

Have a great week.

Dr. Jeff D. Standridge and Rev.TimKellerman are co-founders of The Abundant Life Project (http://www.AbundantLifeProject.com) and co-authors of “The Abundance Principle: Five Keys to Extraordinary Living” (http://www.TheAbundancePrinciple.com). They can be reached by email at Info@AbundantLifeProject.com.

The Abundant Life Project http://www.AbundantLifeProject.com

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