A “Know It All”

A know-it-all or know-all is a person who obnoxiously purports an expansive comprehension of a topic and/or situation when in reality, his/her comprehension is inaccurate or limited. This display may or may not be directly expressed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know-it-all#cite_note-1

Synonyms include: smart aleck, wise guy, smarty-pants, walking encyclopedia, arrogant, audacious, bossy, cavalier, cocky, conceited, domineering, egotistic, high and mighty, on an ego trip, overbearing, pompous, pretentious, proud, puffed up, self-important, smug, snooty, stuck up, superior, uppity. http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/know-it-all

I continue to be perplexed by people who don’t want to do anything, but want to complain about how it’s done of those who do. Others consider themselves “experts” about everything, but know very little.

Cases in Point:

#1 – It is so rapport for others to complain about the President of the United States. They complain about what he is doing; not doing; should be doing; etc. Yet, they do not have the qualifications, credentials, education nor the desire, character or skills to do the role.

#2 – Many people are sports “spectators.” They consistently give advice, criticism and detailed instructions to athletes. However, they do not have the skill nor will to make the sacrifices to even be able to compete.

#3- I am personally experiencing this right now. I am constantly getting “unsolicited advice” about being a writer from those who haven’t written anything or published a book.

#4 – Many people, myself included, give a wealth of medical and nutrition advice that we are not following ourselves.

#5 – Some people, particularly politicians and spiritual persons, hold others to very high standards that they cannot even live up to themselves.

The Bible explains:

Philippians 2:14 (NKJV):  14 Do all things without complaining and disputing,

Ephesians 4:29 (NIV):  29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

James 5:9 (NIV):  9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

Matthew 7:1-2 (NKJV):  7 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 (NKJV):  9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

Memorable Quotes:

“Don’t let someone who has done nothing tell you how to do anything.”

“Never base your life decisions on advice from people who don’t have to deal with the results.”

“Don’t waste words on people who deserve your silence. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can say is nothing at all.” – Mandy Hale

“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.” - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe                     

“Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings and emotions.” – Will Smith

“Character is how you treat those who can do nothing for you.” – Malcolm S. Forbes

“What other people think about you is none of your business.”

“Complaining about a problem without posing a solution is called whining.” – Theodore Roosevelt

“People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” - Isaac Asimov

“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” - Mark Twain

It may serve us well to remember this: “Trade your expectation for appreciation and the word changes instantly.” – Tony Robbins

“Life After Death…While You Are Still Living”

Receiving a life-altering health diagnosis is difficult enough. But for it to be a chronic, gradually-debilitating one is devastating, yet enlightening at the same time.

I considered myself a Leader, a Mover ‘n Shaker, an Influencer, a self-proclaimed “Control Freak” & “Health Fanatic” and a Loyal, Trusted Advisor and Friend.

However, almost three years after my diagnosis of Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and going from limping to a cane and now to a walker and some-time wheel-chair, I am feeling so incredibly insignificant.

I keep experiencing situations in which I “controlled,” influenced or heavily served before my diagnosis …now going along without me. No need for my presence, advice, assistance or input…

It’s as though I am getting to see how life moves on along without me after I’m dead…yet I’m still alive!!!

This may be what people feel after retiring. Seeing their input is no longer needed and the business moving right along…almost as if you never existed.

It is similar to George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart’s character) in the 1946 American Christmas movie  It’s A Wonderful Life…except I feel like I am seeing life AFTER I am gone…instead of… if I had never been born. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life

The devastating part is that it almost appears that human beings can dismiss my 50 years of life as unimportant. Yet, the enlightening part is that, it’s as if God is saying to me, “Now, I need you to accept that I AM IN CONTROL and focus on me…”

Maybe God is trying to reveal to me what my life SHOULD be like, as I slowly move my sole focus to HIM…instead of on MYSELF, everything and everybody else.

The Bible says:

Colossians 3:3 (NKJV): 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

2 Corinthians 4:8 (NKJV):  8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

Philippians 1:21(NKJV):  21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Colossians 1:24 (NKJV):  24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,

Galatians 5:16 (NKJV):  16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Matthew 16:25-26 (NKJV):  25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Memorable Quotes:

“Life is the continuous adjustment of internal relations to external relations.” - Herbert Spencer

“Remain flexible and teachable so that you can make necessary adjustments in life.” - Mz Liz”

“Don't cry over the past, it's gone. Don't stress about the future, it hasn't arrived. Live in the present and make it beautiful.”

“Someday, everything will make perfect sense. So for now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, and keep reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason.”

 “You will have bad times, but they will always wake you up to the stuff you weren’t paying attention to.” - Robin Williams

 “Maybe you have to let go of who you were to become who you will be.” – Carrie Bradshaw

 “When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person that walked in. That's what the storm is all about.” - Haruki Murakami

"New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings."

“Sometimes painful things can teach us lessons that we didn’t think we needed to know.”

Remember Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all thine might, lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all thy ways and he will direct your path.”

“Why Can’t Life Just Stay the Same?"

There is so much to learn about complacency, that it required a deeper review. (see earlier blog past “You Just Haven’t Made It Official Yet” )

Complacency is “a feeling of being satisfied with how things are and not wanting to try to make them better.” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/complacency

The moment you think you already have it all “knowed up,” is the moment in which you stop growing. I talk to people often about how quickly life is changing.

Cases in Point:

#1 - In 2009, Federal Law required all national commercial TV stations to discontinue transmitting the analog way (TVs with “rabbit ear” antennas) and to begin using the digital format. Thus, analog would no longer be supported. Although they gave consumers a year to comply, the complacent were left with TVs that no longer worked.

http://www.cnet.com/news/good-bye-rabbit-ears-not-so-fast/ https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm09/bm0901/bm090111.htm

#2 - Prior to 2005, Facebook was unheard of. Currently, with 1.3 billion+ users around the world, it has revolutionized the way that people interact and voice opinions. It has the power to influence American politics as well as world events. Remaining complacent about it simply reflects one’s denial to participate in a rapidly, changing world.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

#3 – Telephones have evolved from its inception in the early 1890’s. Many of the Baby Boomer generation remember rotary and touch-tone, landline telephones. Although landline telephones still exist with primarily cordless telephone technology, they are quickly becoming extinct by the use of mobile telephones, called Smartphones. Remaining complacent to the use of these will render one unable to adequately communicate or interact with the rest of the world.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_telephone

#4 – We often hear Conservatives and others proclaim: “Reclaim America” or “We want America back!” or “Let’s take back our country.” Guess what? The American landscape has changed. Hispanics are now the largest minority. USA is more diverse. The “Average American Voter” is no longer the white male. Emerging are more women, minorities and people of non-traditional family structures than ever before in our country’s history. Demanding the nation to remain the same as the past is reflecting a complacent perspective and will not serve the USA, as we head to the later part of 21^st century. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_ethnicity_in_the_United_States

The Bible says:

1 Corinthians 10:12 (NKJV): 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

Revelation 16:15 (NIV):  15 “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake…”

Matthew 12:30 (NKJV):  30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

Powerful Quotes:

“The most dangerous phrase in the language is: ‘We’ve always done it this way.’ “

“Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.” – Will Rogers

“You are not stuck where you are unless you decide to be.” – Wayne Dyer

“Be not afraid of growing slowly; Be afraid only of standing still.” - Chinese Proverb

“May your hunger for change be greater than your complacency to stay the same.”

 “I will not allow yesterday’s success to lull me into today’s complacency, for this is the greatest foundation for failure.” – Og Mandingo

 “When was the last time you did something for the first time?”

“If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.”

"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it but that it is too low and we reach it." –Michelangelo

“I do not think much of a man that is not wiser today than he was yesterday.” – Abraham Lincoln

Final reflection: “You become complacent the minute you think you're not.”

 “You Just Haven’t Made It Official Yet…"

Complacency is “a feeling of being satisfied with how things are and not wanting to try to make them better.” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/complacency

John Maxwell, author and speaker primarily in the area of leadership explained this in his daily “A Minute with Maxwell” video:

“I think complacent is an attitude. When we become comfortable with who we are, what we are and what we are doing, we basically say ‘this and no more.’ I think it’s not because we don’t have potential to grow and develop and expand. It’s because we chose to stop expanding. Now, what happens when we become complacent?  That’s the day we start to die.  It may not affect us physically, for awhile. But people with no goals …no far horizons to strive for… nothing to get up in the morning and do something that is of no significant value to themselves or others…people who become complacent…. They first die inwardly. This is the worst kind of death. The worst kind of cancer is not one that eats the body. The worst kind of cancer is complacency. The kind when a person basically says, ‘I’m done.’ We all know people who are already dead. They just haven’t made it official yet. Complacency will do that to you.” http://johnmaxwellteam.com/2015-complacent?i=5gI

Although we are exactly where the Lord wants us to be right now, He has no intention of us staying there. We must strive daily to study the word and become more like Him.

The Bible says:

Revelation 3:15-17 (NKJV):  15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—

Proverbs 1:32 (NKJV):  32 For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them;

Memorable Quotes:        

“Don’t lose sight of the future God has for you because you want to be comfortable right now.”  - John Hagee

 “Let us not be satisfied with a mediocre life,” – Pope Francis

“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.”

“A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.”

"The world needs Christians who don't tolerate the complacency of their own lives." - Francis Chan

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.”

“I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth. Then, I ask myself the same question.” – Harun Yahya

While you are here on this time side of life, don’t get complacent in any aspect of your life. Don’t be dead, while still living…