Bill Purvis Ministries

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Decisions That Direct My Life

I believe in the power of decisions. I’m thankful for free will and choice God has given us to make decisions. When I personally discovered the power of decisions years ago, life for me improved dramatically. I read this statement, “where we are right now in life are in large part a result of the decisions we made last year. The level of life we have a year from now will in large part be determined by the decisions we make today.” I made a decision that day to intentionally and carefully chose my choices. It worked too. So let me give you the decisions I chose in hopes that it inspires you to do something similar if you need to.

(1) I decided that the thoughts I think would be positive. No more negative thoughts. No allowance of anything that made me feel angry, bitter, resentful, revengeful, or poisoned my soul. “As a man thinks in his heart, so he is” says the wisest man. I recall how liberating that decision was. More than any other choice I’d ever made before, this one gave me instant freedom and power.

(2) I decided I’d speak positive things. Remember the words of the wise, “If you can’t say something nice, say nothing at all”. This is a power that radically changes your results in life. Ever notice how happy people attract happy people, successful people attract successful people, to the contrary, negative people attract negative people, complainers associate with complainers, jealous with the jealous, and so on. It’s clear that the words of our mouth advertise the product of our heart. In no time my friends changed. Suddenly, positive, happy, goal-oriented people began to flood into my life. Negative ones ran for the exit. That little change made a big difference.

(3) I decided to create a clear vision of where I wanted to be and work toward that end. It involved several areas such as family vision and goals, work vision and goals, financial vision and goals, health vision and goals, travel vision and goals, and so on. I’d heard John Maxwell say, “Most people plan more specifically for a week long vacation than they do their life” and I knew that to be true. Debbie and I wrote out our goals and like the movie, “The Bucket List” we got up every day and still do and attempt to go after them. While we are reading one book, we are discussing the next one we need to read. While we are on a vacation, we are calling and planning our next one, and so on. It keeps you moving forward.

(4)  I decided not to waste time. Time is more important than money. Time is one of your greatest tools for a life of joy. Plan to use it wisely. Don’t waste time. Don’t waste it with people who don’t add value to your life. Don’t waste it with things that don’t matter. Don’t waste it with distractions, unproductive ventures. Look at time as something that you love and that you have in front of you to do the things you really want to accomplish.

(5)  I decided that family and my faith would be of high importance to me. No leftovers here. No half-hearted devotion to either. The best friends I have in life are my married sons and their families. We laugh way too much together be considered “normal”. I can’t tell you the times we have to leave the room or pull over in a car because we are crying with laughter. That’s the way it should be. Family times should be a perpetual party. Our Jewish friends have taught us that. Faith is crucial. If my faith is not growing, I’m slowing down and minor things call for too much attention. Faith is an adventure. It’s the discovery of the God who created all and knows us personally. It’s a relationship that cannot be understood by an outsider. Only those who’ve tasted it can truly understand it.

So those were some choices, decisions I’ve made that made an impact on me. Take the time to evaluate your decisions. Create some principles to live by, to guide your life by and enjoy the outcome of those choices.

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