Your Wonderful Life: No Matter the Past, Life Always Holds Wonder, Joy and Meaning

Contents

DEDICATION

THANKS

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

CHAPTER ONE

There is a Reason for You

CHAPTER TWO

Looking into the Past

CHAPTER THREE

God is the Alpha and the Omega: The Beginning and the End

CHAPTER FOUR

Love Gets All the Press, but it’s the Ability to Forgive

That Enables Love to Live

CHAPTER FIVE

Seeking God

CHAPTER SIX

The Idolatry of Money, the Pursuit of Prestige and the Virtue of Humility

CHAPTER SEVEN

Trial, Tribulation and Adversity

CHAPTER EIGHT

The Valley of Blessing

CHAPTER NINE

Your Wonderful Life

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my parents, Gene and Anne Billings. They were my first teachers and have provided me with life’s best mentorship and inspiration. Dad journeyed to Heaven in the fall of 2002 and I often feel his presence with me. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of him. Mom is – to me – a living saint and has been a source of spiritual awareness my entire life.

To my sons, Grant & Michael: Each of you has shown me proof that all life is wonderful and its meaning resides within simplicity. You continually show me the pathway to God. I love you and am so very proud of you.

To Pat Graff: If ever there was a person who epitomizes the phrase, He’d do anything for a friend, it’s you. Thank you for your friendship and for standing by me.

To Monsignor Robert Murphy, Fr. Paul Turner and Chuck Zeikle:

You’ve been my friends of over 30 years. You have helped mold my worldview. You’ve brought me laughter. You’ve offered me camaraderie. You gave me your support. You never judged me, and you helped me understand right-relationship with God. You are my brothers. Thank you for being there and for accompanying me on the journey.

THANKS

A note of thanks to:

Jo Anne Koehler: For proofing this manuscript and offering helpful suggestions that improved the text.

Anne Cull: Of ThinkViralKC (www.ThinkViralKC.com) for helping me to understand online marketing and how to best use social media.

Brandi Neves Majerle: Of Photography by Brandi (www.photographybybrandi.com ) for the photograph on the back cover.

Dan Stalp: Of Sandler Training (www.brooksassociates.com). His coaching and advice in gradual, incremental and continuous improvement and transformation through reinforcement training. His ideas helped me create a plan for my business and a plan for my approach to life.

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

In this book I write about the things I have to learn, adopt and implement in my own life. I make no secret that I have fallen and failed others and myself. I have let my family and friends down. I have manipulated people and systems in order to try to gain an advantage – only to discover that I was a fool. I have lost integrity and am trying to reclaim it. I have need for atonement and am working towards it.

The content of these pages come from my observations about the joy and wonder of life. Although I would be at the head of the line for people who have made mistakes, I have never lost sight of two primary beliefs that I have held for most of my life: 1) No one is as bad as the worst thing they’ve done, and 2) No matter one’s past, life is always wonderful.

This book is, for me, an acknowledgement of my own need for redemption and to help others to recognize the same in themselves. This is an invitation to embark upon a journey of wonder.

I’m a simple person and this book reflects a simple approach to a complicated matter. I write the only way I know how to – in simple terms. I am no Shakespeare. I write about my worldview as I see it and as my life experiences have revealed the Divine to me.

Beginning to discover or re-discover wonder in your life demands that you seek out the Divine – the Creator – God. It’s my hope that these pages will motivate and inspire you to calibrate your life and set it on a course for right-relationship with Him. For that is where our journey must begin and end.

Finally, I suggest that you develop a habit of keeping a spiritual journal. I discuss this in the book, but I’d like to stress that it’s valuable to meditate and contemplate upon the ways you notice God interacting in your life. Whether you encounter him at church or synagogue, or while beholding a sunset, you will benefit tremendously from noting God’s hand in your life and how you responded (or not) to his guidance. Doing this will provide insights into your life, indicating where you need to course-correct to establish a stronger relationship with the Divine.

No matter the mistakes of your life – no matter how terrible, no matter how many, I promise you this: Your life is wonderful. It has purpose. It has meaning. Always.

Thank you for embarking upon this journey with me. Let’s cast off….

DB

July 22, 2010

From the introductory scene of the 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life:

(Screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett & Frank Capra)

Joseph: There are a lot of people asking for help for a man named George Bailey.

God: George Bailey. Yes. Tonight’s his crucial night. You’re right. We’ll have to send someone down immediately. Whose turn is it?

Joseph: That’s why I came to see you, sir. It’s that clock-maker’s turn again.

God: Oh, Clarence. Hasn’t got his wings yet, has he?

Joseph: We’ve passed him up right along. Because, you know, sir, he’s got the I.Q. of a rabbit.

God: Yes, but he’s got the faith of a child. Simple. Joseph, send for Clarence.

[Enter Clarence]

Clarence: You sent for me, sir?

God: Yes, Clarence. A man down on earth needs our help.

Clarence: Splendid! Is he sick?

God: No. Worse. He’s discouraged.

CHAPTER ONE

There is a Reason for You

The Purpose of Your Life

God does not make mistakes. There are no mistakes in his creation. Each sunset, sunrise, storm and every beautiful day is perfect in their unique way. As the pinnacle of his creation, you must begin with this premise: You are no accident.

Just as every chemical reaction that takes place in order for this planet to be inhabitable, you have a purpose. Consider the benefits given by simple plant life – trees for example. Their leaves produce oxygen through absorption of carbon dioxide. The tiniest plankton in the oceans provides the possibility of all life on this planet to exist because of their effects on the ecosystem.

Your life is worth more than any of these. Your purpose, whether discovered or not, has more potential to impact the world than any others combined. God made you with such intent: to have wonderful purpose, joy, meaning, love, and adventure in life. No matter what you think of your life at this particular time, God wants these things for you.

According to the dictionary, purpose is often defined as a result, end, aim or goal of an action intentionally undertaken or of an object being brought into use or existence.

This is a perfect description of what God had in mind when he created you. You are a result of an action intentionally undertaken to bring you into existence. It was God’s intent to create you, to bring you into this world. Believe it!

And God doesn’t make mistakes.

One thing is certain: we all have an inner desire to find and have meaning in our lives. The ancient quandary, What is the meaning of life? has been debated by philosophers, poets and prophets since the time of antiquity.

Roger Fisher said, There is a fundamental human need for guiding ideals that give meaning to our actions.

Psychiatrist Victor Frankl said, Man’s search for meaning is the primary motivation of his life.

Some philosophies claim that purpose is central to a good human life. Ayn Rand wrote that the three ruling values of life should be reason, purpose, and self-esteem.

So as we can see, many wise men and women throughout the ages have commented on the importance of purpose in life. However, the question still remains, What is the purpose of my life?

Without further ado, here is the answer. The purpose of your life is to:

Enter continually into the lives of others and make differences for the better.

The sentence above contains the answers to humanity’s most fundamental question. If you accept this, you will discover happiness, success, purpose, meaning, adventure, wonder, joy and salvation.

The answer to life’s meaning may seem anticlimactic considering the centuries that humanity has spent wondering about it. Until you dive deep into what the statement means, you may not fully realize its power and truth.

"Enter continually into the lives of others and make differences for the better."

This truth provides different avenues for different people. There is no right or wrong pathway one can choose to make a difference for the better. Some differences may be profound, most are simple yet no difference made for the better outranks another.

Whether you perform a simple random act of kindness or give someone who has made a mistake a second chance at establishing a career both achieve the same goal (make a difference for the better) and neither is more significant than the other. Both are wonderful.

There is an important point to be noted here. According to Helen Keller, happiness comes from fidelity to a worthy purpose.

This implies, of course, that in order for our lives to have meaning and for happiness to be found, our lives must be filled with worthiness. They must hold fast to values such as integrity, truth, love, sincerity, mercy and forgiveness. You must, in other words, live a moral life. Morality in this case is defined by basic Judeo-Christian tenants such as love of neighbor as thyself adhering to common decency, honesty and faith-based principles.

There is no truly happy criminal. Addicts are not happy. Compulsive liars are not happy. No one who has been dishonest and taken anything, money, ideas, property or sustenance from anyone else has found true purpose and happiness in his life.

The person who makes it a point to enter continually into the lives of others and make differences for the better is not only filled with happiness, he or she knows true purpose, joy and wonder in life. The people who do this get it. They know what the meaning of life is all about.

Make sure you make note of the exact components in the quotation’s specific requirements. Break it down into sections:

"Enter.

Continually.

Into the lives.

Of others.

And make differences.

For the better."

This is not a one-time calling of purpose. We don’t just do our good deed once and call it a competed task. We must continually enter the lives of others and make a difference for the better.

Perhaps the greatest news about this purpose we all have is that it is not nullified or voided based upon past actions, mistakes or sins we’ve committed.

We will talk more about mistakes of the past in future chapters, but it is critical that you know that nothing you have done in the past can prevent you from finding purpose, joy and meaning in your life.

They can be found no matter how far you’ve fallen. But you must get up. You must try to live a better life going forward.

So you see, there is a reason for you. You have a purpose! The reason is designed within you and has been placed intentionally inside you by God himself.

The purpose that all humanity shares in common, just as our humanity itself binds us together is our common call to enter continually into the lives of others and make a difference for the better.

Get to work on that immediately.

Value

If we have purpose in life, we inherently have value. Primarily, we should know that God values us. We are his artwork; we are his glorious potential-laden children. There is true value in this. Why, pray tell, would the Creator of the universe create his sublime and most magnificent children with no value?

These concepts of purpose and value are critical to believe about yourself and your life. They are at the core self-esteem. The value you have to make a difference for the better in someone’s life is immeasurable and more powerful than you can imagine.

You may be the only person whose kind words make an impact on someone’s day. No matter the level of significance, your words or actions may be all it takes for the people around you to feel better about their jobs, their families, and their lives. That is true value!

As with most antiques, our value seems to increase with age. I stress the word seems here. We always have value, however it is true that with experience comes broader avenues to make an impact for the better. A seasoned person may have the advantage of reflecting upon decades of experiences and therefore offer a broader array of advice than a younger person.

This doesn’t lessen the younger person’s contribution, it means that with experience comes a deeper pool of usable experiences. We have heard the expression, "a wise old sage once said… While we rarely hear, a wise young sage once said…"

Having written the above paragraph, I’m smiling and reminding myself that when he began his public ministry, Jesus was only 30 years old. Now there was a wise young sage!

Your value in life affects many people. First of all, it affects you. If you sense no value in your life, you will find it difficult, if not impossible, to begin to change course and begin making contributions for the good. Or, if you are cynical and think that your contributions could not possibly impact the world, your community, your family or yourself, you’re not only wrong, but dreadfully off track. Your first task is to believe in your heart and mind that there is value in your life.

How do you do this?

First: If