Thanks And Perspective

It comes to mind that we humans aren't in touch enough with our frailties and our inherent weaknesses. We make our plans and attempt to determine our lives' course on our own, as though we are the ones in charge of our destiny. How utterly proud and at the same time, stupid, this is. We are before Almighty God, like an ant shouting to a Steam Roller, "Halt I command you!" I suppose pride should be listed in that first sentence regarding things we need to understand about ourselves. If you have spent any time reading scripture, you know where is the end of a life lived in pride.

My credo "Nothing of lasting value in life happens by accident. Chart your own course," at first inspection would seem to be a proud thing to say. The reason that it is not so is because I understand from the outset, that all the plans of Man are in vain unless they are first inspired by The Lord. As much as is possible I try to live in this manner. I fail. We all do. But sometimes I succeed. Yes, I am one of those strange people you hear about who believe we can talk to and hear back from, God. Our lives depend upon it. I do not spend enough time in His presence, but I do try to walk in a manner worthy of Him. A dear friend, a former pastor, Forest Jones, used to say to me, "Honor God and God will Honor you." I have seen the benefit of this in my life, in times when I was lower than low. So, I know it to be true.

This business I am working at present and will be working for years to come, Nutronix and The Berry Tree, I believe was given me to do by The Lord. No, there was no thundering voice from heaven, nothing like that. What has given me this confidence is that I can see His hand in it. When everything appears dark and hopeless, he brings light and renewed hope. When I need a boost of encouragement the most, somehow it comes my way. Recently, my lower back has been reeking havoc with me. I have been almost completely incapacitated. Before this happened, as I have said in earlier posts, people came along, into my team, that are capable of and in fact have taken the wheel and kept this ship sailing on course. That's what teamwork is all about!

Thora, Dave, and any others I cannot bring to mind at this writing, you have my sincerest thanks. And I cannot express strongly enough, nor with enough grattitude, how fortunate I am to have the leadership I have in this business, guys like James Hamilton, Mike Baxter, Chris Aitken. You guys are true warriors and brilliant leaders. I say that I am fortunate because I do not believe in luck. Fortune comes from above and has direction and purpose. Lady Luck is random and fickle, cheating her recipients far more often than she blesses them.

I determined long ago that for any success that came from this business I would give honor and praise first to God from whom I know all success comes in the first place. I determined that I would honor Him in all I do, all my business dealings, all my marketing and recruiting practices, in every part of this business. It is time I put another post here, to do just that. Also, I want to say publicly a huge Thank You to all my team, "Team Alliance," and to all my leadership, James and "Team Synergy" as well as Bob Bremner, the brains behind all the products at Nutronix. Bob, for those of you who do not know, is a brilliant man. He can talk for hours, trust me I know personally, about the ins and outs and whys of how our products work.

But more importantly to me than that, Bob is a man of Faith. He will quickly say that in the end, it is God's design in us as humans and the making of products that cooperate with that design, that makes these products so effective. So to all the above, I say first, Thanks to Him, then thanks to you. Our success is guaranteed as long as we endeavor to do business with honor, as a team, working together and as long as we keep our eyes on The One who makes all of this possible. To our Massive Success!

Mitch

On The Making Of New Years Resolutions

The practice of making new years resolutions seems to get somewhat of a bad rap. Few people seem to take it seriously and every year one hears any number of jokes about it's sincerity and how long those resolutions will last. I have never really done this, made a New Years resolution. The idea always seemed a bit pretensive to me, not to mention somewhat proud.

Just take a look at the root of the word, resolution. It's resolve. Now that's a strong word. It speaks volumes, doesn't it? It resounds with deep undertones such as commitment and determination. It speaks of serious intent to make good on something. If one is going to resolve something, one had better give some deep thought as to the seriousness of the resolution and whether or not one has the strength to follow through.

Let's look at some of the definitions of the word resolve:

1. to come to a definite or earnest decision about; determine to do something.

2. to settle, determine, or state formally in a vote or resolution.

3. to clear away or dispel doubts, fears, etc.

I like that second one, to settle. That sounds decisive, stong, certian. It has a sense of surety about it.

This New Years, after wrestling with these things and giving much thought to what I would be willing to resolve to do, I made some resolutions. I resolved to persue a closer walk with The Lord and to work at being a better man, a better husband, a better father. And I resolved to treat others with more respect and dignity and to practice putting others first and self, last. Of course without the first of those resolutions, all the others are impossible to keep.

But maybe that's the point. Mere human strength is often not enough. We need to lean on the devine. One of my favorite scriptures says it best. "Those who wait upon The Lord will renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31.

In the persuit of success in business as well as in life in general, one can achieve nothing unless one has resolve. And true resolve, the kind that can stay the course, comes from The Lord. I wish all who read this post a very happy, prosperous and faith filled, New Year.