Stubbing your toe

I’ve been thinking about emotions. Everyone has them. When you stub your toe, the frustration you feel that the table leg was in your walking path is probably stronger than the physical pain you’re experiencing, right? Lately I’ve been learning (or trying to learn) how to express my emotions in a positive way…a way that would benefit others. These emotions can be anything…frustration, anger, jealousy, etc… The more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realized that showing emotions in a self-gratifying way is exactly what a child does when he/she is throwing a selfish fit!

I’m learning it’s important to ask yourself what it is that you’re feeling before you react to a situation. Think about it. Write down what’s going through your mind. Try to put your finger on what you feel before you react and do or say something that would hurt someone else.  (You obviously won’t do all of this if you’ve only stubbed your toe, ha!) It’ll give you some sense of peace just understanding which emotion you’re experiencing and it’ll make you feel good to know that you’re controlling it – not the other way around!

Once you understand what you’re feeling, respond to the situation accordingly.  Be gracious. If you do that, you won’t regret saying or doing something you didn’t mean to. I’m obviously not an expert on any of this. I’m dealing with my thoughts and feelings about things just like you’re dealing with yours! I’m only as educated about this topic as a basic college psychology course…and that was like two years ago! I’ve forgotten it all J  

You shouldn't avoid expressing emotions all together, just ways that could be harmful to others. There are lots of different ways to express yourself, and it's probably different for everyone. If you’re mad, taking a drive and screaming in your car can be a great vehicle for expressing emotion (no pun intended...). If you’re confused, write down your questions. If you’re frustrated, make a list of everything that annoys you. If you're sad, rent a sad movie and let yourself cry. If you haven’t cried in a while, it might do you good! You’ll feel so much better if something is consistently getting you down. Follow Christ’s example. Jesus had to bear human emotions. When he was “dealing” he would go into the garden alone and pray.

Once you’ve done something to express emotions in a non-hurtful way, forget it! Go do something fun. Do something to take your mind off of it. Jesus spent time alone, but he also spent a great amount of time with is inner-circle. Spend time with people that lift you up, and love you. Laugh a lot, smile even more, and trust that God is using these emotion-causers in your life to grow you and make you stronger - even if it is just stubbing your toe.  

Life = Risk

“If you don't risk anything, you risk even more.”

Beneath the surface of our sometimes conservative, play-it-safe mentality, we all have some kind of proneness toward “risk.” If this weren’t true in America, thousands of people would stop auditioning for American Idol, stock market tickers wouldn’t scroll across our news channels, and ESPN wouldn’t televise world poker tournaments. Life without risk is dull, and void of purpose.

We like taking risks - or if nothing else, we're fascinated with the concept of risk. Why? I think it’s because of what comes after risk. It’s human nature to want answers. We yearn to know what happens next. We desire to know if we “have what it takes.” The only way to find out if success or failure follows our preparation is to take that risk.

Outside of coincidence, success cannot be achieved with out taking a jump. Think of your favorite public figure. There was a time when your favorite musician had to stand in front of a judge of talent for the first time. There came a point when your favorite athlete had to strap on a uniform and play in front of a scout. The last politician you voted for once had to prepare and deliver his or her first campaign speech.

Is it scary? Yes, but I believe it’s supposed to be! No one ever discovered new land without first being willing to lose sight of the shore. I’m learning that if we want to chase our dream, we have to ultimately be willing to sacrifice what we are and what we have, for who we want to become.

Oh...and watch this... Life = Risk

Sense of self

Why do we have friends? It seems like somewhere inside all of us, we long for company. We long for acceptance in the setting of a community. However, sometimes we isolate ourselves. More than often, it’s not even on purpose. We mask it behind excuses. I know I do. We turn down people’s company because we’re too busy. We turn people down because we view the world differently. We even turn down invitations because people annoy us.

When we spend an inordinate amount of time alone, we lose sight of who we are. Our self-identity becomes distorted. This is because when we are sequestered, we have nothing by which to measure ourselves. We can only truly grasp the essence of our personality when we contextualize it with other people’s personalities. Seeing strengths in others help us realize our personal weaknesses - and it works both ways.

It’s not that we are to conform to those we are associated with or try to impress those in our “circle.” But in order to grow, it’s imperative to have strong people in your life to help you along. They see things in your life that you might miss. When we can clearly identify our own strengths, we are better suited to use those strengths to enhance our lives and the lives of others.

Most importantly, spending time with others, and learning our strengths pleases our creator. He gave each of us a special uniqueness. It’s good to learn about yourself, because you are God's creation! It doesn’t mean you’re self-absorbed, it only means you want to be self-aware - in order to better serve God and those around you. 

The only way to tap into your uniqueness is to learn about yourself. The only way to do THAT, is to stop looking inward and start focusing more on those around you.

Music Paradigm #4

Christian Radio

This one kind of goes a long with Christian Music Paradigm #2. 

Generally speaking, there are two kinds of Christian radio stations. There are “AC” stations, which is your 4-chord worship stuff and your mainstream pop songs. Then there’s your “CHR” stations, which is…well…everything else.  Cool? No. What’s the problem with this?

To put it simply, AC all sounds exactly a like (usually marketed as "positive, encouraging"), and CHR stations have an incredibly broad spectrum of music selections (usually marketed "encouraging music with an EDGE!"). AC sounds like they’re playing the same song over and over again with slight variations of words, while CHR is everything from RAP to Sreamo (to use an unofficial term) to any other indie vibe you can think of. 

Maybe there aren’t enough fans of each different “Christian” sub-genre, so they have to lump it all into CHR. I get that. It’s still peculiar to me…and that doesn't explain to me why everything on AC stations sounds so similar. I don’t believe it’ll be that way forever. It's simply the way things are right now. Like every other pattern that needs improving, it will be rethought and changed. 

Thoughts? 

 

Music Paradigm #3

1.      This paradigm has more to do with the secular music industry than the Christian music industry, but it definitely relates to Christianity and Music.                  

As I watched the memorial for the late Michael Jackson with the rest of America on Tuesday afternoon, I couldn’t help but notice how many religious/gospel songs were sung at the King of Pop’s funeral.

Michael was carried on to the floor of the Staples Center in LA, while the audience heard the old hymn “Soon and Very Soon” - a song with an obvious message of Jesus Christ. There were many performers/speakers at the funeral service who spoke and sang/played songs with a gospel message or at least touched on concepts of God and heaven. Legendary R&B performer, Stevie Wonder said:

 "This is a moment that I wished that I didn't have to see coming... but I do know that God is good, and I do know that as much as we may feel that we need Michael here with us, God must have needed him far more."

 I’m not an expert on the music of Michael Jackson. I do know that he released about a hundred songs, none of which (that I’m aware of, I could be wrong) ever touch on the concept Jesus Christ or God. 

Now. Please don’t misunderstand. I didn’t know Michael Jackson. I didn’t know his heart. I enjoyed his performances and appreciate what he did for pop music. That’s not even what this blog is about. I only say all of this to pose a question and hopefully point out yet another paradigm worth reviewing in music - and probably in an even broader sense, American pop culture.

---- Why is it immediately cool/acceptable to talk about God when someone dies? ----

Think about it.

You don’t hear God talked about on TV. You don’t hear God talked about in movies. You don’t hear God talked about in the mainstream music market. The only time you ever see God getting a mention in pop culture is when He or His church is the butt of joke, or someone of cultural notoriety passes on.

Hollywood’s image of God - the ultimate life-giver,  seems to come with connotations of death. We (as a culture) don’t thank God or acknowledge Him in life, but we’ll be the first to associate Him with death. 

God should only be glorified in people's deaths... and in people's lives too for that matter. 

Don't forget to remember!

Matthew 14:22-33

I just like this passage.

When Jesus walks across the water and shows up at the boat, the disciples (for lack of better words) flipped out. They were incredibly scared. Then, when Jesus called Peter out to walk on the water, he took his eyes off of Jesus and fell in the water.

The disciples JUST witnessed like a bazillion miracles. They JUST saw Jesus feed 5,000 people. Why were they so shocked that Jesus walked up to them on water?! I’m not in anyway making light of this miracle. It was amazing and superhuman, but so was everything else that Jesus did.

As I struggle to understand why they were so surprised and skeptical, I realize I’m the same way! I’ve witnessed God move in my live a HUNDRED times, but I’m still skeptical and mistrusting!

Peter seemed to forget all the miracles Jesus had already performed. Peter’s thought process should have been “I’ve seen Jesus do crazier things… I’m gonna trust Him and keep moving forward…” That should be our mindset too. 

Music Paradigm #2

        #2 Christian Music Moniker

        Why is Christian music the only genre of music that is categorized idealistically, rather than stylistically? Every genre of music is categorized by MUSIC style, (whether it’s Jazz, Rock, Rap, R&B, etc…) because of distinguishable musical characteristics. Yet for some reason Christian music is categorized by its message. If a rock band plays songs with an anti-war message, do you look them up in the “anti-war” section at the store? Of course not. If a band writes songs about the environment, do you browse iTunes for “environmentalist bands”? You get my point.

Why the message-based labeling? I suppose it’s helpful for Christians to know if the band is going to sing about Jesus or not… but it seems that the term “Christian band” or “Christian artist” has gotten a bad wrap. People hear that a band is “Christian” and they don’t wanna hear their music. Is it because of the message? Most of the time, no. It’s because people think that Christian bands aren’t as good as bands that don’t claim to be Christian. Should they be blamed for this thought process? Probably not. Sadly, most music-lovers who are Christians listen to secular music to enjoy music itself, and occasionally listen to Christian music (and usually sacrifice quality), for encouragement.

I don’t believe it’s gonna be this way forever (or at least I hope not). Maybe it’s a marketing problem. I don’t know, but someone is gonna figure it out one of these days. Again…I’m just tossing out paradigms, here. Your guess is as valid as mine. 

Music Paradigm

I was thinking about my blog post from yesterday and brainstorming my own field (the music industry - more specifically, the Christian music industry) for paradigms. The first one I thought of...

1.     1. Music Piracy

(Before I begin, let it be known that I’ve had my share of illegal downloads, TRUST me. I’m speaking to myself here too).

People steal music. It’s a pattern. It happens. It’s the norm. Even people who spend their lives making a living off of music accept it.  This is a problem.

We’re raising a generation of people who think they have entitlement to anything and everything, whether it belongs to them or not.  For the youtube-iPod generation (my generation), everything is at our fingertips. A lot of people simply don’t or won’t pay for music anymore. Even Christians. And why should they? It’s as easy as a click of a button the music is stored safely in their music library. Why take the time to type in a password, and have your credit/debit card charged?

Well…obviously it’s ethically wrong….but for some reason, most people don’t think that way. Then again, it’s ethically wrong to drive five miles over the speed limit, but we do that anyway, don’t we?

It seems like laws are much tougher on stealing book texts and films. I realize that music files are easier to post...but something’s gotta give. Somebody’s gonna figure this thing out, or the music industry will continue to decline. Am I wrong on this?

Having good intentions isn't the same as being intentional

Having good intentions and being intentional aren’t the same thing.

The founders of America could have just had good intentions and hoped America turned out a successful democracy. However, they were intentional. They didn’t just believe/hope/dream. They were intentional. They acted. How?

They pushed themselves to go beyond their means. They directed America on a path to becoming (arguably) the greatest nation in the world, by setting up an unbeatable model of democracy. This came from making good decisions. This concept applies to organizations, teams and individuals. Direction, NOT intention, determines where you’ll end up. You can hope and dream and believe all you want, but if the decisions you’re making on a daily basis don’t reflect where you want to ultimately be in life, then you’re on you way to …well…somewhere else.

Rather than having good intentions, make good decisions.

Good intentions and being intentional aren’t the same thing.

 Oh, and happy birthday America.

Rethinking Paradigms

A paradigm is the typical example or pattern of something. A paradigm is something that we accept as the “norm.” Since there is already a paradigm in every industry/field/business/realm, we tend not to think outside of it. The ironic part is that, what is currently the paradigm in your given area, was NOT the paradigm at one point in the past, right? This means that someone had to think outside of the box - the box of what was generally accepted at the time, to develop what is currently the norm now – and chances are, it came against a lot of criticism before the paradigm took it’s place as the accepted pattern in that field. 

In every industry there are paradigms, and in nearly every industry those widely accepted patterns could be improved upon. 

One of the best examples I can think of is something that Andy Stanley (Pastor of North Point church in Atlanta, GA) brought up in one of his talks. He said that an accepted routine/pattern in the American church is for the person who speaks every Sunday to be the person who leads the church. Isn’t that true? I suppose this makes a great deal of sense if the person who preaches every Sunday is a great leader. However, if the speaker is an excellent communicator and teacher, but only an average leader/visionary, the chances are more likely that it will be an average church than an excellent one. And it works both ways. A pastor could be a great leader/planner/organizer, but not great at delivering from the stage. What’s the answer to this? Video church? Co-pastors? I don’t know! Maybe there’s not one… but I do think it’s a great example of a current pattern or PARADIGM, that is worth being looked at.

What is that paradigm that everyone accepts without thinking in your field? We live in a culture of constant change. That pattern will eventually be re-thought and revised to be more efficient by SOMEONE at SOME point. So it might as well be you, now. 

Because blogging is cool...

Blogs. Short for Weblogs, I’m assuming? I never understood that. As if “weblog” was just too long to say.

I don’t wanna be one those dudes who hides behind a computer screen and spouts off random negative opinions that no one reads (or if they do, they don’t really care). Nor do I wanna be one of those people who writes about current events/happenings in their life, like an online diary. I DO wanna be a positive outlet, and write down my thoughts and ideas of creativity here. It could make a lot of sense or it could be all over the place. Maybe someone will read. Maybe not. And that’s okay. I have a lot of thoughts and it’s therapeutic for me to write them down…even if no one reads them. But maybe you WILL read. And maybe you’ll agree…or maybe you’ll disagree. And that’s okay too! Here’s to hoping that something fun and positive will come from Caleb Grimm typing on a blog.

Oh…why the name? "Cool Beans"…it’s a phrase I’ve caught myself saying a lot lately. No real reason, but it’s easy to remember…and perhaps every time I say the phrase, it’ll remind me to update my blog. :) 

Now onto my first REAL post...