do good
Earlier in the week I shared that I started a book that captivated me, The Genius of Jesus; I expected to finish it the day after I started it, but the week was busier than I expected and I didn’t make the time to sit down with the book.
This morning before my workout I decided to make some serious progress towards finishing it because I have some books arriving this week that I want to dive into right away--they continue the theme of learning from Jesus’s life, along with other mystics. The chapter I read this morning is called “The Genius of Good” and when I read the following passages I knew I had today’s Daily Note in my hands.
I’ve had a lot of people ask me over the last couple of years why I use “Universe” instead of “God” or stay away from sharing too much of my religious beliefs. The simple answer is I believe the message of the “authentic life” is Universal–it transcends all religions and spiritual beliefs; I think the alignment of spirit, mind, and body applies to them all and can be used to whatever your religious and spiritual beliefs are. So, I try to write so that no matter what you believe, you can see how the Pursuit of your authentic life fits in.
My hope is that as I continue to grow and learn, I’ll be able to share examples from various belief systems of how universal the authentic life truly is.
Today, the lesson comes from Jesus and is written by the lead pastor of Mosaic, a global church—a much better expert on Jesus's life and teachings.
“I’ve met too many sincere Christians who believe that what God wants for them is suffering and who will not allow themselves the freedom to love life. Others are so afraid to risk failure that they never experience the exhilaration of a genuine life of faith. I find it strange that someone can step into the freedom of Jesus and never feel free to enjoy the beauty of the world around them, never feel free to laugh or play or be spontaneous, never feel free to take great risks and great adventures, never feel free to be passionate in love and in life. They live their lives out of obligation and die the slow death of regret and quiet desperation.”
“My advice to them is rooted in the framework of the good that Jesus taught. I encourage them to ask two questions: What are you good at, and which of those things that you’re good at would allow you to do the most good in the world? Whatever the answer is to those questions–that’s the good you must do.
Being right is all about you. Doing good is about others. When the right is at war with the good—always choose the good.”
One of the main lessons from these passages is very similar to yesterday’s Daily Note–do good and good is in service of others; if you’re looking to find your authentic life, then look to do good as Jesus did and you will find your Self avoiding the life of obligation and slow death of regret and desperation McManus describes.
I love when we find simple reminders that we can say, write down, or speak that carry a lot of meaning…”do good” is one of those.
🎧 Listen to today's Note on the LifeDesign+ podcast.
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
🦅 Some ways I might be able to help you live your authentic life:
🤝 One on Ones Let's hop on Zoom to do a guided meditation, a creative brainstorming session, or an overcoming an obstacle session.
📝 LifeDesign+ LifeDesign+ is rooted in the Kinder Institute of Life Planning’s EVOKE process, which is a five-step process to help discover what your authentic life looks like and begin to design a plan to bring that life to reality. It continues to incorporate the alignment of your spirit, mind, and body to ensure you evolve with your authentic life, as the authentic life is not a destination, it’s an evolution.
💸 AlignedLife+ AlignedLife+ (and the one-time engagement AlignedLife) takes LifeDesign+ to the next level by aligning your finances with your authentic life at RLS Wealth. For individuals looking for a financial advisor to help design and manage their financial plan while maintaining the alignment of spirit, mind, body, and money, AlignedLife+ was created specifically for you.
📈 LifeDesign+ for financial advisors LifeDesign+ for financial advisors mirrors the LifeDesign+ relationship, including the focus on the alignment of spirit, mind, and body, with an important distinction—once the plan for your authentic life has been designed, we shift our focus to integrating your new plan with your practice.
🤝 Outsourced life planning As your outsourced life planner, you bring me in to take your client through the Kinder Institute of Life Planning’s EVOKE process to help them better understand who they are, what they want their life to look like, and create a vision of this life for you to execute on the financial plan. Since you are their financial advisor, you will be a part of each of the meetings, so you understand the “why” behind your client’s new plan.
