The Five-Second Rule on Thoughts, Part 1 (TMF:2445)

Friday, September 20, 2024
Peace to Live By: The Five-Second Rule on Thoughts, Part 1 (TMF:2445) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       You don’t need me to tell you that everyone has certain thoughts that come to mind on occasion that we don’t want. These thoughts come to us more than I think we realize, and we just haven’t recognized that fact. But, we all have these thoughts. A lot of times they come to us when we are getting upset about something. They just seem to come to mind to try to make things worse. Then sometimes they come to our minds when we are feeling good, or trying to have a good experience. It is almost as if there is an intelligence behind them which is trying to spoil our enjoyment. Sometimes the thoughts are successful at messing up what we are trying to focus on, and then there are times we are able to move past them. Personally, my belief on these type of rogue thoughts is that they come from our constant attempt to suppress them. What I mean is that all of our minds have collected a lot of bad things. These are negative past experiences, or negative things we have seen or heard about that now reside in the recesses of our minds. So, it’s like our minds are like a geyser that spews out water.

Associating a Positive with a Negative, Part 2 (TMF:2444)

Thursday, September 19, 2024
Peace to Live By: Associating a Positive with a Negative, Part 2 (TMF:2444) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       Well, if we are good at looking for the positive, we can then, after sympathizing with them, perhaps present something on the bright side of things. We can work to be kind, comforting, and even encouraging, again, all things that the New Testament tells us to be mindful of. We can even use our imaginations in order to associate the positive with the negative. Maybe we do this with a negative bad experience. Like, let’s say there is something in our past that tends to come to our minds from time to time. It is something that we still haven’t surrendered all the negative energy out of it. Well, what we can do is try to immediately bring to mind what became beneficial to us from going through that negative experience. That is, how did God work it out for the good? What did we learn? How is our life better now? By focusing on these positives, then the negative doesn’t seem all that negative anymore. This is something I have found to be particularly beneficial, and something that definitely increases my happiness.

Associating a Positive with a Negative, Part 1 (TMF:2443)

Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Peace to Live By: Associating a Positive with a Negative, Part 1 (TMF:2443) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       I have personally found this technique to be beneficial to me over time. That is, generally when it is something during my days that is reoccurring which is negative. Like, I think a good example of this would be a negative news story. If I can find a way to link something positive with the negative, then I am in a better place. Or, sometimes I look at the negative and try to see what is positive in it. Either way, by looking for the positive the negative doesn’t become as impactful, as impactful to me personally at all. Remember, the New Testament tells us to that we are to be thinking about the good. That’s what we are supposed to be dwelling on, and I think this is a good practice because we cannot always control what we are presented with. In light of that, that we cannot control what we are presented with, that means negativity is going to come to us that we wish would rather not. This can even come in the form of someone in the office sharing something bad that happened to them, and they may be even looking for comforting words from us about it. Well, if we are good at looking for the positive, we can then, after sympathizing with them, perhaps present something on the bright side of things.

Choosing Your Fans? Part 2 (TMF:2442)

Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Peace to Live By: Choosing Your Fans? Part 2 (TMF:2442) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       They were from all over the place—different towns, different counties. In the city and out in the country. I even had a guy in India who somehow came upon my show and became a fan. Almost all of my fans were people a didn’t know, save a handful of people. And, most of those who I thought would actually be my fans, were not. I think this truth definitely translates itself onto social media. I mean, whatever platform one is on, they create a post, and I think that often times the people that like or react to that post aren’t always those that people expected. I have noticed this. Sure, there are a few that do react the you expected, but then it seems there are many more of whom you are surprised are giving your post attention. Again, we don’t get to choose our fans. But, if we view this differently in that we don’t place expectations on anybody, then we really won’t be disappointed with the results. It is something we have to surrender. People have their own lives with their own stuff going on, and they aren’t always thinking about us first and foremost.

Choosing Your Fans? Part 1 (TMF:2441)

Monday, September 16, 2024
Peace to Live By: Choosing Your Fans? Part 1 (TMF:2441) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       I remember when I first went to start Peace to Live By, and I went about telling people I knew about my new radio show. I thought to myself, “This is great. This person will listen to me, and this person, and that person. I’m going to have so many good listeners who know me.” Well, it didn’t take me long before I realized that wasn’t how it was working. Actually, not at all. What I found was in a given sample of about ten people (that is, ten people that I knew who I told about my show), maybe two of them would actually listen. And of those two, perhaps only one, if that, actually became a fan. I was quite surprised by this revelation as it was happening. It wasn’t that I wasn’t good enough, or that what I was saying wasn’t good. It was just that, in reality, we don’t get to choose our fans when we are doing something in the spotlight. In fact, I found that the vast majority of the people who became my fans I didn’t even know. They were from all over the place—different towns, different counties. In the city and out in the country.

Who is Right, & Who is Wrong? Part 3 (TMF:2440)

Friday, September 13, 2024
Peace to Live By: Who is Right, & Who is Wrong? Part 3 (TMF:2440) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       So, on the flip side of this, when I visit a church that does not agree with such things—that Jesus was more pro-feminism than a lot of people believe—does this then mean that they are right because they argue from a more traditional viewpoint? I mean they have thousands of years of church history to back them up. How do I personally decide who is right? The truth is, just because this particular church may disagree with the other church doesn’t mean that the other church is wrong. Just saying something is bad doesn’t actually make it bad or wrong. In many types of these areas in the Christian life, those which are in the big group of third level issues, there are a lot of opinions. And as the Apostle Paul said, we believe what we believe by faith, and each of us stands or falls in front of God based on that faith. There is no need to tear up the one who disagrees because really that is between them and God.

Who is Right, & Who is Wrong? Part 2 (TMF:2439)

Thursday, September 12, 2024
Peace to Live By: Who is Right, & Who is Wrong? Part 2 (TMF:2439) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       Still yet, at another church which had an interesting name, this time I observed things moving about in a more traditional sense. That is, I wasn’t expecting things to be quite so typical to the standard evangelical way because of the name of the church. The name had led me to make prior assumptions that the church would be more hip and modern, which wasn’t actually the case. Anyhow, continuing on with this, pastors have different approaches as well as the congregations in general. Going back to the pastor giving the feminist sermon, he had all kinds of bold claims as to why he was right. He claimed this and that. And actually I agreed with a lot of what he said, though, I am not so sure I agreed with his attitude toward what he was saying in that he was so adamant in what he was saying. I mean, I didn’t like how sure he was because really, at the end of the day, these were more debatable issues he was talking about. I felt him being so opinionated displayed a particular attitude of pride.

Who is Right, & Who is Wrong? Part 1 (TMF:2438)

Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Peace to Live By: Who is Right, & Who is Wrong? Part 1 (TMF:2438) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       I’ve talked about varying Christian denominations and varying beliefs that they have. What I am meaning to say is that because there are so many different denominations, there are a vast variety of ideas as pertains to what is good and bad, acceptable and not acceptable. I have experienced it myself on a first-hand basis. Sometimes during the year I’ll visit different churches just to see what is going on, to see how this particular church goes about things versus other churches. I like to sit and observe. And I’ve even done this online since that is particularly easy as more and more churches have online service. But, you get the real ‘feel’ of a church when you are actually there. Anyhow, where I am going with this is that in seeing the different churches, I have obviously noticed different ways of going about things. I was in one church recently where the pastor stood up and talked about Feminism, and how Jesus was very supportive of women during his earthly ministry. I was quite surprised, as this wasn’t what I had been expecting.

Practice the 20-Minute Rule, Part 2 (TMF:2437)

Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Peace to Live By: Practice the 20-Minute Rule, Part 2 (TMF:2437) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       Why does this happen, that our emotions will shift? Well, the problem to begin with is that our brains have been lying to us I think. They have said to us, “You really don’t feel like doing this task today. Why don’t you skip it?” But, when we start to do the task, most often those feelings shift and then we feel like doing the task. This is kind of a cousin concept to that of being ready out of season, right? I don’t know how many of my work sessions I have saved by using this technique, this rule if you will. It has saved me many times. Now, what if you do the task for 20-minutes and you still don’t feel like continuing it? Well, in that case, I don’t continue. I just stop and say to myself, “At least I tried.” But this is very rare, and usually for me doesn’t happen. As a matter of fact, it has happened so few of times that I can hardly recall any times it has happened. Perhaps if you are facing something really daunting, it could happen. But I think that generally are brains just aren’t telling us the straight story, or perhaps we just want to be lazy and rest.

Practice the 20-Minute Rule, Part 1 (TMF:2436)

Monday, September 09, 2024
Peace to Live By: Practice the 20-Minute Rule, Part 1 (TMF:2436) - Daniel Litton
(Tap or right-click link to download two-minute feature)

       This is something that I have created in my own life that I have found to be beneficial toward getting things done. We all have days where we don’t ‘feel’ like doing our work, doing the things that we need to do. Really, it could even be our devotional time. We could wake up in a really bad mood and just not feel like reading anything. Or it could be a huge project that we need to work on and one of which we don’t particularly care for, and perhaps we are even dreading it. Well, I have figured out a way past this roadblock to getting things done. I call the solution the 20-Minute Rule. Actually, it is quite simple. Generally when I don’t feel like doing something, I just go against my emotions and start doing it anyway. Usually, after about 20 minutes of doing that task, my emotions will have changed as I built up some momentum in doing the task and now (after the 20-minutes) I will actually want to continue working on whatever it is. It is actually quite amazing that we can change our emotions like that. I’ve just found that it usually can take up to 20 minutes for the shift to occur. Sometimes it happens in five or ten minutes.