Getting The Foundations Right

In the road opposite where we live, there is a new house being built. It is going to be number 35. There has never been a number 35, just a gap where it was never built.

The bricks have started going up on top of the foundational structure and you can already see the shape of the house. It has all happened very quickly. Or has it?

The bricks seem to be going up fast, but if I think back to when the workmen moved in, it was about six weeks ago. It has taken all that time to prep the ground and get the foundations right.

Imagine if they had got half way through putting the bricks in place and found out there was a problem with the foundations.....

Good foundations are critical. Whether we are building a new house, starting a new job or mananging a project (which I sometimes do). Good foundations mean we have something solid to build on. It gives us confidence that the journey we are embarking on is built on something firm. How many of us - myself included - want to rush into projects and life without getting the foundations right first? This often means we have to go back to the beginning and 'start again' or we end up living in an unsound structure.

If something goes wrong with what we are building, the foundations can be underpinned, but the effort involved is exhausting. It's the same with our spiritual lives. If we build our lives on a solid foundation that is well thought out, it means our 'building' is strong. If we build our lives on a softer foundation, such as sand, we are prone to getting swept away or having to 'start again'.

Every day we have the opportunity to build good foundations or underpin the ones we didn't quite get right. When these opportunities come along, take them.

Sitting At The Window

It is a beautiful morning.

I am sitting in my wife's study today. She runs her own little business (doing pretty well considering it is her first venture) and her study window looks out over the garden. It is a great place to sit and it is the first time I have worked from her desk. I like to sit in different places to work - coffee shops, lounge, different office desks. Each place inspires me and makes me feel more creative.

Sitting here makes me think about how we can sit in the same place all of our lives (at the dinner table, at work, in the car, etc.) and never get a different view on life. Our positional experience of life can be 'monochrome' and one-dimensional when life is begging for us to live it in full colour and view it from every angle.

Every now and then, sit somewhere different. If you always drive the car, be a passenger for a journey. If you always sit in the same place at work, re-arrange your desk and view things differently. If you always sit in the same place for dinner, sit at a different place.

Get a different view on life and look at it from a different angle. It is amazing what you see when you do.