Advice – Wandering with a purpose

Who to spend your time with

September 30, 2019 by jonathanbridge1407, posted in Advice

You Are The Average Of The Five People You Spend The Most Time With.

I’m sure you have heard that saying before at least a few times.

Because it’s so true!

Your friends have a huge impact on your mindset. Imagine how inspired you would be if you were friends with Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Richard Branson and whoever inspiring person you could think of. There wouldn’t be a night where you wouldn’t be thinking about your future and what greatness lies ahead for you. You would be willing to take a huge leap of faith. You would do exactly what you love because your friends are doing it. They’re supporting you every step of the way.

But if your friends were not the greatest? What if they saw the world as a dark place and it’s a fight for the fittest and if you get scraps that’s fine? It’s going to affect you negatively. Your vision of life would probably also not be so great.

That’s why it is important to have positive friends.

I got to know someone through this year and we became friends but one thing I noticed about him was his negativity about life. All he would speak about would be the things that irritate him. This beautiful place that I call home was perceived dark, depressing and a place to be broken.

The friendship actually got to a point where I would start to think negatively about things that he saw as negative. It eventually came to a point that I snapped at my colleague at work because I started to see the things that irritate people instead of the things that makes him stand out and that makes him a really nice person.

Fortunately I realised what was happening before it became a problem. It made me realise the importance of who we spend our time with. It doesn’t mean I should unfriend that person; but rather speak life to him and the goodness that I can see in other people and over the places we see instead of listening to negativity.

Sorround yourself with people you admire.

But don’t let that saying constrain you. You can be the difference in your friendship group. The fresh apple in the basket (which is a stupid thing to say because the rotten apples will stay rotten, or get worse, but anyways). But what I can say is that it wouldn’t hurt to have aspiring friends.

Every good dream begins with a dreamer.

Promises from God

September 18, 2019 by jonathanbridge1407, posted in Advice

Don’t you ever get a word from someone that things are going to get better? Or that the harvest is near? We always hear from others how things will get better as long as we trust God and spend time with Him, but what does He promise in the Word?

But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. – Matthew 6:33.

Now in this verse it may seem that everything we need and want will be ours but it is in fact not true. He only promises food for our bellies and clothing on our bodies.

That’s it!

In the passage God is telling us not to worry for food and clothing for that will be given to us. But that is it. No other mention of anything else.

Don’t let your trust in God be that you will be blessed, because that will become your idol.

I have been a victim of this too. Trusting for something rather than being content with what I have. It is just crazy how focused we can become on something that hasn’t happened yet and will not give us fruit. If it has been promised then so be it, Your life does not need to revolve around it.

It’s a gift to be happy when you have nothing.

What we forget to realise is that we have everything regardless of what is in our homes and bank accounts. The culture we live in today says we must strive for more, always searching to receive and never actually give. It isn’t wrong to want more but one must be careful of what they want because it can rule over them rather than be a goal to look forward to.

If we are humble with the little we have then surely the same will be with the overflow of things we will possess. However, when we become greedy with the little you can surely bet we will be greedy with the abundance of things.

Sometimes we need to be humbled before we can receive what is truly installed for us.

It is always important to be happy with what you have, but also in pursuit for more. If you have a filled stomach and warm clothing tonight then you are richer than 821 million people in our world.

The necessity of being part of a community

August 10, 2019 by jonathanbridge1407, posted in Advice

Growing up I was an introvert. I enjoyed playing on my own, working on my own and pretty much figuring out life on my own. I had what I would like to say my own advice or my own motto that I lived by and that was: If I can’t do something I try to figure it out on my own and if I still can’t do it I seek advice and counsel from others so that I can eventually do it on my own.

The reasoning for that was: What if something goes wrong and I’m left to survive on my own? I would think of the worst case scenarios that I could possibly fathom and see if I was somewhat capable of living on my own. It was something I stuck by until I came across a new chapter of life that taught me something different.

At the start of last year I joined a gap year curriculum that showed me the value of being part of a community. There were countless times where we had fellowship with each other that was in a very healthy way. Sometimes it was just a time of fun and laughter while other times it was more personal and profound, times that made us open up from the things that affected us in a positive or negative way.

Being part of a community gave us that opportunity to seek help from others. It never felt like a burden to ask someone but actually a privilege for both parties. What I also noticed was that when I became part of the community did I not only seek counsel from others but people came to me for they realised what I could offer that they had less or no experience in.

Being part of a community in my eyes makes life simpler, makes it more convenient. Yes in some ways doing things on your own will make you a much more streamlined person and you will have lots of time to work on your craft or
whatever it is you would like to but if you get stuck then what? If you are in need of desperate help then what?

So I guess there is a balance (just like everything in life). There are pros and cons to either direction but we are made for fellowship and we are made to help others. You will notice certain times where you will have such great love for those around you and other times where you can’t stand them, but that’s how life goes for everyone sorry to say.

Be inspired by the goodness of people and not their flaws.

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

What season are you in?

June 27, 2019June 27, 2019 by jonathanbridge1407, posted in Advice

What word would you describe the season that you are in? Has it been a challenging one? Has it been a time of growth? A time of acceleration? A time of stagnation? A time of reflection? A time of meeting new people? A time of lonesomeness?

It may be difficult to say that you have only felt one way in a season but I’m sure you can agree that there was definitely a theme during your current season.

Also note that a time of hardship does not necessarily mean you had a bad time, it just means that you went through a lot but you learned from your experience and in that way grew from it.

We all go through times where we struggle to keep our head above water but also times where you float effortlessly. Crazy how that works. Like the famous saying from Winston Churchill:

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it’s the courage to continue that counts.”

Right now in my life I feel that I’m lacking certain things and certain traits but I was reminded of these few verses in the bible:

There is a time for everything, and a season for everything under the heavens.

A time to be born, a time to die.

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

A time to weep and a time to laugh.

A time to mourn, a time to dance.

A time to search and a time to give up.

A time for war and a time for peace.

There are loads more verses in between but these are my favourites from ecclesiastes 3.

You may feel alone but instead of realising how you are missing out in your relationship realise the freedom that you have with ‘no strings attached’. If you feel that you are struggling in some way remember that it is not going to last forever, you will get out and you will learn from your hardships, and grow from it.

Just remain hopeful in the fact that things can and will change for the better. If you have a dream that you are pursuing don’t give it up, because you won’t lose if you said you tried, but you will never win if you don’t try.

How to influence a large amount of people

June 20, 2019 by jonathanbridge1407, posted in Advice

Have you ever felt like you have something to say? Do you feel that if you had the opportunity to speak to a crowd you would change many hearts to give them the determination to not give up and live life to the fullest? How can I convince an organisation to let me speak to their students/employees or whoever you feel you could have an impact on their lives?

To have that opportunity is not as simple as what you may think and I am pretty sure those who would want to do what I just said may sigh because they don’t know how to get there.

If you still have that desire in your heart for public speaking then read on for I have 2 ways that could potentially get you your first gig.

Start small

You want to speak to a thousand people, but have you spoken in front of just a few? We all have these huge dreams of going to the Olympics, becoming a lawyer, a successful businessman or whatever it may be but I’m sure you can agree that to get there one needs to put in the hard work, start small and do whatever needs to be done. Public speaking is the exact same. One needs to find an audience or a place to publish your skills.

How can I do that you ask?

The internet!

Just find a website or even websites to showcase your talents. This will not only give you a platform for what you would like to do one day but it strengthens your skills and gives you a few more. A great place to advertise yourself is You-tube. Almost 5 billion views are watched everyday on You-tube. You are not only getting better at spreading a message but your video skills, photography skills and even your marketing skills could be enhanced.

Another obvious place is WordPress. It may not be a place for all public speakers because now you rely on your writing to get you on the internet but nonetheless a great place to advertise your skills. It is in fact the most used blogging website in the world (this is not a sponsored post by the way :).

I am also one of those people who would like to share my voice and inspire others but that type of opportunity will not always fall on my lap, I need to do something about it. I decided to use WordPress for I enjoy writing as well as public speaking, which is quite funny because it was the complete opposite a few years ago.

But any dream starts with a vision on how to get there and applying it and then your dream becomes a reality.

Just ask

Honestly if you have something you want to say and you have a place in mind just ask! Email them, give them a call or walk up to the front desk and just ask them if you could go on stage and speak to an audience. You may be surprised as to what they say.

There is this one You-tube channel called YesTheory and they live off the premise of seeking discomfort by doing uncomfortable things in order to challenge themselves. They go outside their comfort zone so often I don’t even think they can have an uncomfortable zone(if that is even a word lol). One crazy thing they did which is just a speck of the crazy things they have done which was to ask the Mayor of Venice in California if I am not mistaken to meet up and they actually did.

You should really check them out if you haven’t already: https://www.youtube.com/user/PracProcrastination

If you don’t have a desire for public speaking that is also fine but hopefully I have encouraged you to chase whatever dream you would like to achieve.

You will get your opportunity as long as you are willing to put in the hard work.

Also figure out why you would like to share your voice to others, because if it is just to praise yourself or to become famous people will sense that and may not help you get to where you would like to be.

If you want to be heard you first need to speak.