Here’s what it’s looked like for the past week:
Photo credit: John Myers, Los Angeles Times
The deadliest wildfire in California history, the Camp Fire, is taking place about 70 miles north of where my wife Lisa and I live. The resulting smoke has settled over a huge patch of northern California including Sacramento. Yesterday, we had the distinction of having the worst air quality of any major city in the world. The fire department is handing out free air filter masks, and health officials are saying to stay indoors if at all possible.
As a result, we’ve been holed up in our apartment for the last week. My outdoor excursions have been limited to going down to the lobby to get our mail every other day with my sweatshirt over my face. I’m very much a person who enjoys and thrives on routine, so this disruption to my normal schedule has been a challenge. Since we all face a variety of minor and major disruptions in our lives, I want to share three things that are helping me deal with my current situation:
Photo Credit: Noah Berger, Associated Press
1. BE GRATEFUL
Choosing “an attitude of gratitude” is one of the most effective ways to deal with life’s interruptions. Lisa and I feel incredibly fortunate to be safe, to have our apartment not in danger, and as writers, to be able to work from home. To date, the Camp Fire has taken the lives of 71 people. Over 1,000 are still missing, tens of thousands have been displaced, and almost 10,000 homes destroyed. When we remember how others have been impacted so deeply, our minor inconveniences shrink to their proper perspective.
2. BE GENEROUS
Generosity is gratitude in action. It’s taking practical steps to help others who are hurting. Our charity of choice during natural disasters is the Red Cross. The smoke hovering outside our windows serves as a reminder for us to give to a wonderful agency that is providing practical help to those devastated by these wildfires. If you’re motivated to donate, click here.
Me setting up our library
3. BE CREATIVE
Sometimes disruptions can provide opportunities to do things in a new way. I took the chance that being cooped up in our apartment gave me to do some long delayed projects, like setting up our library and laying out picture shelves in our bedroom. We sold both our vehicles in our recent move to Sacramento since we can walk almost everywhere including the grocery store. With walking being discouraged, this week we used an online grocery delivery service instead. I normally run outside five times a week, so I’ve been missing my exercise. Since we live on the sixth floor, this morning I tried running up and down the back stairwell of our building. It was shielded from the smoke and gave me a great workout.
So how about you? What disruptions are you dealing with? Take a moment to acknowledge the inconvenience. Then, remember the good things in your life, and BE GRATEFUL. Think of those suffering more than you are, and BE GENEROUS. Look for options you hadn’t considered before, and BE CREATIVE. If you do, things will definitely improve, and you’ll take another step toward Becoming Yourself.
What did you feel when you read the word “change”? Maybe you got excited because change is something you generally enjoy. Maybe your stomach sank because change is something you try to avoid. Whichever best describes you, most of us have a strong reaction to the idea of change.
Virtually all change involves an element of loss. This is obvious with hard, unwelcome change, like the passing of a loved one. In my 25 years as a music pastor, I participated in countless funerals. I’ve seen some people desperately avoid, deny, or bury their grief, to their great detriment. I’ve watched others walk through it courageously, acknowledging and embracing their pain, and take the first steps toward healing. But even positive change, like getting your dream job, has an element of grief. It may mean saying goodbye to co-workers you care about or leaving part of your former work that was meaningful or enjoyable. Whatever your circumstance, the first step to processing change is to grieve well.
2. MARK THE MOMENT
3. PURSUE THE POSSIBILITIES
So how about you? What changes are you facing? Rather than dreading or avoiding them, why not try this 3 step process for yourself? Grieve well. Mark the moment. Pursue the possibilities. If you do, you’ll take another huge step toward Becoming Yourself.
Day and night. Work and play. Hot and cold. Love and hate. Sorrow and joy. Sun and rain. Vegetables and cheesecake. It’s a lesson that’s built into nearly every aspect of life. The world we live in is made up of a series of balanced opposites, holding each other in necessary, life-giving tension. It’s a dance, a system of give and take, of harmony, one we fight against at our peril. If any one of these couplets become too one-sided, our life becomes out of balance and bad things are the result.
So what does this have to do with personal development? In order to become the person we want to be, we must balance ACTION and CONTEMPLATION. My philosophy teaching father always says when discussing something important, “define your terms”. So what do I mean by “action” and “contemplation” in regards to personal development?
As you read those definitions, which did you identify with most strongly? We all have a natural leaning one way or the other. I personally gravitate more toward contemplation. I set aside time every morning for reflection, meditation, prayer, and personal growth reading. I enjoy introspection, trying to figure out who I am and how I’m wired. But I struggle with action. I feel deeply for other people’s suffering, but it takes intentionality and effort to step outside of myself to act on those feelings. Both are necessary, but it’s hard to find the balance.
My favorite example is Jesus. Regardless of your beliefs on his divinity, I think there’s a lot we can all learn from how he lived. The first four books of the Bible’s New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) paint an amazing picture of the way Jesus balanced action and contemplation. His ministry was filled with practical actions of healing the sick, teaching those who were searching for direction, training his disciples, challenging corrupt systems, and caring for the poor. At the same time, he regularly spent time away from the crowds to study, reflect, and pray (as a boy in the temple in Luke 2:41-51, forty days in the wilderness in Matthew 4:1-11, after feeding five thousand people in John 6:14-15, etc.).
If it’s ACTION, maybe you need to step out and volunteer for a cause you believe in. Try a school or a food bank or a club or a church. Go alone or grab a friend or a group from work. Use 
One of the amazing things about action and contemplation is that they have a symbiotic relationship where each feeds the other. I learn about myself and find healing through the ACTION of serving others. I’m most effective at serving others from the place of self-knowledge and wholeness gained through CONTEMPLATION. There’s no perfect balance to this. There will be seasons when it’s best to focus on action and others when you need more time in contemplation. That’s normal and okay. This is a lesson to work on for a lifetime.