Episode #115: Built With Love

Finding Your Groove With Kathleen Thompson

If I asked you what you love, what would you say? And then, what does your life say you love? What do your actions say you love? Because you build what you love. And sometimes what you build may not look like what you say. I know that’s at least partly true for me. Today is the first of a series to explore what it means to build what you love and build it with love.

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On This Episode

Rhythm of Life – I Hear Horns
Random Riffs – Traffic Jam in a Most Unlikely Place
Feature Segment – Built With Love

Today’s Quote

You get the best effort from others not by lighting a fire beneath them, but by building a fire within. – Bob Nelson

Rhythm of Life – I Hear Horns

If you’ve listened to this podcast for a while, you’ve heard that I’m recording songs I wrote or co-wrote. Right now we’re in the process of adding instruments to the tracks we already recorded. Virtual instruments “played” with electronic keyboard.

If you haven’t ever done this, it’s challenging. Because a keyboard doesn’t act like a wind instrument. Or a guitar.

Not only that, but I tried my hand at arranging horn parts for one of the songs, something I haven’t done for years.

As you might imagine, the results have been somewhat mixed. But I’m learning something through the process that might help you too. Even if you don’t write or record music. Listen to the episode to find out.

Random Riffs – Traffic Jam in a Most Unlikely Place

I’ve been traveling to Los Angeles a lot during this past year. And if there’s one thing you can’t ever seem to escape, it’s the traffic. Traffic jams all over the place – seemingly at any time of day.

But one place I never expected to hear about a traffic jam is on Mount Everest. Yet, according to news reports, that’s exactly what’s going on there. And it’s caused 11 deaths in May of 2019 alone. Here’s a picture of that traffic at the summit.

The reasons given are:

1. Bad weather limits days when climbing can occur
2. Low-cost guide companies who take climbers without sufficient experience.

So if you’ve been thinking of climbing Mount Everest, you might want to think again. It might be safer to drive in LA.

Feature Segment – Built With Love

“What do you love?” Go ahead. Say it out loud right now.

So now here’s another question. Do your actions align with what you just said? According to a podcast by Erwin McManus, you build what you actually love. Not what you say you love. Sometimes they don’t match. Would I be able to tell what you love by what you do?

In my case it’s a mixed bag. In some parts of my life, my words and actions line up. At least a fair amount of the time. Others, not so much. The same may be true for you.

Where they don’t line up, there could be 3 reasons:

1. You’ve fallen in love with something else, and it happened so slowly that you’re still telling yourself an old story that no longer fits.
2. You really do love the thing, but something is keeping you away from it. Like sense of duty to someone or something else. Or feelings of inadequacy.
3. You like to tell yourself the story that you love something, and you’ve never actually done it. And probably won’t.

It’s time to be honest. Time to look at your values and actions and see where they do and don’t match. Time to live in integrity. Because that’s what holds the building up.

And the thing is, these decisions we make don’t just impact us. They impact everyone around us. There is nothing we do that impacts only ourselves. And the essence of building with love is building something with and for others. Because in the end, love is really about a relationship. What we build shows what we love – whether it be other people, things, or checking things off our to-do list.

The letter of James in the Bible says this: “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.” That’s exactly what we’re talking about here.

Do you know what you’re building right now with your life? Take a look at your relationships. Work. Health. How strong is the building? How much integrity is there to hold it up?

Maybe you’re building something that you don’t want to build. If so, it’s time to tear it down. Get out whatever tool you want and start the demolition. Then build what you actually love.

Why not start today? Right now even? Remember – you won’t be perfect at this. No one is. Especially not me. But it’s still a worthy goal. One to strive toward for the rest of your life. Isn’t that exciting? Encouraging? Just imagine – you have unlimited growth potential. And all you have to do is start.

What might you want to start or stop today? Leave a comment.

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You show what you love by what you build.
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