Weekend what ifs

Honestly I feel like I am living the first life you described, sans the intoxicating success (at least in the way the world sees it. I truly am intoxicated and grateful when I look at my children.) My new focus in life is surrendering anew to Christ every morning and praying wholeheartedly for the Lord to align me with His will. I have more peace now than ever before.

Cool idea! I would have to say that since I feel like I've been living the first life (sans intoxicating success) for the last 33 years, I'd rather have the second.

I say all the time that I'd really love to have a simple, predictable life. I'm sure that I'd still have enough variety based on my hobbies and interests that I wouldn't find myself bored by a less crazy life. But I really long for that.

I'm ready for the happy, predictable.

I would love to have the happy, predictable life. There has been enough sadness and heartache.

Without question I'd take the first. Life is to be fully lived, with the good AND bad. The joys aren't as keenly experienced without the pain. (And the word "passion" is rooted in the meaning "pain.")

But not without loved ones. Without others to live for, all life is lived for Self. And Self is a false god never gratified.

I long for happy, secure and predictable, because I need some comforting, settling, peace in my life. I am not one who needs the spotlight of success nor additional setbacks.

I love the life I am living now, with all the bumps in the road, and learning experiences. Sometimes it's easy and sometime's it's hard, but always it's worth it.

Ok so this is a little bit of a stretch. I think that the first life is our life here on earth and the second one is going to be our life in Heaven with God. This life is full of all the turmoil that is caused by living in a fallen world. Living in a calm peaceful world is what I think Heaven is going to be like. I just cant wait for that trumpet!

Ok so this is a little bit of a stretch. I think that the first life is our life here on earth and the second one is going to be our life in Heaven with God. This life is full of turmoil because we live in a fallen world. Heaven is going to be calm and peaceful as we sit with Jesus for eternity. I cant wait for that trumpet blast!

I think for those of us who have had the pendulum swing out in trials, etc … we crave calm, middle of the road and predictable. However, if I had not gone through years of bondage to fear, I wouldn't be who I am today. It made me a warrior and now I have the key to set others free.

Is that an answer to your question? Maybe not. I wouldn't change a thing though the road has had some very tough and scary pot holes!

Love,
b

Hmmmmmm tough one.

I guess I am gonna go with the first one. I just posted about living a life of mountains and valleys, ironically. (And you already read about my "extreme makeover") My post didn't go in the direction that I intended it to though. God jumped in as I was typing away and showed me that the valleys can be a beautiful important part of the scenery even when we feel they are the "lows". It actually was an amazing experience to have God be my editor, lol.

So I will go with life A in your choice of A and B.

That is my final answer.

I want both because if a happy, predictable life comes without passion, then count me out!

Living without passion is like being part of the walking dead.

I am to become more and more like Jesus each day, and Christ certainly lived each moment with passion!

By the way, what's your answer?

Except for the "intoxicating success", the first life described is already mine!

I just try to embrace the life I'm living and suck all the goodness out of it like a juicy peach! (A little fuzz and pits don't rattle me anymore!)

personally I want my life which is wildly turbulent, plenty of setback, some small victories, but also friends and family. Not really the pluses of the first except for the excitement of it all, but the friends and family from the 2nd make up for it.

This book sounds interesting! I think I'd prefer the first. I feel like I'm stuck in the second right now, and redundancy is driving me up a wall!! So, perhaps I need to go create some adventure and a little bit of drama. That stuff makes for better stories, also, how are they going to make a movie about my life if it's boring? It would probably end up being a chick-flick, which is NOT the legacy I want to leave behind. Great idea Billy

I have this book too–used it some for journaling when I was a high school English teacher. I have a kids' one too.

ANYhow…I'd have to say I'd probably prefer the happy, secure, predictable life surrounded by friends and family without such wide swings of fortune and mood. I am a creature of habit, and am most comfortable when things go just as they always have been..

YET – I also know that is not best for me. My life has NOT been that way in the times I've grown the most, or drawn closest to the Lord. Comfortable may be nice, but I definitely know that I stagnate in my Christian walk when I don't have challenges.

My heart screams, "The second one!!!" But my heart is also deceitful. Minus the "intoxicating success," the first one is the life I've been living throughout the past six years. And through the chaos and rollercoaster ride has come a closer walk with Jesus, something I didn't experience with a predictable life. I don't think life in Christ is meant to be boring or predictable. If I let him take the wheel, there's no telling what mountain He'll drive me over, around, and through.

Hmmm while number two sounds wonderful, and I think I've experienced that life for a few brief moments…Most of my life seems to fall into the first and I've seen changes come from it that perhaps wouldn't come from living life #2. So I choose number1 with an occasional interruption by life #2!

When I recently spoke to a couple hundred senior citizens I opened with, "Raise your hand if your life has turned out the way you expected." Quite a few chuckled. No one raised a hand.

I say that to say, I don't think there's any such thing as a "predictable" life. (Would you have predicted all the particulars in yours?) So, if you strike "predictable" from the second choice, I would say my life has been a pretty even mix of both options. And I'm thankful. Turbulence, sorrow, and stunning setbacks are never fun when you're in the middle of them, but those are the times I've been forced to cast myself completely on the Lord and seen Him move. They're also the times I've most appreciated the friends and family who surround me and valued the security of their love.

I adore adventure, but I want to come home afterward and snuggle up to familiar comforts. I want Jesus in my boat on the raging sea, and I want Him reclining at my table. I don't need predictability, because His nearness is my good.

Great things to think about, Billy. Thanks for posing the question.

Well Bily,

I think that the first question should have added with family and friends. I would not take any successes in life without having anyone to share it with. If I was able to have a wonderful life with a wife and children then I would take question A.

If, however, I was not able to have a family from the first question, then I would answer B. I cannot see going through this hard life on Earth without a good woman by my side and children to whom I can pass on my own experiences and wisdom to.

I guess it is a two part answer!

Keep the Faith!

Definintely B. I'm nothing if not stable, and I love my family & friends. I had a chaotic upbringing, and that was enough mood swings for me!

My life would be incomplete without my family and friends. God has used them to teach me, grow me, challenge me, stretch me, care for me, and always to love me.

Life without trials would be dull and very little need for God. When we can do everything on our own there is no need to get on our needs thanking Him for providing our meals, our finances, the way to parent, the way to love another, the way to support a lost and hurting friend, the way to encourage someone who is working to gain His love and the list goes on and on.

A life with a straight road with no turns, twists and bumps doesn't allow us to see just how faithful God is and how much He loves us. It stops us from seeing how deep His love is for us and how great His plans are for each of us!

A life without sorrow would make us ungrateful for the times of joy. Joy would be too normal. It will never be like heaven – we may taste and see slices of it – but until He comes and that trumpet blows we must learn to REJOICE in all the twists, turns, and bumps along the way and thank Him for using every one of them to draw us closer to Him – as we wait to be with Him home forever n ever n always!

Great question!
Love and blessings,
Jill

I think I'd like a little of both options (like I really have a choice!) If I could tailor my life, I would blend joy and sorrow, passion and peace, adventure and challenges interspersed with small pleasures and victories. And then combine all that with plenty of fun, laughter and love in the company of dear friends and family, along with a healthy dose of solitude and contemplation. My perfect life.

Count me in for the first one, as long as I get to pitch a good fit every-now-and-then when things get a wee bit overwhelming.

And I don't necessarily see intoxicating success as a job, money and things. I think it could be something like: your grown children have a passion for God, huge hearts and are living their lives to the fullest. So you were successful in raising them. (Ok, and maybe a teeny-weeny bit of material things, like a 69 Camaro sitting beside the 61 Impala in the garage. But I digress…)

"All the best things in life come packaged in a ribbon of risk. You untie the gift, and you assume the risk, and equally, the joy. Parenthood is like that. Marriage is like that. Friendship is like that. In order to experience life in the full sense, you expose yourself to a bottomless pit of venerability. That is the essence of true love."

- Kristin Armstrong

And that's my final answer.

Great idea Billy!

I've been sitting here staring at the computer thinking of my answer. Honestly I don't want either of those scenarios…I want a combo of them both.
Why…Friends and family are extremely important to me and no adventure would be the same without them along for the ride.

I've experienced plenty of joy and sorrow already…I think I am ready for a little of the fame and fortune!

Billy,

This is simple for me, I chose a wild, turbulent life filled with joy, sorrow, passion, and adventure – intoxicating successes and stunning setbacks.

Why?? Because without some sort of sorrow, or setbacks, we learn nothing. We don't grow if everything is easy going all the time. If life is all care free that there isn't anything to worry about so people just do anything they want without consequence.

I chose the reality of what life is here. I believe that is the first part of your question. Life is meant to be lived as a test. A test of what we can become through wearing us down and making us a bit thinner than when we started. It also allows me to trust in God more and go to HIM when things aren't going well.

Love and Hugs ~ Kat

This set me a thinkin' and I had to step away and pause a while before answering.
Because of a tough time I have been going through lately, and realizing that through it I have come to learn so much more about God, I am beginning to see the appreciation of suffering that I have heard talked about and experienced by many a soul. So the first option tempered with happy and secure and family and friends would be one considered.
Thank you for the challenge.

Great post, Billy. I'm diggin' this idea.

I'd have to say the second one. And the part, "…without such wide swings of fortune and mood" in particular.

I think swings of fortune and mood…well, I learn from that. It's God's way of getting me back on track.

But yet, I'm way into security, so the predictable part appeals to me too.

In the end, I know that whatever God throws at me, no matter how painful/uncomfy it is…He'll get me through it and I'll be better for it.

Thanks, Billy!

Number 2. Just like Jesus. Clouds growing, winds blowing, waves rocking Jesus to sleep in the midst of the storm, surrounded by family and friends.

Why?
I've had both, being able to stand and say peace be still and watch the storm clouds clear, the waves settle to a gentle rocking lullaby, is better.

PS Billy, this is my first post – actually, I didn't know who you were or what blogging was, until about a week ago when I accidentally I discovered your blog. You have a big gift Billy, and "Your gift will make room for you." If it seems it's taken awhile, that's because it takes time to make room for such a big gift. Keep shining.

For years, I hid from real life. I hungered for stability and security and so whenever I would find it, I would grab onto it and try to hold it in place. Much to my dismay, it wouldn't last. When change would happen, I would slide into blackness and despair.

Then, I met Jesus and He turned my life upside down and inside out. He took the dreams that I had (which pretty much included being planted in one place, living a predictable, patterned life) and gave me new ones (which do NOT include living a predictable, patterned life).

It's hard for me to answer this question… Because some days I yearn for the slow, easy life… But then, I remember that God hasn't called me to that and that His plan is much better… Even if it does tend to rip me out of my comfort zone on a regular basis.

My life is probably already an image of the second option – safe. The first is exciting and risky; the second secure.

I ask a question somewhat similar to this in my philosophy class: would you rather be a sad Socrates or a pig satisfied.

a happy, secure, predictable life surrounded by friends and family without such wide swings of fortune and mood?

Only because I am in the midst of the other and I don't like the deep drops. But then again, would I get bored eventually?

But I am no longer surrounded here by friends and family and I am finding that's what I miss most rather than the adventure we had in packing up and moving so far away.

Since I'm already living the first choice, I guess I'll just say I'm grateful for the life God gave me.

Honestly, though (you did say be honest, right?), if I really had a choice I'd never willingly choose the second. It sounds boring to me.

So perhaps I've learned something here. Maybe I'm living the wild, turbulent life because that's what I've chosen.

I would like to have "a wild, turbulent life filled with joy, sorrow, passion, and adventure – intoxicating successes and stunning setbacks" but I don't want the sorrow part to be death of loved ones. That is what makes me hesitate and wonder if maybe I want the safe road. Without death of loved ones then the first on. Great thoughts.

Truth is… I swing both ways!

Sometimes I want the turbulent life, sometimes, when I've got that, I want a calm, serene life.

The grass is always greener and all that!

Since I already have the life full of setbacks and all that good stuff…I wouldn't mind to know what it was like to have a nice stable year or two. Although I do hope for success….

Going into my fifth decade of life, I've lived life the first way. I've had an interesting life so far. At times, I felt like if I could just take the easy road, but I never could. I could never steer away from the adventures God had for me. It's been a wild ride, and it's not over yet. But I'm glad I took this path.

We talked about this in Sunday School class today – it was the perfect lead in for our topic, but the discussion was so good that we'll have to finish the "real topic" next week.
It was a mixed bag, kinda like here, but the consensus is that especially in our relationship with Christ, you've got to have the lows if you want to grow.
Thanks for teaching my class this morning Billy – you are so multi-talented!

I want the "happy, secure, predictable life surrounded by friends and family" – because that's the only choice you gave me with friends and family.

That being said, really? We have a choice? Oh my….

Great idea for a post! This question births more questions in me. What is the definition of 'intoxicating success'? By whose standards? Perhaps I've been intoxicatingly successful and don't know it, lol!

I've had long seasons of both lives mentioned. Many times even the most predictable – was not as predictable as expected – and threw me for a loop. The only certainty in my life was change!

We can't have only mountain – top experiences, we need the valleys too, for it is in them we grow. I wouldn't trade any valley experience! I believe that the Lord sent those so I could grow and bear fruit for eternity. And how He brought me through is a testimony to His mercy,grace and faithfulness.

I've lived with a taste of both and am at peace and content in Him.

I'll take Door Number One.

Hands-down.

John 10:10….

I would like to say I prefer a "wild, turbulent life filled with joy, sorrow, passion, and adventure – intoxicating successes and stunning setbacks" kinda life, but to be honest I'm kinda afraid of that life…I'm afraid of the unkown…life is good right now…but I'm also afraid that "a happy, secure, predictable life surrounded by friends and family without such wide swings of fortune and mood" might hinder from great adventures and experiences and growth and all that stuff. I've pretty much had a happy and secure kinda life so far(I'm only 25) so I'm quite keen for wild and unpredictable. I guess the best would be a combination of both.

If I had to pick, it would be number 2. I can find excitement in the routine of a mundane life if I have my God in me and my family with me!

I just want to be sanctified in the end. I just know I'll be so tired then that I'll never be more excited to enter heaven.

Billy,
I would rather live a wild, adventurous, white water rapid ride with God than a sedate, calm canoe trip of predictability….

I head a quote once, "God is unpredictable in what He does but consistent in who He is. The church, on the other hand is predictable but inconsistent…." I'd rather live in the unpredictable if it means the wild adventure of God…