{"id":530,"date":"2020-08-20T16:43:59","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T16:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/?p=530"},"modified":"2020-08-20T19:35:59","modified_gmt":"2020-08-20T19:35:59","slug":"your-gift-of-1440","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/20\/your-gift-of-1440\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Gift of 1,440"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>\n\t\tYour Gift of 1,440\n\t<\/h2>\n<h4>\n\t\tMarti Wibbels, MS, LMHC\n\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Time1440.png\" alt=\"Time1440\" itemprop=\"image\" height=\"319\" width=\"589\" title=\"Time1440\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\"  \/>\n\t<p>Today, imagine receiving official notice explaining you\u2019ve qualified for a <em>daily<\/em> gift of $1,440! (Would you be excited?) Reading the fine print, you see there\u2019s only one catch: you have to find a way to spend every cent of your gift the day it arrives. Could you find ways to spend or invest a daily cash infusion of $1,440?<\/p>\n<p>The good news is this: every day, you already receive 1,440\u2014not in dollars but irretrievable minutes, worth more than money. 24 hours each day, 60 minutes per hour, you\u2019re given this incredible 1,440 gift. Unlike the imaginary cash gift, this treasure is real. And how you spend each day\u2019s 1,440 minutes will determine whether your investment matters or vanishes at the end of the day.<\/p>\n<p>Many are referring to the consequences of the COVID crisis as our \u201cnew normal.\u201d If we accept chaos and confusion as \u201cnormal,\u201d it\u2019s easy to let our days vanish in insignificance. Instead, despite all of the changes in our lives, we can choose to make each day matter\u2014after all, \u201cnormal,\u201d as Patsy Clairmont explains, &#8220;is only a setting on a dryer.\u201d So how can we <em>invest<\/em> our daily 1,440 in healthy ways?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Plan to succeed.<\/strong> Many of our schedules have changed; some have changed radically. Instead of giving in to the FUD trifecta of fear, uncertainty, or doubt, choose things you <em>can <\/em>do today. Could you listen to a podcast or TED talk you didn\u2019t have time to check out before? Can you read books or teach your children a game or skill they\u2019d enjoy? If you need a job, prayerfully write down all the things you <em>can<\/em> do, looking beyond what you\u2019ve done. Then, fine tune your resume, asking God to help you discover a job that incorporates your skill set. Ask friends for ideas.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be intentional.<\/strong> Instead of letting your day\u2019s 1,440 \u201cevaporate\u201d into oblivion, wisely choose how you invest your time. Make a schedule that accommodates your new situation. For many, that means adding to their daily time of prayer and studying God\u2019s Word, taking time to exercise, reading books you\u2019ve wanted to read. A new schedule could also include specific times of listening to Christian radio programs, taking online courses, and helping others. There are limitless options\u2014taking food to people who are out of work, helping a neighbor with yard work, making a phone call to a lonely friend, writing a note to encourage someone.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Focus on the positive.<\/strong> The direction we look is where we\u2019ll eventually end up going. The first of over 500 Bible verses mentioning \u201ceyes\u201d is Genesis 3:5, when Adam and Eve changed their focus from their Creator to Satan, disguised as a serpent. He promised, <em>For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened<\/em>. Their eyes <em>were<\/em> opened\u2014but not in a good way. Instead of becoming wise, they were immediately entrapped by a lie. It didn\u2019t seem like looking away from God and focusing on the dazzling serpent could harm them (or their descendants). But the damage was so pervasive it took God\u2019s Son dying on a Cross to reverse it. And where we look today is just as important as where they looked then.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Try this simple experiment:<\/strong> using a tiny a piece of paper (about \u00bd\u201d square), hold it a few inches from your eyes and focus only on that little piece of paper. What do you see? [Not much, right?] Your vision is limited by where you focus. Now, holding that same piece of paper, hold it about a foot from you. Be aware it\u2019s there, but look beyond it, away from it, anywhere else\u2026and you see other things, right? <\/p>\n<p><strong>We can either focus on current problems and concerns <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>OR<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>we can focus on the God who loves us and promises to care for us. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Paul talks about this in Romans and Colossians:<\/p>\n<p><em>With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don\u2019t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity<\/em> (Romans 12:1-2, Phillips).<\/p>\n<p><em>Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Don\u2019t forget to pray for us, that God will open doors for telling the mystery of Christ, even while I\u2019m locked up in this jail. Pray that every time I open my mouth I\u2019ll be able to make Christ plain as day to them. <\/em><em>Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don\u2019t miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out<\/em> (Colossians 4:2-6, MSG).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Focusing on God\u2019s provision can help all of us <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>wisely enjoy today\u2019s gift of 1,440 minutes!<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UChqq5awNXCYgoJHfUXLK9qw\" title=\"Subscribe on YouTube\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\n\t\tSubscribe on YouTube\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/h2>\n\t<p> \u00a9 2019 Marti Wibbels | website loved on by <a href=\"http:\/\/agencyo.co\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Agency O<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Your Gift of 1,440 Marti Wibbels, MS, LMHC Today, imagine receiving official notice explaining you\u2019ve qualified for a daily gift of $1,440! (Would you be excited?) Reading the fine print, you see there\u2019s only one catch: you have to find a way to spend every cent of your gift the day it arrives. Could you&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"tpl-full-width.php","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":534,"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions\/534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corehealingfromtrauma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}