Episode 135

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Published on:

13th Jul 2026

135. IS IT CREATION OR REACTION? SAME LETTERS- DIFFERENT DAY

Do you ever find yourself flying by the seat of your pants? Is that a super power or is it really sabotaging your day? in this episode Judy shares how to change reaction into creation, same letters, just arranged differently can make all the difference.

Transcript
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Welcome, friends, to the Create a

Spiritual Journey podcast, where Ghia and

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I walk with you for just a moment on this

journey and share with you the things

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of our hearts, the blessings and the

lessons that we're learning along the way.

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What do you think of

that opening music today?

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It is titled Hope for Change,

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that's what I hope you find here on

the Creative Spiritual Journey podcast.

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Inspiration to help you

become better every day

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Today's episode is called

Is It Creation or Reaction?

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Creation and reaction

use the same letters.

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They're only arranged differently.

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But the difference is huge

depending on how you see it,

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As in where are you placing

the letter C in this word?

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The beginning or in the middle

starting with the C in the beginning

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of setting your course for the day

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That is creation

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Versus trying to adjust with

the C in the middle of it

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while you're facing the storms.

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That is reaction I first discovered this

concept by listening to the Catching

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Sunshine podcast with Carolyn Cooper.

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I find her so delightful and inspiring.

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In her introduction of her podcast, she

calls herself a a fellow possibilitarian.

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Oh, don't you love that?

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Anyway, when I listened to the

episode Creation or Reaction: Same

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Letters, Different Life, it was more

than a light bulb or aha moment.

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It was a shaking me awake

to the remembrance of who

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I used to be, a creator.

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And it has reverberated through

my soul like a gong so…

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I couldn't wait to share it with you.

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So here I am sitting before the mic,

I like to envision you, my sisters,

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my friends, and fellow travelers.

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one of my fellow possibilitarians

and hopefully a stranger who

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someone has shared the Create a

Spiritual Journey podcast with

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you, and now we're new friends.

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Welcome.

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Thank you for joining

m-me on the journey today.

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So creation.

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Versus reaction

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So the reason when I listened to the

Catching Sunshine podcast awakened

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something within me is because I

lately have find myself saying that

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my MO, my mode of operation, is flying

by the seat of my pants, putting out

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fires, and being able to roll with

it, and I call this my superpower.

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But when the day is done and I've

gone nonstop and I'm exhausted, I look

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back and I think, "What did I create?"

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And I feel like I have been

in reaction mode all day.

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I used to have habit trackers, and I

have a, creation coach certification.

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I understand the law of creation,

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So how is it that I've moved so far

off course that now I find myself

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more times in reaction than creation?

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And just how is it that I have come

to be comfortable in the mode of

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flying by the seat of my pants?

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But I discovered something really fun

that the phrase flying by the seat

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of your pants means to do or take

an action without a plan, to go by

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feel, to make decisions in the moment.

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And this phrase dates back to the

early years of aviation, where

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airplanes had few navigational

aids and flight control systems.

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The pilot, he had to rely greatly

upon his own senses to gauge the

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plane's position, performance,

and to find their way, basically.

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They flew by experience,

intuition, and feel.

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So that doesn't sound so bad, does it?

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With the seat being the largest point

of contact between the pilot and the

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plane, it was the seat of his pants

that the pilot could feel how the

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airplane was reacting to his controls

and how well the engine was operating.

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Can you think of a time you were

flying by the seat of your pants?

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Like I said, this can be a superpower,

but not if we are in reaction mode.

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So this got me to thinking,

what navigational tools

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have I forgotten about?"

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I've always believed that our days

begin the night before with a plan.

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We learn from the creation of the

Earth, that, God, divided the light

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from the darkness, God, called the light

day and the darkness I called night.

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and the evening and the morning were

the first day and the evening and

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the morning were the second day,

and the evening and the morning

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were the fourth day," and so on.

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So we see that if we wanna be a

creator like God the Father, it

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needs to begin in the evening before

the morning to be in creation mode,

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not reaction mode Do you do this?

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Do you plan for the next

day the night before?

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It's a great habit to get into.

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I have always believed that being flexible

is a gift, of equanimity that helps us

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remain calm, just like the pilots had to

with no options but to fly by intuition.

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We become flexible.

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We can handle things.

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We can respond quickly.

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But there is a difference between

a healthy response and a reaction

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response of being swept along

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Reaction sounds like,

I'll just see how it goes.

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I'll deal with it when it happens.

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I roll with it.

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That's just how it is.

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It's my mode of operation."

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And you wake up and immediately

connecting to the voices

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of the world instead of the

voices and the words of God.

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And rearrange your priorities

based on what feels urgent

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instead of what feels important?

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And by the end of the day, you've done

a lot of wondering what the heck just

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happened, and you didn't necessarily

create anything that was truly yours.

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But Creation mode feels different.

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Creation sounds like, "Here's

what matters to me today.

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Here's how I want to show up.

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Here's what I'm building this week.

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Here's how I'm going to serve

and minister to others."

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It doesn't mean your day goes perfectly.

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It doesn't mean nothing

unexpected happens.

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It means you've decided in

advance who you are going to be.

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You've thought about how you want

to show up and handle stress, how

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you want to respond to conflict,

and what you're saying yes to.

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Also, what you're gonna say no to.

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Can you do that?

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That one's a…

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That one's tricky for me.

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And when sometimes unexpected shows up,

you respond from intention We've decided

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what kind of week we're gonna create and

how we're gonna respond to those storms.

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This is creation mode

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there's a simple question you can ask

yourself: is it creation or reaction?

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The more you stop and think about this

and practice the shift, the better you'll

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become at making those adjustments.

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Let me ask you what I had to ask myself,

and dive deep to answer honestly,

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what or who is flying this plane?

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And is there some navigational

tools you can install in your life?

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A habit tracker that you can return

and report to at the end of your day.

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Some kind of calendar that in

the evening you can plan out

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what is coming the next day.

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An accountability friend, a workout buddy.

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Do you actually have a planning day?

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a day set aside each week.

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I do Fridays where I plan change is

possible, but it's going to take practice.

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So does learning to fly or any new habit.

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Patience, persistence, and of course,

practice and give yourself grace

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There is a quote that I love by a personal

growth guru named Steve Chandler who says,

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"You create your own plans in advance

so that your life will respond to you."

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Now that sounds delightful, doesn't it?

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So your life will respond to you instead

of you constantly responding to your

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life, when your calendar is pre-decided.

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You don't waste willpower

choosing what to do all day long.

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When deep work is blocked, you don't

waste energy re-resisting distractions.

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When fires have a designated time

to deal with, you don't waste

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cortisol preventing fires all day.

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You're not in reaction mode all day.

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You're just executing what you

already choose to create, and this

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works in everything in our lives.

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You wanna eat healthy?

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Don't rely upon willpower at

8:00 PM when you're tired.

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Meal prep on Saturday and remove

junk food from your house.

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Make the wrong choice

harder than the right one.

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Want to save money or pay tithing?

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Don't trust yourself

to remember each month.

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Auto-transfer into savings and pay your

tithing first the day you get paid.

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You can't spend what you never see.

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And if you want to return to being a

creator, painting or sewing, gardening,

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stop relying on finding the time.

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Block it out.

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Let's say maybe a Tuesday

and Thursday, twelve to four.

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Make this time sacred.

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Make it automatic.

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The pattern is always the same.

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Do the thinking once, then stop

thinking or set up a creation

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plan and stop reaction mode.

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Because here's what we're really

doing when we wake up without a plan.

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We're asking your tired self to make

decisions your rested sel-self could

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have made already the night before.

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That's not creation.

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That's reaction.

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That's sabotaging your day.

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So here's what I've

chosen to change my MO to.

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See what you think about this.

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Number one, identify One behavior

you're currently finding yourself

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flying by the seat of your pants.

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Is it healthy eating, working

out, lacking deep work, whatever?

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Name it to change it.

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Number two, ask,

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What decision am I making

repeatedly that I could make once?"

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Create your own plans.

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Don't let the storms dictate your day.

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My daughter calls these

the non-negotiables.

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What are your non-negotiables?

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And number three, create

a navigational system.

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If it's eating, meal prep on

Saturdays and stop buying the

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treats you're trying to avoid.

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If it's working out, block your calendar,

find a workout buddy, prepare your

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water bottle and all the things that

you're gonna need the night before.

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And if it's deep creative work,

block out your calendar before

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anyone else can light a fire.

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Unplug yourself from social media.

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This is a big one for me.

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Close the door, create a no-phone zone.

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I dare you to have that courage.

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It always boggles my mind that I lived

almost 50 years without a cellphone,

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and suddenly, one day is rough.

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Number four, remove the escape hatch.

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Make the wrong choice

harder than the right one.

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Where are you confusing your superpower

of flexibility with real creation?

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Because here's the truth

that you need to hear.

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This is the truth I needed to hear.

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We are created in the image of the

greatest creator, God the Father,

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and we are sent here to fulfill the

measure of our creation, and that is

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to become like the Savior, a faithful

steward of our time and our talents,

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so you can learn how to navigate your

way back home to your heavenly home.

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Stop wondering what happened to your

day, what did I create of worth?

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Think of one simple step to begin

turning your reaction MO into creation

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MO, and let your life respond to you.

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Is it gonna be smooth sailing?

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Absolutely not.

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This is a process.

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This life is a test.

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It is a journey, and journeys are

not easy, but it can be joy-filled.

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And sure, we'll have those days

where we will find ourselves doing

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loop-de-loos and enjoying some recreation.

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You get that?

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It's creation with a couple added R and

E, which I'm gonna call rest and enjoy.

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Even God created a day of rest, and

Christ took some time to rest and enjoy.

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So plan the re, the recreation

in your life, and sometimes just

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color outside the lines or skip

or do cartwheels down the path.

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Okay, remember to ask yourself,

Is it creation or reaction?

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. Oh, hey, can you hear it?

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There's that song again, Hope for Change.

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It's up to you, my friends

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Change comes one day at a

time, one small step at a time

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And remember, you are a creator,

So go create something beautiful

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and great in your day today,

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and I will see you on the trail.

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About the Podcast

Creative Spiritual Journey
one small, deliberate step at a time
We are all on a journey—a journey home to our heavenly parents. Any experienced traveler knows there are days you laugh and days you cry.

We aren’t here to tell you how to live—we are here to share how we live—how we survive, thrive, and even find joy!

The journey gets messy with rainstorms and sleepless flights but the hard times—the miserable times—those make the best stories.

And the vistas, the sunsets, the little birds outside the window—those are the reminders that God is in the details, he is aware of us, he has trod the path before.

The Creative Spiritual Journey Podcast is hosted by Judy and Ghia Cooley—two sisters in their wisdom years—who love the savior and are dedicated to making this journey one small, deliberate step at a time.

Join us!

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