In many ways, life can be like a fancy car or a swanky house where there is outside beauty but there is also the question of inside substance. Have you ever met someone that is incredibly good looking and well dressed but as soon as they open their mouth, you realize there is nothing behind the curtain? Similarly, it is like when you peel the Formica or veneer off a table you can clearly see what underneath it is. See what it is made of.

Recently I met a guy at a hotel conference, and he stood out with that look that said, “I have a double masters from Harvard.” Good looking kid with handmade English shoes, five-thousand-dollar suite and more gel in his hair than a John Deere tractor. The problem was that when he started talking, he was a doofus.

Take British vehicles for example. Range Rover, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Bentley etc. are the most beautiful vehicles in the world but you better be prepared for at least two trips a month (at least) to the repair mechanic. See, they look fantastic on the outside but lack mechanical reliability on the inside.

Ok, enough examples. The point I am making is, choose to be better on the inside that you are on the outside. When you get dressed in the morning, take a little time away from the hour you use fixing the outside and prepare yourself on the inside. Read a passage of scripture and have a quiet time with God and ask him for wisdom, anointing and his favor for that day. Fix up the inside before you fix up the outside. Then unlike my Harvard grad (mentioned above) you will have the calmness of spirit, understanding heart and the clearness of mind so that when you do speak, your inside (what you say) will be better than how you look on the outside. KT

Let me give you a silly example of what I am talking about. Let’s say you are a skinny, weak, young man at the beach with your girl friend and a big strong guy comes and steels your girlfriend away. That is not the time to go get your barbells out of your car and start working out to get strong. Ha

I know this is a silly example, but my point is that we shouldn’t wait until there is trouble with our marriage, finances, relationships, jobs, health, etc. to start fixing the problem. It is better if you prepare in advance for the problem so when and if it happens, you are ready.

Many people can see a storm (literal) from a long way away and get prepared but in some of life’s most important situations, that same person will see the storm and dismiss it and just hope it passes by. Then they get upset to find themselves getting rained on simply because they refused to do anything about it in advance.

I find in life, there are very few (even though we won’t admit it) situations that catch us completely by surprise. Most times we have already thought about and have chosen to dismiss it and hope it will just blow over.

So, some metaphoric advice to be applied to the important areas of life. if you are a slightly ugly, knock kneed, 135 lbs., bone skinny dude that has a pretty girl friend, don’t take her to the beach. Ha. KT

The term, routine day, sounds terrible, right? Well, I believe we need to look at this term and what it means a little closer.

A routine day is one in which you basically do the same kind of things you usually do. No events, no excitement, no variations, nothing different and nothing special. Just a normal day in your life. I am not saying a routine life should always be our goal. We all need some change, variation and adjustment ever now and again. What I am saying is to not always have the need for change. Sometimes going about a daily routine is a good thing.

In life, there are times we don’t appreciate what we have until we lose it. Sometimes we don’t know how blessed we are until an event or a conversation happens that changes everything. If you received a bad diagnosis from your doctor, would you want to get back to a normal uneventful routine day? Sure, you would. If you had an unplanned job change or a loss in an investment or a family member passed unexpectedly, would you long to have back that routine day? Therefore, take an inventory today of your blessings and yes, you may be changing diapers, washing clothes, making sales calls or just simply doing the same thing you did last week but sometimes understanding how quick things can change helps us appreciate what we already have.

I sell hotels and I thought this morning, how many times I have traveled to a city to sell a hotel and it is probably thousands. There will be a day, sooner rather than later, where this part of my life is over, and I won’t be able to do what I currently do for a living. Life seems to go by quicker than you think. If you are a young mother who is sleepy from being up last night or a young father searching for significance, as hard as it may seem, embrace these moments because they will not last. One day, you will long for and wish you could have just a normal, routine day. KT