Latest / Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess / Choose Life! | Episode #505

Transcript

Choose Life! | Episode #505 · Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess

0:21
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to today's show, Legacy Living, Make Your
0:27
Speaker 1: Life Count. I'm your host, doctor Gloria. Gloria Burgess, international
0:34
Speaker 1: leadership expert and trusted advisor. Welcome to Legacy Living, Make
0:42
Speaker 1: your Life Count. I am so delighted that you join
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Speaker 1: me today. Our topic is sewing and reaping. So what
0:53
Speaker 1: do we mean by sewing and reaping, Well, it means
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Speaker 1: a lot of different things, but today I want to
1:00
Speaker 1: focus on this one in particular, what we sow we
1:05
Speaker 1: will reap. Now, most of us have heard something like
1:10
Speaker 1: this before, right, we reap what we sow. What we sow,
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Speaker 1: we will reap.
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Speaker 2: So what's my point.
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Speaker 1: It's very simple. Be careful, be very very careful and
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Speaker 1: mindful about what you sow, because whatever seeds we sow,
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Speaker 1: whatever seeds we plant, whatever seeds we cast into the wind,
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Speaker 1: we will reap the harvest of those seeds, those ideas,
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Speaker 1: those thoughts that come into our consciousness and that flow
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Speaker 1: out of our mouth. Now, I'll share more about sowing
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Speaker 1: and reaping in just a few moments. Right now, I
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Speaker 1: want to take just a moment to welcome you. If
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Speaker 1: you're just joining us. I'm your host, doctor Gloria Gloria
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Speaker 1: Burgess and this is legacy living make your life count.
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Speaker 1: I want to extend a very special welcome to those
2:09
Speaker 1: of you who are joining Talk Network Radio for the
2:13
Speaker 1: very first time. You are in for a real treat.
2:17
Speaker 1: I'm excited to have you listening in today, and I'm
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Speaker 1: deeply honored that you've allowed me to be part of
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Speaker 1: your day so you can be inspired by ideas and
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Speaker 1: resources to make your life count. Now, today's program is
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Speaker 1: all about sowing and reaping, and what a perfect topic
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Speaker 1: for today where I live. Gardeners who want to have
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Speaker 1: anything to harvest must.
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Speaker 2: Be very deliberate, very.
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Speaker 1: Intentional about planting seeds at just the right time so
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Speaker 1: those seeds will germinate and grow. Now, in my family,
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Speaker 1: my parents taught me and my sisters to be grateful
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Speaker 1: for the presence, just the simple presence of family. In fact,
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Speaker 1: we thought of family members as a present, as a gift. Now,
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Speaker 1: don't get me wrong, we certainly had our differences. I mean,
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Speaker 1: what family doesn't right, But when we gathered together as
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Speaker 1: a family, we set our differences aside. I'm so grateful
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Speaker 1: that my family had great spiritual wealth. We didn't have
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Speaker 1: much money, but we had a whole lot of honey
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Speaker 1: for one another. So when we gathered around the table
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Speaker 1: for our family meal, we rejoiced in one another. We
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Speaker 1: rejoiced by counting our blessings, and we rejoiced in God,
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Speaker 1: of course, the provider.
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Speaker 2: Of all of our blessings.
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Speaker 1: Just like most things in life, it's important to understand
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Speaker 1: what sewing and reaping is all about. It's important to
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Speaker 1: understand what it is and why it's significant, especially in
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Speaker 1: our gotta have it right here, right now culture.
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Speaker 2: Today, we are.
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Speaker 1: So accustomed, so used to instant. Right, we have to
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Speaker 1: have everything immediately in an instant. We have instant coffee,
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Speaker 1: instant tea, instant soup, instant meals for all kinds of food.
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Speaker 2: Right.
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Speaker 1: You can even order pre order your fast food so
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Speaker 1: it's hot, ready waiting and paid for so you can
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Speaker 1: make it instant get away. We have same day delivery,
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Speaker 1: so you no longer have to wait for several days
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Speaker 1: for standard shipping. We have instant communication, so what you
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Speaker 1: say to a friend or an audience can be streamed live.
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Speaker 1: Everybody has something something that they desire, a dream, a project,
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Speaker 1: a goal. Everybody has something that they want. We all do,
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Speaker 1: So what do you want. Do you want a new job,
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Speaker 1: a new career, better health, more money, more friends. Perhaps
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Speaker 1: you want to change your friends, change who you spend
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Speaker 1: your valuable time with. Maybe you want a better relationship
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Speaker 1: with your husband or wife, or parents, or sister or brother.
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Speaker 1: Or maybe you haven't seen a friend in a long
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Speaker 1: long time and you want to reach out to them.
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Speaker 1: Maybe you want a new car, or a new apartment
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Speaker 1: or a new home. Maybe your kids are grown up
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Speaker 1: and you want to move into a smaller home. Or
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Speaker 1: perhaps you have several small children and you simply want
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Speaker 1: peace of mind, a few hours a day that you
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Speaker 1: can call your own, a few hours a week where you.
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Speaker 2: Can have an adult conversation. Now, what I'm sharing with you.
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Speaker 1: Today is about sowing and reaping, and what I'm sharing
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Speaker 1: will help you understand how to get whatever you happen
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Speaker 1: to want in your life. So, whatever it is you want,
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Speaker 1: it will help you get from where you are now
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Speaker 1: point A, to where you want to go point B.
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Speaker 1: In other words, it will help you get from here
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Speaker 1: to there. Sewing and reaping, you reap what you sow,
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Speaker 1: You get out whatever you put in. Now, you invest
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Speaker 1: so you can earn, You study so you can learn,
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Speaker 1: you manifest the fruits of your labors. You plant trees today,
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Speaker 1: so you will have shade tomorrow. However you say it,
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Speaker 1: however you express it. This is what we call sewing
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Speaker 1: and reaping. Now, did you know that today is the
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Speaker 1: mother of tomorrow? Yes, let me say that again. Today
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Speaker 1: is the mother of tomorrow. In other words, what we
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Speaker 1: think about today, we will give birth to tomorrow, or
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Speaker 1: next week, or next month, or next year or maybe
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Speaker 1: two or five years down the road. How we live
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Speaker 1: today shapes our tomorrow. How we live our life is
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Speaker 1: called personal leadership. Now, if you've been listening to my podcast,
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Speaker 1: or if you've heard me speak before, maybe give a
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Speaker 1: keynote or teach or whatever. Maybe you've read one of
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Speaker 1: my books or taken one of my courses, you've heard
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Speaker 1: me say this before. Personal leadership is all about the
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Speaker 1: choices and decisions you make about your life. Personal leadership
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Speaker 1: is about the choices and decisions you make about everything. Right,
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Speaker 1: So here's what I know. You are what you eat.
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Speaker 1: That's right, You are what you eat. And this applies
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Speaker 1: not only to your physical health, right, it also applies
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Speaker 1: to your choices and decisions. So again, choose and decide wisely,
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Speaker 1: did you know that you are the sum total of
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Speaker 1: what you consume and the people that you hang out with,
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Speaker 1: the people you interact with, the people you spend time with.
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Speaker 1: So again, be mindful, be thoughtful, be choiceful about who
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Speaker 1: and what you listen to, about the books and magazines
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Speaker 1: you read, About what you watch on TV or on
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Speaker 1: the internet or in the movies. Right, be mindful and
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Speaker 1: thoughtful and choiceful about the images and photographs that you
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Speaker 1: have in your home and your office, and about what
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Speaker 1: you post on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or TikTok,
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Speaker 1: right about who and what you allow people to post
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Speaker 1: on your timeline. Be mindful, be thoughtful, and be choiceful
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Speaker 1: about who you spend time with in your personal and
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Speaker 1: your professional life. Who you are in your daily life
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Speaker 1: informs and shapes you as a leader more than any
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Speaker 1: other single factor. Now why is that Because how you
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Speaker 1: live is how you lead. How you live is actually
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Speaker 1: how you do everything, lead, parent, work, community, service, your
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Speaker 1: interactions with family and friends, everything. Now, who you are
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Speaker 1: is comprised of your values, attitudes, and beliefs. Your values, attitudes,
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Speaker 1: and beliefs shape your character, and your character drives your choices,
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Speaker 1: affecting who and what you allow into your field of attention.
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Speaker 1: Your values, attitudes, and beliefs also shape how you lead,
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Speaker 1: not to mention who will follow you, or who will
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Speaker 1: want to reach out to you or to collaborate with you.
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Speaker 1: Sewing and reaping, It's all about the seeds we sow,
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Speaker 1: because what we sow is what we will harvest. Author
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Speaker 1: Annie Dillard reminds us how we spend our days is
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Speaker 1: how we spend our lives. My friend and mentor John
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Speaker 1: Maxwell says it this way. Today matters.
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Speaker 2: You got that.
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Speaker 1: If not, I'll say it again. Grab something to write
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Speaker 1: with and be sure to write this down. Today matters.
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Speaker 1: Two words, two very simple words. Today matters. Those two
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Speaker 1: simple words are powerful words. They are mighty words. I
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Speaker 1: love them. Today matters because when you think about it,
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Speaker 1: that's really what legacy living is all about. It's about
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Speaker 1: living with purpose and intention today so that you have
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Speaker 1: authority over tomorrow. If you want something to happen in
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Speaker 1: your life, you must give out something today. You must
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Speaker 1: put something out there right. You must sow and plant
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Speaker 1: seeds today. If you want to go to college, to
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Speaker 1: build a business, to have better relationships, better health, to
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Speaker 1: have children who grow up to be caring, compassionate, responsible citizens.
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Speaker 1: To have what we want tomorrow, we must be purposeful
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Speaker 1: and intentional about sowing the seeds today so we can
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Speaker 1: reap the harvest of our efforts tomorrow. What we sew
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Speaker 1: we will reap. Living with purpose and intention today assures
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Speaker 1: us that we will have authority and dominion over tomorrow.
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Speaker 1: Who and what we are today is the direct result
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Speaker 1: of who we have been spending time with, what we've
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Speaker 1: been reading, the images that we've allowed into our consciousness,
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Speaker 1: what we've been thinking, what we've been consuming, eating and drinking,
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Speaker 1: and paying attention to, even the those people, those opportunities
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Speaker 1: we have neglected. All of the people in things and
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Speaker 1: events that we have allowed into our life have shaped us.
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Speaker 1: They have formed us into who we are today. If
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Speaker 1: we've made wise choices, wise decisions, lived wisely yesterday, we
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Speaker 1: will reap the fruits of yesterday's labors today, and we
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Speaker 1: will harvest that wisdom to make wise choices and decisions
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Speaker 1: today and in the future. If, for instance, we have
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Speaker 1: invested wisely in our health, our relationships, our finances, we
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Speaker 1: will see the fruits. We will see the benefits the
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Speaker 1: results of those investments today and for months and years
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Speaker 1: to come. How will we know. Well, we will have
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Speaker 1: strong bodies, solid relationships, and a strong sure financial footing,
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Speaker 1: just like the story about the ant and the grasshopper.
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Speaker 1: The folks who invest wisely today will have plenty tomorrow,
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Speaker 1: just like the industrious ant. But if you're careless, if
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Speaker 1: you are reckless, if you are a spendthrift, if you
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Speaker 1: spend everything you have today, or if you're idle and
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Speaker 1: don't do any work, if you don't do anything to
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Speaker 1: store up for the months ahead, you will come up short.
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Speaker 1: Just like the grasshopper. You will have little or nothing
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Speaker 1: in the future. Why, because you reap what you sew.
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Speaker 1: If you sew nothing, you will have nothing to reap.
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Speaker 1: If we do as little as we possibly can to
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Speaker 1: get by, or if we do nothing at all, guess
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Speaker 1: what When tomorrow comes, and it will come, we will
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Speaker 1: have little or nothing because we have made the choice.
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Speaker 1: We have decided not to sew. Therefore we will have
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Speaker 1: nothing to reap. The law of sowing and reaping applies
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Speaker 1: to so many areas of our lives, doesn't it It
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Speaker 1: applies to ourselves. Maybe you're developing a new skill, or
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Speaker 1: new knowledge or new awareness. Maybe you're focused on improving
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Speaker 1: some aspect of your life, your fitness, your finances.
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Speaker 2: Your marriage. It applies to our.
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Speaker 1: Relationships, our relationships with everyone, our spouse, our sisters, our brothers,
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Speaker 1: our parents. Or perhaps you know you're raising young children,
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Speaker 1: or perhaps your children are now grown and you have
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Speaker 1: an empty house or an empty nest. Sowing and reaping
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Speaker 1: applies not only to ourselves and our family life. It
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Speaker 1: also applies to our work, to our teams, our staff,
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Speaker 1: our boss, our board, our organization. Whether you're working as
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Speaker 1: an entrepreneur like me, or you work for a corporation,
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Speaker 1: a nonprofit, the government, an ngo, a school, a church.
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Speaker 1: Maybe you're a project manager, maybe you plan events, conferences, programs.
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Speaker 1: Or perhaps you work in healthcare as a doctor or
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Speaker 1: nurse or a physician's assistant. Maybe you're planning a garden
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Speaker 1: or building a home, or planning a wedding or a
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Speaker 1: bar mitzvah, or maybe you're planning a meal for your family.
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Speaker 1: The law of sewing and reaping applies.
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Speaker 2: Now.
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Speaker 1: I want to take a closer look at sewing and reaping.
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Speaker 1: There's actually a law about reaping, that's right, a law
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Speaker 1: just about the harvest. This law is all about actions
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Speaker 1: and consequences. This law says you harvest what you sew.
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Speaker 1: It also says you harvest what you sow in kind.
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Speaker 1: And this law also says you harvest more than you sow.
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Speaker 2: Okay.
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Speaker 1: So that's what the law of the harvest says. Again,
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Speaker 1: this law is about actions and consequences, about cause and effect.
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Speaker 1: In fact, some folks refer to the law of the
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Speaker 1: reaping the law of the harvest as the law of
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Speaker 1: cause and effect. But I like the law of the
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Speaker 1: harvest because that's from God, and I'm going to use
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Speaker 1: the language from his word, which is all about harvest. Now,
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Speaker 1: there are lots of interpretations, both negative and positive interpretations
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Speaker 1: of this law, so I'm going to focus on the positive, okay.
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Speaker 1: So today will shine the light on the positive interpretations
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Speaker 1: of this important law. This law says that no matter
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Speaker 1: where you live, if you plant seeds in good soil,
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Speaker 1: and if you tend to those seeds with loving care,
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Speaker 1: you can and will have a harvest. But what kind
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Speaker 1: of harvest? Well, that's the question, isn't it. As I
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Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, the law of the harvest says these three things. Now,
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Speaker 1: they sound similar, but they're very different. Okay, So write
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Speaker 1: these down, and then I'm going to say I'm a
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Speaker 1: little bit more about each one of them. The first
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Speaker 1: thing this law says is you harvest what you sew.
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Speaker 1: Number two, you harvest what you sew in kind. And
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Speaker 1: then number three, you harvest more than you sew. So
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Speaker 1: let's look at each of these parts of the law.
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Speaker 1: First of all, you harvest what you sew. Now, this
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Speaker 1: part of the law says that whatever you plant, okay,
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Speaker 1: whatever you put in the ground, whatever you water and nurture,
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Speaker 1: whatever you put out there into the world in terms
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Speaker 1: of your ideas, your books, your teachings, your whatever that
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Speaker 1: happens to be right, building a team, Okay, all of
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Speaker 1: those things that you put out there come back to you.
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Speaker 1: So this is a very basic understanding, a very basic
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Speaker 1: aspect of the law. The second aspect of the law
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Speaker 1: is you harvest what you sew in kind.
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Speaker 2: Okay.
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Speaker 1: Now, this part of the law is more specific. So
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Speaker 1: the first part says that what you plant will come
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Speaker 1: back to you. This part of the law says that
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Speaker 1: not only will it come back to you, but what
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Speaker 1: you sew, what you plant, what you put out there,
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Speaker 1: will come back to you in kind. This simply means
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Speaker 1: that if you want to harvest potatoes, then you plant
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Speaker 1: potato seeds.
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Speaker 2: Right.
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Speaker 1: If you want to harvest pumpkins, then you have to
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Speaker 1: plant pumpkin seeds. If you want love, then you sow
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Speaker 1: the seeds of love. You offer someone a hand, you
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Speaker 1: offer someone the encouragement of your warm smile, or words
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Speaker 1: of edification and upliftment and encouragement. What you put out
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Speaker 1: into the world will come back to you. What you
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Speaker 1: say to a coworker or your child or a team member,
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Speaker 1: or your parent or a friend or a name will
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Speaker 1: come back to you in kind. So you must be deliberate, thoughtful,
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Speaker 1: and intentional about what you put out there because the
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Speaker 1: essence of what you sew will definitely come back to you. Now,
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Speaker 1: listen to me very closely. I want you to hear this.
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Speaker 1: What you put out to a particular person may not
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Speaker 1: come back to you from that person. In fact, it
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Speaker 1: is very likely to come from or through somebody else. Right,
21:40
Speaker 1: And what you put out there may not come back
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Speaker 1: to you today or tomorrow, or the next day, or
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Speaker 1: whenever you might be expecting it. But let me tell
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Speaker 1: you it will come back. It will come back to
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Speaker 1: you in some future time, some future moment, perhaps from
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Speaker 1: a total stranger. And when that harvest of what you
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Speaker 1: put out does come in, because it will come, it
22:08
Speaker 1: will come back to you in kind. Okay, So the
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Speaker 1: essence will come back to you. And the key is
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Speaker 1: to be in tensional. Now, the third aspect of this
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Speaker 1: law is that you harvest more than you sow. This
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Speaker 1: means that your harvest will yield a bigger crop than
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Speaker 1: the number of seeds that you plant.
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Speaker 2: Okay, I'm gonna repeat that.
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Speaker 1: This means that your harvest will yield a bigger crop
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Speaker 1: than the actual number of seeds you plant, the actual
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Speaker 1: number of ideas or words or resources that you sow.
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Speaker 1: For example, if I plan a carrot seed, right, just
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Speaker 1: one little seed, I won't just reap a single carrot, right,
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Speaker 1: I'm gonna have a harvest of a whole bunch of
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Speaker 1: carrots from one tiny little seeds. Now, who knows how
23:17
Speaker 1: many carrots will be in that bunch, but we know
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Speaker 1: it will be much more than a single carrot.
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Speaker 2: Right. If I plant an avocado seed in the.
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Speaker 1: Right soil with the right conditions, and I nurture that
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Speaker 1: avocado seed, or somebody comes behind me and nurtures that seed.
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Speaker 1: Guess what, that one avocado seed will grow into an
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Speaker 1: avocado tree, a tree, and the yield, the production of
23:48
Speaker 1: that avocado tree will be much much more than a
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Speaker 1: single avocado seed.
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Speaker 2: Okay, the seed that I plant it.
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Speaker 1: Now, this is the basic concept in my work with
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Speaker 1: leaders when I sew into them. When I sow into leaders,
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Speaker 1: I'm also sowing into people who sow into other leaders
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Speaker 1: around them. Okay, so that my sowing reaps a harvest
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Speaker 1: in the tens or scores or hundreds or thousands of
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Speaker 1: other leaders that will be impacted. All right, So let's
24:26
Speaker 1: talk about timing. We reap the harvest of what we
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Speaker 1: sow in a different season at a different time, in
24:35
Speaker 1: other words, right than we actually sow in. Other words,
24:40
Speaker 1: if we sow in one season at one time of
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Speaker 1: the year, we will harvest in another season. Sometimes the
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Speaker 1: period between sowing and reaping is huge.
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Speaker 2: It's immense.
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Speaker 1: Sometimes it's very very long. Sometimes it's not so long
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Speaker 1: at all. As my favorite book tells us, there is
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Speaker 1: a time for everything, and a season for every activity
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Speaker 1: under the heavens. A time to be born and a
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Speaker 1: time to die, a time to plant and a time
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Speaker 1: to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal,
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Speaker 1: a time to tear down and a time to build,
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Speaker 1: a time to weep and a time to laugh.
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Speaker 2: So much more.
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Speaker 1: I just love this passage from Ecclesiastes. What Solomon is
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Speaker 1: saying to us is that for everything and anything you
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Speaker 1: can possibly imagine, that you can possibly think of and
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Speaker 1: do in your life, there is a time for it.
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Speaker 2: Right.
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Speaker 1: Farmers know this, gardeners know this, Politicians know this, actors
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Speaker 1: know this, doctors know this, teachers know this, parents know this,
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Speaker 1: children know this.
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Speaker 2: Leaders know this.
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Speaker 1: Everything has its own time, and everything has its own
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Speaker 1: timing or season. So what we sow in one season,
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Speaker 1: we will reap the harvest of that sewing in another season.
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Speaker 1: Years ago, when I was first starting out in my
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Speaker 1: career in IT, I was a project manager and I
26:37
Speaker 1: loved my work. I think I really loved being in
26:40
Speaker 1: charge of people. I just like being in charge. Let's
26:43
Speaker 1: just be clear. So I loved being in charge of people,
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Speaker 1: the process, and I love saying no to the engineers
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Speaker 1: who wanted to add just one more feature to the product.
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Speaker 2: Right. Of course, they would always.
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Speaker 1: Say, we can do this, right, we just need to
27:00
Speaker 1: add a few more people to your team to get
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Speaker 1: it done, or maybe we can increase your budget, give
27:05
Speaker 1: you more money so you can pay the people you
27:07
Speaker 1: already have more, or maybe we can just buy you.
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Speaker 2: More equipment or whatever.
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Speaker 1: Right, And I would commonly listen to their request, then,
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Speaker 1: just as calmly point out that more people would actually
27:21
Speaker 1: add more time because the learning curve was way too steep, Right,
27:27
Speaker 1: And I'd also point out that more money for the
27:30
Speaker 1: people already on the team was not the answer. Most
27:33
Speaker 1: people who work in it are not motivated by money.
27:37
Speaker 1: I mean, we like money, but we're not motivated by money.
27:41
Speaker 1: They're motivated by more interior things like solving complex problems.
27:46
Speaker 2: Right.
27:47
Speaker 1: So I would ultimately pull out my ACE card, Right,
27:52
Speaker 1: and I'd simply say something like, you know, no matter
27:55
Speaker 1: how much money or people or equipment this meant you add,
28:01
Speaker 1: it still will take nine months to have that baby, right, Okay,
28:08
Speaker 1: to produce that product in this case or service or
28:11
Speaker 1: whatever we were working on now. To manifest anything requires
28:15
Speaker 1: time and timing. You sow in one season, you reap
28:22
Speaker 1: in a different season. And that's so true in any
28:26
Speaker 1: aspect of our lives. Dancing visionary and pioneer Martha Graham
28:33
Speaker 1: likens dancing to the art of living, and both, she
28:37
Speaker 1: says require years of practice and development. In her autobiography
28:44
Speaker 1: Blood Memory, Graham points out that we learn to dance
28:49
Speaker 1: by practicing dancing, and we learn to live by practicing living.
28:57
Speaker 1: She says, in dancing and in living, the principles are
29:02
Speaker 1: the same. Each is the performance of a dedicated, precise
29:08
Speaker 1: set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes the
29:13
Speaker 1: shape of achievement, the sense of one's being, the satisfaction
29:19
Speaker 1: of spirit.
29:22
Speaker 2: You know what.
29:24
Speaker 1: For dancing and for living, we learn what we need
29:28
Speaker 1: to know through practice, which requires thousands upon thousands of repetitions.
29:37
Speaker 1: In fact, the thousands of repetitions are the seeds we
29:43
Speaker 1: sew to reap the harvest of becoming a dancer. In
29:50
Speaker 1: daily living, you learn and master walking, talking, and feeding
29:54
Speaker 1: yourself over several years of practice. Right, I mean you
29:59
Speaker 1: learn to by practicing the basics, first learning to crawl
30:04
Speaker 1: or scoot right, and then pushing and pulling into the
30:08
Speaker 1: vertical realm to grasp the eager and encouraging hands of
30:13
Speaker 1: your parents, or your sisters, or your brother, or a table,
30:17
Speaker 1: leg or chair or anything else strong enough to give
30:21
Speaker 1: you the confidence to begin again after the inevitable triumph
30:26
Speaker 1: of gravity over your miniature yet ever aspiring body. Practice
30:33
Speaker 1: is the act of doing something in some aspect of
30:37
Speaker 1: our lives, over and over until the act becomes habit
30:43
Speaker 1: or instinct, so customary, so usual, that it becomes integral,
30:51
Speaker 1: integral to your way of doing whatever you're practicing, and
30:55
Speaker 1: then integral to your way of being, inextricably connecting what
31:02
Speaker 1: you do with who you are. I was just having
31:08
Speaker 1: a conversation the other day with a friend and she said,
31:11
Speaker 1: you know, Gloria, in your writing, you write a lot
31:14
Speaker 1: about gratitude and faithfulness, right, and integrity and creative action
31:21
Speaker 1: and love and vision, And those are the same things
31:27
Speaker 1: we're talking about in terms of practice. Right, we get
31:32
Speaker 1: good at gratitude, We get really good, okay, at loving,
31:37
Speaker 1: We get really really good at being a person of
31:41
Speaker 1: integrity by practicing. Now, dancers learn to dance by practicing
31:48
Speaker 1: the fundamentals of their craft over and over and over
31:52
Speaker 1: again until they can move on to intermediate.
31:56
Speaker 2: And advanced levels. Their training is to designed to.
32:00
Speaker 1: Build strength and shape and hone their bodies, musculature, their reflexes,
32:07
Speaker 1: and memory. I remember because I was a dancer. Now,
32:13
Speaker 1: I didn't train rigorously until I was in junior high school.
32:17
Speaker 1: And I'm telling you, you have to pound a lot
32:20
Speaker 1: of floors. You have to plant a lot of seeds
32:24
Speaker 1: to become a real dancer. Graham estimates that making a
32:29
Speaker 1: mature dancer takes about ten years. This span of a
32:35
Speaker 1: decade in the dancer's training is analogous to the formative
32:40
Speaker 1: years of your life, when you learn the fundamental tasks
32:43
Speaker 1: and assignments of living right, the basic arts of relationship, nourishment, mobility,
32:50
Speaker 1: and possibility. As Graham reminds us, it is no small
32:56
Speaker 1: wonder that dance holds an age allure, for she says,
33:02
Speaker 1: it has been the symbol of the performance of living.
33:10
Speaker 1: I love that in your life's journey or your life's performance,
33:16
Speaker 1: some of the most important questions that you grapple with
33:19
Speaker 1: may be questions about your performance in whatever sphere of
33:23
Speaker 1: life that holds the most prominence for you at the time.
33:27
Speaker 1: It could be questions about your work life, your family life,
33:31
Speaker 1: your faith life. It could be questions about your children,
33:36
Speaker 1: your health, your finances. Host these questions, looking through the
33:42
Speaker 1: lens of the law of harvest, host the questions as
33:47
Speaker 1: you would host a special guest in your home, pay
33:51
Speaker 1: attention but avoid hovering over them. Consider what you would
33:58
Speaker 1: like for your harvest to be. Then think about and
34:02
Speaker 1: be intentional about what seeds you plant, not just here
34:07
Speaker 1: and there, not just with some things in your life,
34:11
Speaker 1: but with everything.
34:12
Speaker 2: In your life.
34:14
Speaker 1: So ask yourself, what do I want? What do I
34:18
Speaker 1: want in my life? A new job, better health, more money,
34:22
Speaker 1: more friends, children who are loving and kind, or maybe
34:26
Speaker 1: for yourself, you want to be more generous or more grateful.
34:29
Speaker 1: Maybe you want to lose weiter, have a better relationship
34:34
Speaker 1: okay with people on your team, people in your household.
34:38
Speaker 1: Or maybe you want to reach out to your dad
34:41
Speaker 1: who you haven't seen or spoken to in twenty years.
34:46
Speaker 1: Maybe you want to learn a new skill or a
34:48
Speaker 1: new language. Maybe you have several small children under the
34:54
Speaker 1: age of seven, and you simply want a quiet day,
34:58
Speaker 1: a quiet afternoon. Hey, just a few hours that you
35:01
Speaker 1: can call your own, A few hours a week where
35:05
Speaker 1: you can have an adult conversation. What I'm sharing with
35:11
Speaker 1: you today about the law of the harvest will help
35:15
Speaker 1: you understand how to get whatever you want.
35:18
Speaker 2: In your life.
35:19
Speaker 1: Again, if you want to get from point A to
35:21
Speaker 1: point B. It will help you get from wherever you
35:26
Speaker 1: are now to where you want to be. If you
35:29
Speaker 1: want any of those things that I just mentioned, remember
35:33
Speaker 1: that what you want does not just happen overnight. If
35:38
Speaker 1: you want a deep friendship, you've got to sew into
35:40
Speaker 1: that relationship.
35:41
Speaker 2: Right.
35:42
Speaker 1: If you want to lose twenty pounds to fit into
35:44
Speaker 1: that suit or tuxedo or your beautiful dress for that
35:48
Speaker 1: special party, you've got to change your eating habits today,
35:52
Speaker 1: probably yesterday for most of us. Right, You've got to
35:55
Speaker 1: start walking or jogging or running or swimming or you know,
35:58
Speaker 1: getting on your elliptic.
36:00
Speaker 2: Right.
36:01
Speaker 1: If you want to publish a book twelve months from now,
36:04
Speaker 1: you've got to start writing those pages today, and you
36:08
Speaker 1: got to keep at it tomorrow and the day after
36:11
Speaker 1: and the day after that. Okay, again, we're talking about
36:14
Speaker 1: sewing and reaping right now. Years ago I read a
36:18
Speaker 1: book by Anne Lamont, one of my favorite writers. The
36:22
Speaker 1: book is called Bird by Bird. I pulled it off
36:24
Speaker 1: the shelf because I was intrigued by the title. Now,
36:28
Speaker 1: the title actually comes from a story about her younger brother.
36:32
Speaker 1: It seems that her younger brother had a knack for procrastinating,
36:36
Speaker 1: for putting things off, especially his homework. Her brother had
36:41
Speaker 1: an assignment to write a paper about birds, and he
36:44
Speaker 1: put it off and put it off until the day
36:47
Speaker 1: before the paper was due.
36:49
Speaker 2: Yikes.
36:50
Speaker 1: Well, now he was in a jam. So her little
36:53
Speaker 1: brother asked their dad for help since he was kind
36:56
Speaker 1: of short on time right now. Aware of his pre dicament,
37:00
Speaker 1: the dad told the little boy that his homework.
37:04
Speaker 2: Was his to do.
37:06
Speaker 1: Well, the son pleaded with his dad and asked him
37:09
Speaker 1: how he was ever going to complete his homework assignment
37:12
Speaker 1: since it was already late and it was due the
37:15
Speaker 1: next day. Well, the dad looked lovingly at his little
37:19
Speaker 1: son and he said, son, you will write and complete
37:25
Speaker 1: your paper, how.
37:28
Speaker 2: Bird by bird.
37:32
Speaker 1: Now a lot of us are like that, aren't we.
37:34
Speaker 1: We want what we want, and we want it yesterday,
37:38
Speaker 1: we want it overnight right, and oftentimes we want it
37:42
Speaker 1: without having to put in a whole lot of work,
37:44
Speaker 1: a whole lot of effort, and truth be told, sometimes
37:47
Speaker 1: we want what we want with no effort at all
37:51
Speaker 1: on our part. Now people come up to me all
37:54
Speaker 1: the time and they say, you know, doctor Gloria, I
37:56
Speaker 1: want to do what you do. I want to write
37:58
Speaker 1: a book, I want to tea which I want to coach. Oh,
38:01
Speaker 1: I want to be a speaker. I want to start
38:03
Speaker 1: my own business. Can you just tell me how you
38:05
Speaker 1: did it? In other words, they want what I have,
38:10
Speaker 1: but most of them don't want to put in the
38:12
Speaker 1: time I put in to get from here to there.
38:16
Speaker 1: They want the results, but they don't want the work right.
38:21
Speaker 1: They want the harvest, but they don't want to go
38:24
Speaker 1: through the process. They don't want to do what's necessary
38:30
Speaker 1: in seeding and sewing and watering and nurturing and turning
38:36
Speaker 1: over the soil and going back again and checking and
38:40
Speaker 1: watering over and over again. Now, how many of you
38:46
Speaker 1: know that if you want to improve your serve in tennis,
38:51
Speaker 1: or your pitch and baseball, or your golf swing, you
38:55
Speaker 1: cannot improve your game overnight.
38:58
Speaker 2: Right.
38:58
Speaker 1: If you have a two two point five grade point average,
39:02
Speaker 1: you can't slough off all year long and then wait
39:05
Speaker 1: until the very last week of school and write one
39:08
Speaker 1: bang up paper to bump your GPA up to four
39:11
Speaker 1: point zero.
39:12
Speaker 2: Right.
39:13
Speaker 1: If you want to fit into that lovely, you know
39:16
Speaker 1: swimsuit you have when it's time to hit the beach,
39:20
Speaker 1: you are going to have to begin to tone and
39:22
Speaker 1: maybe shed a few pounds weeks, if not months, before
39:27
Speaker 1: beach season arrives. Now, a lot of us love to
39:31
Speaker 1: make New Year's resolutions, right, and most of us love
39:35
Speaker 1: making those special promises. We all want to change our life,
39:38
Speaker 1: or kick some kind of habit, or achieve some kind.
39:41
Speaker 2: Of goal in our life.
39:44
Speaker 1: Now, most of you know that New year's resolutions fizzle
39:47
Speaker 1: out after about.
39:48
Speaker 2: Three or four weeks.
39:50
Speaker 1: Right, Why do we begin with a bang and end
39:54
Speaker 1: with a bust? We begin with lots of gusto and
39:58
Speaker 1: energy and effort. Then over time we lose sight of
40:00
Speaker 1: our goal, we lose interest, or we don't see immediate results,
40:06
Speaker 1: or something else comes along to compete for that time.
40:10
Speaker 1: And gradually, bit by bit we began to slack off,
40:15
Speaker 1: and before you know it, we aren't putting in the
40:18
Speaker 1: time or the effort anymore. No effort, no results, right,
40:24
Speaker 1: or we get results, but not the ones we want
40:27
Speaker 1: right now. Health clubs know this better than anybody. They
40:30
Speaker 1: get their biggest spike in sales right after the New year.
40:34
Speaker 1: That's reaping. And guess what you are the harvest.
40:39
Speaker 2: Now?
40:40
Speaker 1: I sing in my church choir and to prepare for
40:43
Speaker 1: special concerts like special holidays, you know, like Christmas, we
40:48
Speaker 1: actually start preparing many many months in advance. I mean,
40:52
Speaker 1: people come from miles around, those who go to the church,
40:55
Speaker 1: those who don't go to the church. They love Christmas
40:59
Speaker 1: and they love Christmas music. Some of these folks may
41:03
Speaker 1: only come to church once a year just to hear
41:07
Speaker 1: that beautiful Christmas music. Right, So the folks in our
41:11
Speaker 1: worship ministry prepare our hearts out. The choir and the
41:15
Speaker 1: orchestra begin preparing for these Christmas concerts before summer is
41:20
Speaker 1: even over. And get this, the choir and orchestra directors
41:25
Speaker 1: actually begin listening to new Christmas music way back in
41:28
Speaker 1: the spring so that they can order music and be
41:31
Speaker 1: ready to rehearse that music when late summer arrives, so
41:36
Speaker 1: that when December comes, we can pour our hearts and
41:40
Speaker 1: souls into singing and playing those exquisitely beautiful Christmas.
41:46
Speaker 2: Songs that everybody loves to hear.
41:50
Speaker 1: You reap what you sew. We all know the saying
41:56
Speaker 1: that Rome wasn't built in a day, or big oaks
42:02
Speaker 1: from little acorns, grow or train up your child in
42:07
Speaker 1: the way he should grow, and when he is old,
42:10
Speaker 1: he will not depart from it. However, you say it,
42:14
Speaker 1: however you express it. Today is the mother of tomorrow,
42:19
Speaker 1: and it's all about the law of the harvest. If
42:25
Speaker 1: you've been listening to this podcast, or if you've heard
42:28
Speaker 1: me speak before, or if you've read any of my
42:31
Speaker 1: books or taken any of my courses, you've heard me
42:34
Speaker 1: say this before. If you want authority over tomorrow, you
42:38
Speaker 1: must live with intention today. Why what we think about
42:43
Speaker 1: today we will give birth to tomorrow or next week,
42:48
Speaker 1: or next month or next year. How we live today
42:53
Speaker 1: shapes our tomorrow. So, as I mentioned earlier in the show,
42:59
Speaker 1: be mind be thoughtful, Be choiceful about who and what
43:04
Speaker 1: you listen to, about the books and magazines you read,
43:08
Speaker 1: about what you watch on TV or the internet. Be mindful,
43:13
Speaker 1: be thoughtful, Be choiceful about the images and photographs you
43:18
Speaker 1: have in your home and in your office, and what
43:21
Speaker 1: you post on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, and about
43:27
Speaker 1: what and who you allow to post on your timeline.
43:32
Speaker 1: Be mindful, thoughtful, and choiceful about who you spend time
43:36
Speaker 1: with in your personal and professional life, because who you
43:41
Speaker 1: are in your daily life informs and shapes who you
43:45
Speaker 1: are as a leader more than any other single factor.
43:50
Speaker 1: How you live is how you lead. It's how you
43:54
Speaker 1: do everything. So we are talking about the law the
43:59
Speaker 1: harvest specifically, and sowing and reaping all right. So if
44:05
Speaker 1: you want something to happen in your life, you must
44:07
Speaker 1: give something today. You must sow and plant seeds today.
44:13
Speaker 1: I want a beautiful backyard next spring, which means I
44:17
Speaker 1: must prune my roses in early and late fall. It
44:21
Speaker 1: also means in early spring I need to feed them
44:25
Speaker 1: right so that they will come back more vibrant, more
44:29
Speaker 1: robust than ever.
44:31
Speaker 2: Right now.
44:32
Speaker 1: If I want a beautiful yard next spring, I have
44:35
Speaker 1: to rake and pick up the last of the fallen
44:38
Speaker 1: leaves so that the plants beneath them won't be smothered
44:42
Speaker 1: by the load. It means I have to put parts
44:44
Speaker 1: of the garden to rest so that next spring, tender
44:48
Speaker 1: shoots will push forth from the earth. Who we are
44:53
Speaker 1: today is a result of tending to the garden of
44:59
Speaker 1: who we are, of who we spend our time with,
45:06
Speaker 1: what we spend our time reading, watching, eating, the images
45:12
Speaker 1: that we allow into our consciousness, what we think right,
45:15
Speaker 1: All the things and people that we've been paying attention to,
45:20
Speaker 1: that we've been consuming and processing and metabolizing. We are
45:24
Speaker 1: the result of the people and opportunities that we have
45:29
Speaker 1: neglected as well. So all the people, all the things,
45:33
Speaker 1: all the circumstances that we have allowed into our life
45:37
Speaker 1: or not, all of those people, moments, events have shaped
45:43
Speaker 1: us have formed us into who we are today. All right, Okay,
45:53
Speaker 1: Our topic today has been sowing and reaping, and we
45:58
Speaker 1: now know that anything you want to harvest, you must
46:02
Speaker 1: be very intentional about planting seeds for that harvest at
46:08
Speaker 1: the right time so that those seeds will germinate and grow.
46:14
Speaker 1: Every day matters. So if you want to make a
46:19
Speaker 1: difference in your life, remember this. How you live is
46:24
Speaker 1: how you lead. And be sure to listen to this
46:28
Speaker 1: show again and again, and be sure to tell somebody.
46:32
Speaker 1: You can find me right here every single week on iTunes, Audible, Alexa, SoundCloud, iHeart,
46:42
Speaker 1: tune in, spreaker, dot Com, Talk Network Radio, and SEW
46:47
Speaker 1: many other places. Now, if you happen to miss any
46:52
Speaker 1: part of this week's show or last week's, you can
46:55
Speaker 1: simply download the recording and listen to it at your convenience.
46:59
Speaker 1: You can even listen on the go. Check us out
47:03
Speaker 1: at www. Dot talknetwork Radio dot com. Forward Slash hosts
47:11
Speaker 1: Forward Slash Legacy Living. That's Talknetwork Radio dot com Forward
47:18
Speaker 1: Slash Hosts Forward slash Legacy Living. You can learn more
47:23
Speaker 1: about my work and Legacy Living make your life count
47:27
Speaker 1: by visiting the Gloria Burgess website. And as I've mentioned before,
47:32
Speaker 1: if you love to be inspired, you can actually subscribe
47:35
Speaker 1: to my inspirations right on my website. Just scroll down
47:39
Speaker 1: a little bit look on the right sidebar until you
47:43
Speaker 1: see the place to add your email address to subscribe
47:47
Speaker 1: to my weekly inspirations. It's that simple. Each week you
47:51
Speaker 1: get a lovely photograph and a short quotation that inspires you.
47:56
Speaker 1: Or by visiting me on LinkedIn or Facebook. And you
48:00
Speaker 1: can find me on Facebook by going to Facebook dot
48:03
Speaker 1: com Forward slash dr dr for doctor Gloria Burgess, PhD. Again,
48:11
Speaker 1: that's Facebook dot com Forward slash Dr Gloria Burgess, PhD.
48:18
Speaker 2: You can also.
48:19
Speaker 1: Find me on the TEDx site and listen to one
48:21
Speaker 1: of my ted talks. Just type in my name to
48:25
Speaker 1: find me there. Before I close today's show, I want
48:31
Speaker 1: to thank each of you for tuning in for allowing
48:33
Speaker 1: me to share a bit about my journey with what
48:36
Speaker 1: Legacy Living is all about, not just living and learning,
48:40
Speaker 1: but living and learning and serving so that you make
48:44
Speaker 1: a difference in your own life and in the lives
48:47
Speaker 1: of others. It's about being on purpose every single day.
48:52
Speaker 1: Three sixty five twenty four seven. Legacy Living is a
48:57
Speaker 1: powerful way to make your life count. Once again, I
49:03
Speaker 1: want to thank you for joining me for today's podcast.
49:07
Speaker 1: I'm your host, doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess, and this is
49:12
Speaker 1: Legacy Living. Make your life count. Please join me again
49:18
Speaker 1: next time right here for another show of legacy living.
49:24
Speaker 1: Make your life count. Don't just count the days in
49:29
Speaker 1: your life. Make the days in your life count. That's
49:34
Speaker 1: what legacy living is all about. Have a fantastic day,
49:39
Speaker 1: and remember make the days of your life count. God
49:45
Speaker 1: bless that's our show today. I'm your host, doctor Gloria
50:03
Speaker 1: Gloria Burgess.
50:05
Speaker 2: I hope you'll join me again next time.
50:08
Speaker 1: Until then, don't just count the days in your life.
50:12
Speaker 1: Make the days in your life count. That's what legacy
50:16
Speaker 1: living is all about. Here's to you have a fantastic
50:21
Speaker 1: day and be sure to make it a yes kind
50:24
Speaker 1: of day. Remember to celebrate the music of your life.
50:32
Speaker 1: Make the days in your life count.