Our Life Today

Each Day is a new beginning.

Dream about tomorrow, treasure yesterday, but live today.

This moment may not come again.

As the new year begins many of us take stock in our lives. What do we want for the year ahead? We all talk about doing better in many directions. But the economy still lags and we seem to be working harder than ever before. Add to this the possibility that you may also be dealing with family issues, the loss of a job or addictions. During times like these life can seem to be overwhelming. Many of us will try and go it alone. But there is help and hope. Friends and family can be a wonderful source of compassion and strength, but sometimes we need professional help.

Here are two of the five counselors at Charis Counseling Center in the Baldwin Park area that offer professional, caring counseling. Please take just a moment to get to know Tim Tedder and Julia Jancek of Charis. You will also find links on our Facebook page OurLifeToday, introductory videos, their articles, blog posts, and their web site. Please do post any questions on our Facebook page at OurLifeToday. We are looking forward to hearing from you very much.

WHATEVER IT TAKES

Long before the sun has risen or the people who deliver your morning newspaper have completed their rounds, millions of people are already wide-awake. Perhaps people like you, they are restlessly and relentlessly pursuing their dreams.

Some are corporate executives, well-known celebrities, athletes, coaches, officials, leaders and parents. But most are our neighbors, friends, relatives, employees or co-workers; The carpenter checking his tools; the sales manager packing her bags; the small business owner running spreadsheets on the kitchen computer; the teacher creating banners for the school assembly; the mom or dad checking their son or daughters homework before school; the student athlete doing push-ups by his bed. The light is on in their windows, minds and hearts.

These are first rate people in action—excellence, plain and simple. By doing whatever it takes to become the best they are capable of becoming, they lift our spirits. They stretch our boundaries. They energize our communities. And they bring new meaning to the terms, “job well-done” and “life well-led.” Because you share that spirit, 2013 and OurLifeToday is dedicated to you.

Adapted for OurLifeToday from Bob Moawad’s “Whatever It Takes

WHAT IS LIFE FOR? IT IS FOR YOU. Abraham Maslow

THE GIFT

The best day of you life is the one on which you decide you life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift of life is yours—it is an amazing journey—and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.

Something wonderful, something hidden. A gift to you. Find it.—Ralph Waldo Emerson

For a while I looked outside to see what I could make the world give me, instead of looking inside to see what was there.—Bill Livingstone

People talk about “finding” their lives. In reality, you life is not something you find—it’s something you create. —David Phillips

The greatest thing is, at any moment, to be willing to give up who we area in order to become all that we can become. Max Depree

I was restless. I was doing okay, but I was restless. One day it dawned on me that I had been looking at life through the wrong end of the telescope. It was up to me to turn it around—to make it bigger, better, more satisfying. —Arnold Schwarzenegger

IT’S NOT WHO WE ARE THAT HOLDS US BACK, IT’S WHO WE THINK WE’RE NOT. Michael Nolan

THE FREEDOM

Allow yourself the freedom to grow and expand. Form the habit of saying yes to your own potential. Take time to think of all the reasons why you can and why you excel at something wonderful ...because there will always be plenty of people around to tell you why you can’t.

The greatest crime in the world is not developing your potential. When you do what you do best, you are helping not only yourself, but the world.— Roger Williams

You don’t get to choose how or when you’re going to die. You can only decide how you’re going to live. Now. —Joan Baez

If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves—Thomas Edison

There has never been another you. With no effort on your part you were born to be something very special and set apart. What you are going to do in appreciation of that gift is a decision only you can make.—Dan Zadra

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, day and night, to make you like everybody else is to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight … but never stop fighting!— E.E. Cummings

IMIGINATION IS THE PREVIEW OF LIFE’S COMING ATTRACTIONS Larry Eisenberg

THE GOAL

You don’t have to take life the way it comes to you. By converting your dreams into goals, and you goals into plans, you can design your life to come to you the way you want it. You can live your life on purpose, instead of by chance.

Promise comes from caring more about what needs to be done than about who gets the credit.—Dorothy Height

When we set exciting worthwhile goals for ourselves, they work in two ways: We work on them, and they work on us. —Bob Moawad

Goals give purpose. Purpose gives faith. Faith gives courage. Courage gives enthusiasm. Enthusiasm gives energy. Energy gives life. Life lifts you over the bar.

—Bob Richards, Pole Vaulter

The world is before you, and you need not take it or leave it as it as it was when you came in.—James Baldwin

Planning is bringing the future nto the present so that you can do something about it now.—Alan Lakein

The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where his is going.—David Jordan

SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO TAKE THE LEAP, AND BUILD YOUR WINGS ON THE WAY DOWN.

Kobi Yomodo

People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered.

LOVE THEM ANYWAY

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish

ulterior motives.

DO GOOD ANYWAY.

If you are successful, you win false friends

and true enemies.

SUCCEED ANYWAY.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

DO GOOD ANYWAY

Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable.

BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY

The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the

smallest minds.

THINK BIG ANYWAY

What you spend years building, may be

destroyed overnight.

CONTINUE TO BUILD ANYWAY

People really need help, but may attack you if you

do help them.

HELP THEM ANYWAY

Give the world the best you have and you may

get kicked in the teeth.

GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU HAVE ANYWAY.

THE PLUNGE

Indecision and second-guessing are the mortal enemies of spontaneous brilliance and planning. Without action, your dream, goal or plan has little meaning in the world. Living and risking are close companions. If you sense that you have made a good decision, have faith. Move forward.

Courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined. —Leo Rosten

You must get involved to have an impact. No one is impressed with the won-lost record of the referee.

—John Holcomb

We wouldn’t worry nearly as much about what others thought of us, if we recognized how seldom they did. —Edge Keynote

The moment you commit and quit holding back, all sorts of unforeseen incidents, meetings and materials assistance will rise up to help you. The simple act of commitment is a powerful magnet for help.—Napoleon Hill

Be not the slave of you own past—plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced esperience that shall explain and overlook the old. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

From Our Counselors at Charis Counseling Center

The Visit by Tim Tedder

Yesterday, a new client came into my office and started talking about the discontent in her life. I invited her to tell me her story and before long she was disclosing information that was deeply personal. “I’ve never told anyone about that before,” she confessed. It was another reminder of how vulnerable people are willing to be simply because they trust the counseling process.

It’s interesting to consider the conditions under which we allow instant intimate access to some people, especially those in the helping professions. This morning, I made another trip to my dentist to have a loose crown cemented. (It fell out last night during a session. Embarrassing, but that’s another story...) The new dental assistant introduced herself to me during the chair’s slow recline. Thirty seconds after learning her name, I opened wide while Christy poked and pulled on my teeth. I let this person, who was a stranger just moments ago, wiggle her fingers around in my mouth. Why? Because I trust the process. I had a problem and I believed she could help me, so I granted her access that others don’t have.

Counseling is like that, and more. People open up more than their mouths; they often bare their souls to us and invite us into their private pain, shame, fear, and frustrations. It is an awesome privilege that demands responsibility. We accept that. And we, the counselors at Charis, are sincerely grateful to those who trust us enough to let us join them in those private places.

Counselor Tim Tedder - NCC, LMHC

Prior to earning his Masters Degree in Counseling from Indiana Wesleyan University, Tim spent nearly 20 years as a leader and teacher, focusing on spiritual and personal growth issues for individuals and families. In his speaking and counseling, he aims to "creatively communicate a message of hope and healing to wounded people." Tim's

specialty is with individuals, couples and families experiencing relational crisis, with a special focus on helping couples recover after an affair. Tim is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and has attained the credentials of a Nationally Certified Counselor.

Areas of Counseling Focus

• Couples Counseling (including Pre-Marriage & Marriage Counseling)

• Certified Prepare-Enrich Facilitator

• Family & Parenting Issues

• Healing from the Past

• Life Goals & Direction

• Recovering from an Affair - See Tim's AffairHealing.com website

Please visit our Facebook: OurLifeToday for a video by Tim and a list of his articles.

Counselor Julia Jancek LMHC

Julia began her career as a social worker in Philadelphia working with foster children. Julia earned her Master's degree at Troy University and then began practicing at Charis Counseling Center. Julia's expertise in women's issues allows her to help women move through the issues holding them back. You can find out more about Julia from her website located at www.counselinginorlando.com.

Areas of Counseling Focus

Adjustment to Life Transitions

• Addictions

• Children/Adolescents

• Adult Survivors of Child Abuse

• Depression

• Grief and Bereavement

• Anxiety and Trauma

Please visit our Facebook: OurLifeToday for a video by Julia and a list of his articles.

Charis offers the services of trained professionals who provide comfort and hope as they guide you toward overcoming obstacles and experiencing the authentic, abundant life that God promises. Our counseling is offered to people of all races, ages, and persuasions. Careful consideration is given to each person's needs and desires when making counseling placements.

Individuals who need help in overcoming difficulties or in taking that “next step” toward personal growth.

Couples who are dating, engaged, or married. Our counselors help satisfied couples move toward deeper levels of intimacy and help dissatisfied couples assess their relationship to determine ways they can move effectively toward meaningful change.

Families that require help in learning how to cope with a variety issues including abuse, rebellion, parenting, divorce, blended families, grief, or trauma.

Groups that are routinely formed to address specific issues in a shared setting. Group topics include anxiety, depression, divorce recovery, strengthening marriages, and parenting.

Our Christian counselors assist clients in dealing with a wide range of life issues, including:

• Addictions

• Affairs

• Anxiety

• Children / Adolescents

• Crisis

• Depression

• Divorce

• Eating Disorders

• Family Issues

• Marriage

• Parenting

• Premarital Counseling

• Remarriage

• Spiritual