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Every day, I go through the same routine.
With a few strokes on my keyboard and the click of a mouse, I travel through a global gateway into a world of interaction and information. My "commute" via the Internet is similar to a rush-hour drive, merging with masses and moving through a variety of points of passage called URLs, Web sites, and home pages.
The curious thing about this daily pattern is that it doesn't matter where I am, who I am with, or how I am dressed. All I have to do is summon my search engine, and I am empowered to connect and communicate on the global information highway. So, day after day, it is the same. Boot up. Log on. Select an engine. Start a search.
Oftentimes, routine searches only lead to frustration. I don't find solutions; I simply wander in search mode, wasting time, energy, and effort. I click here. Go there. Read this. Look at that. I link. I think. I log out. I walk away disappointed by my lack of success. And I wonder why I give time to such trivial pursuits, wishing I had started with a clearer plan.
One day, I realized that what I experience in my daily Internet search routine has become a way of life for many. People face each new day, hitting the Enter key to search or plug in words and phrases with the hope of finding satisfactory solutions for life. They, too, are powered by search engines. Not necessarily Google, Yahoo, or the likes of Dogpile, but their engines are revving deep within to search for greater satisfaction in life. People want answers, experiences, and contacts that will change the way they live and view life. They live in search mode. people long for a day when they will encounter someone or something that will lead them to a fuller and more meaningful life.
Can you relate?
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As you read these words today, you are traveling on one of three life pathways. Maybe today you are traveling on the road called "Trouble." It is a rough ride for sure, with potholes, flooded curbs, and pounding rains. Storms have overshadowed the progress of your dreams and designs. The pouring rains, adverse winds, and changing conditions have overwhelmed you. Your thoughts are focused on survival. Are you on the hard road today?
Maybe you are nearing the end of "Trouble" and turning on a new highway called "Hope." The clouds and storms that engulfed you are parting. Encouraging rays of hope are shining through. You are ready to embrace hope with gratitude and to enjoy the next few miles of life's journey.
But then there are those on the street called "Steady," which—I hate to say—will soon merge onto the road called "Trouble." They, too, will face the challenges and struggles common to all who journey there.
And so it is. Every day of your life, you are either in trouble, coming out of trouble, or going into trouble. This is the pattern of life under the sun. We can't change this reality, but we can choose the attitude and perspective we will embrace along the journey.
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As Solomon nears the end of his search for satisfaction, he moves us toward a completely different conclusion than the one he initially presented. Solomon "pilots" our thoughts from the pit of bankruptcy to life in a new dimension. Solomon's challenge? When you hit bottom and have nowhere else to turn, look up!…
If we look back over Solomon's shoulder, we will discover he operated the vast majority of his search in a closed system of understanding and experience. Every search turned up inadequate at best and empty at worst. But here Solomon "Yahooed!" with his discovery that…
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