Here are John's "Five Rules For Life":
1.) Travel as much as you can.
Go to as many countries and experience as many cultures as you can over the course of a lifetime. Stay in 2-star hotels, eat cheap local food, and smile without ceasing. Diverse travel strongly shapes your worldview, but more importantly it shapes your heart.
2.) Live for something bigger than you are.
For me personally, it is the Kingdom of God. My own story will fade and my body will be 6-feet under one day, but if I can attach my life to something bigger than I am, then I become a part of a bigger, eternal story. Nothing is more humbling or more freeing than knowing there is something and someone in this life bigger than you.
3.) Read a book by an author with whom you disagree.
We live in such a politically/socially/religiously/racially/culturally segregated society, and so many have already settled their belief systems. Pick up a book by an author from a different political platform or cultural background, someone who normally makes you roll your eyes in disgust, and read every word. Have a dictionary, a teachable mind, and Maalox nearby.
4.) Buy a kayak.
There really is nothing more mentally therapeutic or physically healthy than buying and rowing a kayak. After the initial purchase, it is completely free – just add water. I tell people regularly that I could pay $125 an hour to a psychiatrist to keep me emotionally balanced or I can just skim across a local lake or river in my kayak for an hour, and the result is the same.
5.) Give to a college scholarship fund.
Investing into the life of a young, worthy scholar means that you are investing into the future strength and hope of our nation. It is a noble way to spend your money, and you can even name the specifics of the scholarship recipient. My personal goal is to give an anonymous $10,000 scholarship to a student who wants to become a preacher themselves one day.
John currently resides in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
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