It's mid-summer and the living is supposed to be easy - and it can be - if you allow it. The way to allow living to be easy is to eliminate stress from your life. But how do you do that when all around you there seems to be nothing but stress and heartache? The truth is, you can make your life whatever you want it to be - in any situation or circumstance.
Have you seen the young Australian man who is a motivational speaker, yet he has no arms or legs? He's out there telling people how good their lives can be if they allow themselves to be grateful for what they have in life.
So, what do you have to be grateful for in life? If you can't immediately come up with five things, it's time to start working on your recognition of what's good/great in your life. To do that, all you need is a paper and pen or a computer (there's something to be grateful for already) and a little time. Look around your living space and see just how grateful you are for everything in sight. Write each of them down. Don't overlook anything. Stop, take an inventory and then on to the next step.
Move your attention a little further away from you immediate living space. Start with your health. Monitor it and see how you're doing. Focus on the best things first and then work your way through the rest. Now move on to your loved ones and list what you like the best about each one. Then move on to relatives, friends, and who or whatever else comes to mind. Continue to increase your list until you have an extensive list of everything you appreciate and are grateful for in your life. Do an inventory review of your list and if anyone else or anything else comes to mind, add it in between the others or at the end of the list.
Now, review your list one by one and give thanks to God for each of those people and things being in your life. Spend a little time in thanksgiving and expand on each one so that you are feeling truly grateful inside for each.
Now comes the harder part. Make a list of everyone and everything you feel you could have gone through life never knowing or experiencing. Make the same extensive list, going from your health to your immediate surroundings to all of your family and "no longer friends." Include anyone who has "done you wrong" in your life. Make this the most extensive list you can make. Include everyone you would just as soon never see again - ever.
Remember, both lists are actually identical in one significant way. They are simply reflections of your judgment and they are all perfect expressions of God. It is only our judgment of each of those people and things that determines which list they show up on in our lives. Remember the man with no arms or legs? He used that circumstance to become a motivational speaker for thousands because he made lemonade out of what others would consider lemons.
Now, go back and see how many people and things on your negative list can be made into "lemonade" with just the turn of your mind. See which of those so-called negatives have actually forced you to improve your life in ways you never would have if it had not been for that turn of events. Now give thanks and gratitude for them as well and remember, regardless of which list you may have placed them on, they were all God expressing through them to give you a new experience. It's up to you how you interpret and judge each experience.
I hope this helps you put a different face on each of your experiences and I trust you will start to see each one in a new manner recognizing the potential in each for your own soul's advancement.
Blessings,
Ted
