Friday, June 7, 2013

Just Sharing

How are you doing this morning? Did you wake up happy, excited, looking forward to the many things you'd experience for the first time today, or did you wake up already focused on yesterdays problems on your mind? I must confess I woke  with yesterdays problems upon my mind; not just mine, but those that friends and family members are trying to cope with.
    It is wise to be prepared, yet there are times we cannot be, for none of us know what tomorrow will confront us with. The best we can do then is to learn from yesterdays mistakes. Sometimes, even when we're doing our best, unexpected things happen: a divorce, runaway children, serious health and financial problems, the loss of a job, the death of a loved one are but a few.
    When we find ourselves confronting several difficult things at once, our problems seem larger than life. It's not unusual during these times to feel unappreciated, unloved, isolated and alone; discouragement settles upon us. I'm often asked what one can do. Below are some things that I do, things that help me keep afloat.

1- Reminding myself that A New Day offers an opportunity to start over helps. Sometimes when we believe we've failed, we've really not; oftentimes, succeeding just requires doing what we tried in a different way.  Gotta love do-overs, as we called them we were were kids.

2- The very first thing I do every morning, is turn the day over to the Lord. I tell him that I have no idea what the day will bring, whether good or bad, but know that He does. I ask Him to guide my speech, so that I will lift people up, not bring them down. I ask that He guide my steps, so that I don't wander down paths that will take me nowhere, and to keep me walking in ways that will influence others in a positive way.

3- I remind myself of how far I have come, of the things I have managed to do well; this is something that has helped me the most, especially these past five years. With so much going on in my life, some really hard things, I became very depressed, felt like the worst failure in the world.  Taking that backward look over my shoulder at what I have done well, at the decisions I made that took enormous courage, helped me put things in perspective. 


  
4- I don't let myself forget that:

a- Fear only has as much power as I give it.
b- The more I focus on what's going wrong, the larger my problem will seem to 

     be.
c- The kind of day I have is going to be determined by the choices I make, or

     don't make.
d- It's not the problem that causes so much stress, but my reaction to it.

*******************************************************************************************************



I want to thank all of you for praying for me, for keeping in touch, for the wonderful support you've given me since the death of my Johnny. I miss him dearly, still finding it difficult to start and end days without him but am doing okay. God keeps me afloat, optimistic and content. Thought I'd leave you with a few more thoughts from the book I've been working on for my Mom.


"From Solitude- From Silence"

1- Memory walks keep God's goodness up front.

2- Make your faith an action word: walk through life believing
    God has already laid out your tomorrow because He has.

3- There isn't always a need to speak;
     much of what I've learned has been through listening.



4- Do not make a mockery out of what you believe: if nobody condemns you,
    you yourself know whether or not you do right.

5- Sorrows of the heart heal only when one lets go.


Alright, dear ones, have to take meds and try to get some chores done. Take care of yourselves.


Remember now---
  

3 comments:

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

We can choose what kind of attitude we want and even though things don't turn out as planned or things happen we can do nothing about, our attitudes make a difference. I've found there is little else I can control in my life. Knowing that the good Lord is in control and can do a much better job of things that I can. Your positive words are always so encouraging to read.

Amanda said...

(((((((((((((((((HUGSTOYOU)))))))))))))))))Thank you for sharing your words,they meant a lot to me.Just know I care. <3

Buttercup said...

I'm happy to be up and visiting my blog buddies. It's a sunny day today -- we had horrible rain on Friday -- and I'm going to treat myself to an iced coffee and the Sunday paper. Take good care and know that you are in my prayers.