Tag Archives: personal

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Three Reasons For Gratitude!

”Upon awakening, let the words Thank You flow from your lips, for this will remind you to begin your day with gratitude and compassion.” – Wayne Dyer

The first thing I do in the morning, between the time I wake up and before my feet hit the floor, is to sit up on the edge of my bed and say: “Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!” It is my expression of Gratitude to my God and Creator, the One Who sustains me. It is my way of showing true appreciation for the gift of Jesus, forgiveness and everlasting relationship. It is my acknowledgement that I cannot do this thing called life alone and I am open and very glad for the help of the Spirit, who walks with me through and in between the moments of life.

I am saying thank you for a good night of restful and rejuvinating sleep, thank you for allowing me to wake up and face a fresh new day, thank you for the adventure and learning that is getting ready to unfold before me. I am intentionally beginning my day with gratitude, because I am truly grateful and I believe that gratitude realigns my life with all that really matters.

When I begin my day in this way, I find that gratitude walks with me all throughout the day. It is never far away from me and it helps me to see the unseen, hear the mysterious and experience the magic that so many times we tend to miss in the hustle of life. Below are a three reasons why I think gratitude is so important and worth the effort:

1. Gratitude Rewires Your Brain! There is actually since behind an attitude of gratitude and the difference it makes in your brain. To put it simply: Gratitude helps you to focus on what really matters and empowers the right things in your life and thinking. In a world where we are continually bombarded with negativity, it is both necessary and a blessing to be able to take on and take out the negative with the positive.

2. Gratitude Realigns Your Spirit! When I am grateful, I cannot help but focus on my blessings and more importantly the source of my blessings. The SOURCE is our power, our purpose, our everything. Gratitude helps to remind me that I am a spiritual being (a soul) getting to live a human experience and that almost everything I experience in this life time is teaching me to be true to who and what I really am.

3. Gratitude Rewards Your Life! The temptation of this life experience is to focus on what we don’t have, which often causes us to not appreciate what we do have. When we practice gratitude, we focus on the reality that we are loved and created to love and when we get love right, then the blessings really begin to flow to and through our life.

I encourage you to practice gratitude. Think about starting your day with it, you will be glad you did…

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Just Breathe!

Get up, get ready, get in the car, drive like a maniac, run into work, grab a cup of coffee, get busy and now what’s next? Some times in the midst of my hurry, I catch myself going through the same “rush routine” day after day and at other times I go through it without even giving it a thought. It is possible to live our lives in a “rush routine” and the great tragedy is: This is not really living.

So, I want to encourage you to stop and take a moment, the next time you catch yourself caught up in the “rush routine”. Stop, take a moment and breathe! That’s right – breathe in, hold it and now breathe out. Now try it again and focus on getting it right – breathe in hold it, hold it, hold it and now breathe out. Now, try it one more time, just for good measure.

There is life in your breath, so if you don’t do anything else today, you need to make sure that you take time to breathe. When I actually slow down enough, to stop for a moment to take and recognize my breath, I realize that there is more to this life than the chase that I so often tend to find myself caught up in.

Crazy thing is: When I actually stop to breathe and realize my breath, I am very often, not even sure what I am chasing. I sometimes find that I am in a hurry just to be in a hurry, not because I necessarily have a dead line I’m trying to meet. These are the times, that I’m glad I listened to that little voice inside of me, reminding me to breathe.

On the grand scale of Eternity, this human experience is a very short thing and we need to make sure that we are not so busy and rushed that we miss what really matters. When I take the time to just breathe, then I realize how nice it is to sit and sip on my hot cup of mocha coffee. I appreciate grown up conversations with friends and begin to understand the role they play in helping me to become a better person and vice versa. I am grateful for this amazing, beautiful gift called life and feel priviledge to get to live and share it with so many amazing people.

So, slow down and take the time to breathe and recognize your breath, you will be glad you did…

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The Right Perspective!

 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”  -John 14:1-3

BELIEVE!  Life is tough and it is going to throw you curve balls.  In fact, life will throw you a knuckle ball right upside the nose every now and then.  On the best days, it’s not easy, but it is possible to live a blessed life and a blessed life makes all the difference.  You have access to control how you take it and what you do with it.  Jesus said:  “Let not your heart be troubled!” indicating that we make the choice.  Sometimes, you just have to grab hold of your emotions and let them know who the real boss is.  The best way to do this is by fighting your fear with faith.  Jesus said:  “Believe in God, believe also in me!” and if your really believe, then this is a “game changer!”  No matter what you are going through, remember:  Don’t Panic – God’s got this!

CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE!  After we get our belief fixed, we then need to focus on changing our perspective.  We do this, by moving from the finite limited time and space of this moment to the infinite, unlimited time and space of eternity.  Whatever you are facing right now, ask yourself this question:  “What’s the worse thing that can happen?”  Ask this question enough times and you are probably going to come up with the answer:  Death!  Well, death is no big deal for Believer!  Jesus moved from a present perspective to an eternal perspective when he said:  “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places and I go to prepare a place for you!”

Next time you find yourself fretting over something, ask yourself this question:  “What is this going to matter 100 years from now?”

The Scriptures teach us in Philippians 1:21 that to live is Christ and to die is gain!  This physical body is simply my “FLESH SUIT!”  One of these days when this body dies, I am going to take off this flesh suit and then I will really fly!  Death is not a big deal, because it is just me separating from this body and the 70, 80 0 r 90 years, which are a small blip on the radar screen compared to ETERNITY!

The enemy wants to put blinders on you, so that all you can see is your problem, challenge or frustration, but don’t fall for the trick!  The enemy wants you to lose and forget about your eternal perspective, but don’t you dare trade in the good stuff of your Creator!  Use your memory and look back at all the times that you thought your ship was sunk, but the blessings came through and you can say with the Psalmist in 103:  “Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not none of his benefits!”

Now this is living blessed and it is what you were created for – get you some of that and live blessed!