Does your trials and hardships seems to stick with you for what seems like a lifetime? And what is worse we keep them alive by sometimes obsessing about what has happened. We constantly think about the wrong done to us or the bad circumstances we find ourselves in.
Now you say “wait a minute Rhonda, when we are in the midst of something difficult, its hard not to think about it!” True. BUT…what happens when we get through it and we are still dwelling on it?
“You mean we are supposed to act like it didn’t happen?” No. BUT…do we take the time to reflect on the blessing of actually being out of the hardship? And what about all the things the hardship taught us? Do we give thanks for those and focus on those?
“We are too prone to engrave our trials in marble and write our blessings in sand.” That what Charles Spurgeon observed. We hold on and remember the trials but allow the blessings we experience to wash away and become a memory.
When we hold on to the negative circumstances it taints our lives. Our thoughts become negative. And our thoughts fuel our behavior. Soon enough, we become negative people that can’t embrace the blessings of life.
You can change the way you think about your trials. Instead of focusing on the negatives associated with them, you can focus on the good that might have come out of them. Can’t find the good in a situation? Then decide to be grateful if it is over. And if it is not over, find something positive to focus on. Even if it’s just the fact that you are alive. Having a life means there’s hope that things might change. Don’t let your blessings wash away but record them. Highlight them and hold on to them. Let them change your life for the better.
Whenever something bad happens, keep calm, take a few deep breaths and shift the focus to something positive.”
― Roy T. Bennett
Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.
-Philippians 4:8
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