50/50

You can say it's like the glass is half full or half empty...

            1985, Ronald Reagan in the New York Times

The Pollyanna Principle

            Describes the tendency for people to agree with positive statements describing themselves.

Life is 10 percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.

            Louis Leo "Lou" Holtz

It is your attitude, not your aptitude that determines your altitude.

          Zig Ziglar

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.         

Winston Churchill

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.

            Thomas Jefferson

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

Philippians 2:5

Magical

Monday

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Philippians 4:8

When I was a child everything was magical.  Our family wasn’t perfect, but we were happy.  I thought every family was like ours, two parents at home, going on vacations, Mom in the kitchen, Dad at work.  Life.  Was.  Wonderful.   I really had no indication that bad things happened in life, until one summer, a friend of ours little 3 year old boy died of pneumonia.   

Five years after the death of that small child, Mom and Dad started to argue and almost got divorced.  It was around that time that I figured out life wasn’t always easy and I had to look for the good.    Mom told me to read the book Pollyanna, about an orphan who lived with her Aunt and tried to find the good in all things.

Later on in life when I was an orphaned teenager living with my Aunt, I was fortunate enough to go through the Zig Ziglar “See you at the Top” workshop.   I’ve had many, many lessons in “looking for the good in life”, practical real applications as well as reading about it.  

There are many times when I feel like giving up and moping around regarding the circumstances in my life.  However, now that I have two little boys looking to me for guidance, I feel compelled to pass on the positive thinking ways that my mother and father started in me. 

I always have two ways of looking at just about everything.  Generally, it’s about 50% good or 50% bad; it’s my choice which side to look at.

Lord, please give me the wisdom to see the good in each situation and the patience to continue seeing it and concentrating on it.

Amen.

Your Choice

Tuesday

 If you search for good, you will find favor; 

but if you search for evil, it will find you!

Proverbs 11:27

Every day when we wake up, we have a choice.  I realize sometimes when you wake up, you get that “hit me in the stomach” pain of the reality of your life.  It would be so much easier sometimes to just stay in bed, hide in the covers and escape.  Escape can be sleeping, several good stiff drinks, television, our job, a movie, a good book or many other things.  But as we lay there anticipating the pain of the day, we must decide to ask God for His help through our situation. 

Instead of seeing pain, we must look further and look for the pleasure, however slight it may be.  Reward yourself for little, small victories. Allow yourself to see the through the hearth ache and find the happiness.

You have to train your brain not to jump right to what is wrong with something, but rather, train it to look at what is right.  This was a very difficult concept for me to learn because of my years as a gymnastics coach.  As a coach, you must look for mistakes, so they can be corrected.  You can look at a routine that is 99% perfect,  but  it’s the 1% that you must point out to the gymnast.  That concept spilled over into my real life, where I would, by nature, look at what was wrong with a situation. 

While I have received a lot of training in the area of positive thinking, it is still a struggle for me to do it naturally.   However, I have come to the conclusion that it is a necessity to do so, otherwise, I would become a basket case. Seriously, my mother also had me read the book Sybil !

Dear Lord, please help me to train myself how to look for the positive in every situation.  I want to enjoy my life rather than trudge through it each day.  Please, give me the strength to do so. 

God sees the Ending

Wednesday

Only I can tell you the future
      before it even happens.
   Everything I plan will come to pass.

Isaiah 46:10

God sees the ending, not just the beginning.  Can you imagine if we could do that?  How much pain and suffering we would do without.  Have you ever written down your fears so you can look at them a year later?  Try it if you have not.  You will look back and see how crazy you made yourself, only to realize that eventually, every thing turned out fine.

Writing down your fears and concerns helps bring it out of your head and make it a conquerable item.  Identifying the negativity gives you a tangible item to pray about.  Once you write down your fear or concern, find scriptures to combat the issue.  Once you find the scriptures, concentrate on the scriptures, not the fear or ugliness of the situation.

God’s word is life. God’s word overcomes the evil in this world.

If you aren’t sure how to combat life issues in this way, look for “The Power of a Praying _________” books by Stormie Omartian.  I own the following:  The Power of a Praying Parent, The Power of a Praying Wife and The Power of a Praying Woman.  I bought my husband The Power of a Praying Husband.  There are many more than these. 

These books help me identify the right scriptures and lead me in the right prayers.  When I am scared about a situation, praying about it always, always brings me peace.

I guarantee you this, praying about your situation will not HURT in any way.  It can only make it better.

Lord, when I am scared, resentful or just plain worn out from my situation, please, remind me to pray, pray, pray.  I believe You can and will help me through it. Amen.

Pollyanna

Thursday

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

Proverbs 23:7

So it all comes down to how we choose to look at a situation.   I challenge you to try the Pollyanna game.  Find something good to look at in each and every situation.  After finding a morsel or  more of positive insight, concentrate on that, not the negative.   Allow the positive side of the situation to grow bigger then the negative side.  Which side gets all of the attention?

*The very name “Pollyanna” has come to mean someone who is eternally upbeat and optimistic, who spreads positivity and good will wherever she goes. Before you decide that such unremittingly cheerful behavior is truly nauseating and deserves a good smack, think of this: people who take time every day to count their blessings are truly happier (and live longer) than those who don’t.

Start small: just think of ONE THING that you’re glad for. Maybe it’s the taste of the special coffee that Aunt Ruth from Winnetka sent you for Christmas. Maybe it’s the fact that the holidays are over. Perhaps you have a new love in your life, or an interesting new project to work on. Or you could be glad for your family, or your dog or cat. Really think about whatever it is for a moment. Allow yourself to smile over it. Feel your heart open and glow with gratitude for whatever it is.

That’s it. But tomorrow, try thinking of two things you’re really, truly glad for. Expand the field of your gratitude every day. Really take time to appreciate the many many blessings you enjoy. You’re alive: you have the capacity to be a beneficial and positive presence on the planet. You are needed--or you wouldn’t be here. Enjoy this life that you have been given! And be glad.

*Playing the Glad Game, The Pollyanna Glad Club

Lord, however difficult it may be, please help me to find the good in every day.  Help me to notice the small wonderful things You have done in my life and around me.  I want to be a blessing to those around me, not the opposite. 

Amen.

Fake it until you Make it

Friday

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Zig Ziglar taught me to “fake it until you make it”.  His meaning behind the phrase was even if you don’t feel like it, try to be happy in any situation.  Say it out loud.  You are supposed to wake up each morning and say, out loud, “I’m super great and I’m getting better!”  If you don’t feel that way, get a “check up from the neck up.”  Ok, I said all of that from memory from when I was 16.   I could go on and on with the Zig stories. He spoke at my graduation reception, we only had 12 graduate! 

Zig was merely taking a biblical application and putting it every day terms that didn’t sound spiritual, but the concept is completely spiritual in every way.  If you can’t do this in a practical manner, try faking it.  Your subconscious believes what ever you say, good or bad.  Do you have those tapes in your head telling you that you‘re a failure or your life is awful?  Replace them with different words, the opposite words.  Once your subconscious gets a taste of the positive affirmations, little things in your life will start to change.  It’s those little changes that will lead to big changes.  

God wants the best for us and sent His son to make sure we have a path to get His best.  If we deny God and choose to be miserable, we are throwing away a gift freely given to us.  It’s as if we are watching Jesus die on the cross right in front of our eyes, and then walking away never looking back or caring.  Can you imagine doing that to Jesus, the man that gave His life for you?   

Just try it friends, please.  You will be surprised at the goodness in your life if you just try to notice it!

Dear Lord, please help me to force myself to look at the good instead of the bad.  I want to change my thinking habits and see Your goodness in my life.

Amen.