Be positive. Focus on the positives. Be slow to anger & quick to love.
Remember, everything is easier said than done.
It used to be hard for me to be positive. I didn’t want for anything growing up, yet all I could focus on was what I DIDN’T have. I was grateful for having a close-knit family, having a roof over my head, having food in the house, attending a school where all of the teachers knew me, living in a small town; the list goes on. Yet, all I would think about was I wasn’t living with my mom, I wasn’t living with my dad, and I felt like I didn’t fit in anywhere. I couldn’t talk to anyone about those thoughts and feelings. I was always told to either pray about it, not to question God’s plans, or to stop thinking about what I didn’t have. That wasn’t good enough for me. I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted to know the WHY. Why am I here? What's MY purpose?
Honestly, I still feel like I don’t fit in anywhere. But I’m cool with that now.
I’ve been practicing healthy emotion regulation for a few years now. It’s extremely hard, but I’m patient with myself and I’m proud of myself for the small improvements I'm making. I try to look at things with a positive outlook instead of a negative one. I used to think it was better to view “the glass as half empty”, but now I prefer to see “the glass as half full”.
So when I saw this flower, I instantly thought about positivity. Like wow, this flower is so bright and bubbly, I bet it doesn’t have a care in the world. How amazing would it be to not have a care in the world???! I already live in my head and stress myself out by psychoanalyzing EVERY.SINGLE.THING. in my life, so why add to the madness that already exists in my head?
I didn’t know what to expect when I decided to read the bible. Ecclesiastes became my favorite book. It described how I was feeling about life. I even found this cool video on YouTube about Ecclesiastes that I like (view here).
Here are some bible verses I like to read to remind myself to just keep going, one day at a time.
Ecclesiastes 1:2 - 4 (GNB) – (2) It is useless, useless, said the Philosopher. Life is useless, all useless. (3) You spend your life working, laboring, and what do you have to show for it? (4) Generations come and generations go, but the world stays just the same.
Ecclesiastes 1:8 - 9 (GNB) – (8) Everything leads to weariness—a weariness too great for words. Our eyes can never see enough to be satisfied; our ears can never hear enough. (9) What has happened before will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing new in the whole world.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 (GNB) – God made everything, and you can no more understand what he does than you understand how new life begins in the womb of a pregnant woman.
Ecclesiastes 2:12 - 17 (GNB) – (12) After all, a king can only do what previous kings have done. So I started thinking about what it meant to be wise or reckless or foolish. (13) Oh, I know, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness. (14) The wise can see where they are going, and fools cannot.” But I also know that the same fate is waiting for us all. (15) I thought to myself, “What happens to fools is going to happen to me, too. So what have I gained from being so wise?” “Nothing,” I answered, “not a thing.” (16) No one remembers the wise, and no one remembers fools. In days to come, we will all be forgotten. We must all die—wise and foolish alike. (17) So life came to mean nothing to me, because everything in it had brought me nothing but trouble. It had all been useless; I had been chasing the wind.
James 1:19 – 22 (GNB) – (19) Remember this, my dear friends! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry. (20) Human anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose. (21) So get rid of every filthy habit and all wicked conduct. Submit to God and accept the word that he plants in your hearts, which is able to save you. (22) Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice.
Ecclesiastes 8:15 (GNB) - So I am convinced that we should enjoy ourselves, because the only pleasure we have in this life is eating and drinking and enjoying ourselves. We can at least do this as we labor during the life that God has given us in this world.
Life Lesson:
· Be positive. Focus on the positives. Be slow to anger & quick to love.
How I Apply it to My Life:
· I just try to be positive and make wise decisions; everything is useless anyway, right?
Song:
· J. Cole – Love Yourz
SLIDESHOW: Relax