Friday, August 31, 2012

Most everyone has heard the title, "The Power of Positive Thinking." Often we are drawn into seminars and lectures that promote the benefits of keeping a positive outlook. Even the Bible tells us that a "merry heart doeth good like a medicine."

When we're taught to give evaluations of performances we encouraged to start with the good and then offer the bad and end with more good. We're told that sandwiching the negative or critical between two positives will help to cushion the blow.

Even so, there's so much negative in this world. So many times we see people choose the bad rather than the good. So many times we fall into that pit ourselves. At least I know I do.

I was watching HGTV the other night (one of my indulgences on occasion) and watched people looking to buy a new house. No matter where the couple went the woman only saw the bad. Everything was held under a magnifying glass. She condemned the curtains, patterns of carpet, colors of paint. Over and over the agent reminded her not to worry about the things that could be changed, but this woman seemed intent on not finding anything good.
It made me think about life and how easy it is to see the bad--to condemn the things that we could, with a little work or effort, change. It's easy to bemoan the problems of life and the things that don't go our way. It seems far simpiler to zero in on the aspects of life that seem hopeless or desperate.

We have a local commercial where an obviously sick man is talking about Hospice services and how he used to think of them as an ending, but now he thought about them as a beginning.

Perspective is so important to our spiritual health and mental well-being. There is truly great power to be had in having a positive outlook.

Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, 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." (NIV)
God knew that things would be difficult for us on this earth.

Jesus warned us there would be trouble, but if we keep our focus on Him--on the right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy Savior, we won't find ourself crushed by the wrong, impure, ugly, disgusting, poor, blameworthy things of this world.

With every new day we have a choice to make. We can either strive to dwell on the positive or wallow in the negative. We can do our best, change what we can and choose to be happy despite the impefections of this world and the things that have been put upon us.