POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 3)

THE NEXT STEP

Although I have 20/20 hindsight, when I look into the future, I can't see farther than the next step.   God made the world work that way and He did it for a good reason.

Our future is in our hands, and we can make it into anything we want.  If we knew what was going to happen ahead of time, our life would become a rerun.  Foreknowledge would blunt the thrill of victory and magnify the agony of defeat.  

After I arrived in New Zealand on my catamaran, I purchased a van that I used to tour the country.  While touring on the north island, I rolled the van and nearly died in the accident.  I broke two legs, five ribs, one scapula, punctured one lung, and ended up in the hospital for two months.

Before this accident I had just spent six months sailing across the Pacific Ocean with my family.  We explored the marvels of the Galapagos Islands and discovered the glories of Polynesian paradise.  Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji revealed their wonders as our catamaran sailed west.  By the time our anchor was down in New Zealand, we had sailed on the ocean of our dreams, and life was good.

If I had know ahead of time about the car accident, the entire trip across the Pacific would have been a countdown to disaster.  Instead of reveling in our cruising dreams, I would have been focusing on future pain.

God in his mercy gives us enough strength to live our dreams each day, but He doesn't load the future into our backpack and force us to carry that burden.  Instead, He parcels out our life one day at a time and gives us the courage to take the next step.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 2)

LESSONS FROM THE BUTTERFLY

Outward appearances are deceiving, so don't be too quick to judge.

Take caterpillars, for instance.  Some caterpillars are a thing of beauty, but most of them aren't much to look at.  They crawl around like colored worms, they eat leaves for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they have the personality of a sea slug.  How many people have invited you over to look at their caterpillar collection?  Few to none, I'll bet.  When God passed out good looks, he apparently skipped the caterpillars.

After caterpillars mature, they spin a silken chrysalis around their plump body, and they go into what seems like hibernation.  In the chrysalis stage, they're not much to look at either.   A chrysalis may represent outstanding engineering, but as a thing of beauty it's an abject failure.  Their chrysalis condo is simply their crash pad while God works the wonders of metamorphosis.

When the butterfly finally emerges from the chrysalis, a miracle has happened.  The  former ugly duckling is now a thing of beauty.  Colors splash across its wings, and the former slug like plant eater now enjoys the freedom of flight.  It spends the rest of its days flying from flower to flower sucking up the nectar of life.

Everybody likes butterflies.  These delicate flying palates of color remind us how much God loves beautiful things.  God didn't have to make them beautiful.   He could have made them look like flying slugs; just attach drab wings to a caterpillar's body, and the job is done.

Perhaps God made butterflies to teach us lessons about life and make us more tolerant and less judgmental.  We are all a work in progress and although were not butterflies yet, we can't become butterflies without first being caterpillars.  We've got to eat a lot of leaves and do a lot of growing before we blossom into our final state.  Just as you can't judge a book by its cover, you can't judge a caterpillar by its color.  The caterpillar might not look like much now, but when God gets done with it, it will become a creature of splendor.

Judging people harshly in their caterpillar stage is a big mistake.  They are a work in progress, and what you see is not the finished product.  Right now, a person may not look like much, but when God finishes working his miracle,  a new person painted by God's palette of love will emerge in awesome beauty.

Don't be quick to judge yourself in a harsh manner either; you also are a work in progress.  Your caterpillar stage might not seem like fun, but God knows what He is doing.  You have to be a caterpillar before you can become a butterfly; there is no other way.  God is working behind the scenes, taking care of the details, and things are going to work out.

God has a dream for your life that is better than you can imagine.  When you get into agreement with His plan, there's no limit to how good your life can become.

POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK (Week 1)

THE WHEEL OF CHANGE

Millions of people struggle to make positive changes but fail in their quest.  The reason they fail is because they try to change their life without first changing the way they think.  Until they change the way they think, positive change will not happen.

Changing the way you think is the key to positive change.

Inside your mind is a collection of thoughts that defines what it means to be you.  That collection is unique, and is the only part of you that you can change, or that would ever be worth changing.  If you want to change who you are, you must change the collection of thoughts that defines what it means to be you.

What you put into your mind changes changes who you are, and what others put in changes who you are as well.  That's why the media battles so strongly to gain your attention.  They want to control the way you think so they can control you and how you spend your money.  They fill your world with billboards, advertising, and fifteen second sound and video bites. Their business is all about changing the way you think.

It's not hard to change your life; you do it all the time.  Every time you put something new into your mind, your life changes.  When you put in good things, your life becomes better, and when you fill it with garbage, your life becomes worse.  The wheel of change always turns in the direction of what you put into your mind.

You already know how to change your life.  You don't need to go to university to get a PhD. in psychology to change the way you think.  You simply need to start putting different things in your mind.  Watch different programs on television, or better yet, turn off television and go to the library and start filling your mind with good books.

At the most basic level, you are what you think about all day long.  That's why what you put into your mind is so important.  When you put in positive thoughts, you become a more positive person.  When you put in empowering thoughts, you become a stronger person.  When you put in resourceful thoughts, your life moves in the direction of excellence and you become a better person.  When you put in unlimited thoughts, you realize there is no limit to how good your life can become.

It's time for you to do some mental exercise.  Repeat after me:

The wheel of change always turns in the direction of what I put into my mind.
Your assignment is to repeat those words out loud twenty times.  After you do that, write them on a piece of paper ten times to make them a permanent resident of your memory banks.  This isn't optional.  If you want to experience positive change, you are going to have to start putting positive things into your mind, and now is a good time to get started.

Life is good.