a l i v e & a w a k e

Whatsoever things are pure, excellent, worthy of praise, true, noble, ….Meditate, dwell, focus and cultivate those things—Phil 4:8

So it is the new year and I use this time to reflect. I really don’t make ‘resolutions’ usually because  I hope I am able to make a change in my life as needed as opposed to ‘someday’ to make a change. So I am sitting inside on a snowy day (New Years Day) and taking time to celebrate all that this last year has been for me. I try to take inventory on a regular basis of all the good decisions and encounters of miracles God has provided this last year.

I usually am faulted for being such an ‘eternal optimist’ to the point that people think I am ‘unaware’, ‘on another planet’, unrealistic’, ‘too ideal’, etc (you get the picture). I wasn’t always that way. I use to focus on al that was negative, wrong and celebrate all the failings of others—especially the failing in myself. To the point I felt suicide wasn’t that bad of an idea (another story someday). What happened in my life back then was I catered so much to the ‘problems’ of life that I habitually sought out and looked for wrong.  I was not equipped for life. I have heard though we have been hard wired to function best when we seek the positive

The make up of our brain (scientifically) is built for change. In fact the more we change it the better it grows. So when we build a certain pattern of negative thoughts (creating a familiar channel in our brain tissue for information to travel on) we will be less prone to grow our brains and be less adaptable to life. Seeking out new solutions in a positive way, creates a new channel for our brain –in essence we grow.  Einstien said something to the effect of “the problems we face today cannot be solved by the same type of thinking that formed them’. This gets me to my thought for the new year.

I need to not only be one who can positively seek an opportunity in a difficult situation, but I need to be positively seeking out new solutions (good for my brain and my situation). Plus I need to be engaging in a more celebratory position every day, moment  by moment.

In Short - 1 When faced with a problem, embrace it as opportunity. 2 Seek positive solutions 3 Live a life that captures celebration moments

It becomes a practical way to live Phil 4:8. Note this process, if done right is uncomfortable, takes lots of energy and can leave you at first uncertain, confused and fearful. But take heart you get past that.

To close –do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your MIND.