Blog Archives
Life Changes
You cannot cling to that which was if you want to experience your NOW fully.
Dr. Wayne W. Dyer stated: “Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.”
Loved ones pass, one gets older, the body changes with aging…so many things can affect how you actually look at anything.
One must dig deeper into one’s being to see that LIFE GOES ON…without regards for anything. One’s beliefs are what one clings to…which is the saving grace, after all. Our beliefs in God, in Life, in Love, in knowing and acknowledging the wonderful people who are so caring and loving, supporting you and helping you to face your reality, no matter how significantly it has changed.
There are still music, beauty, and wondrous happenings that come with each new day. One must go on. Life must go on. If one is open to all the good stuff, each day goes by with a discovery of something to truly appreciate.
If you have come to this day through sorrow, ill health, or any other source, you must begin to believe that there is something better to think about.
God’s blessings on your journey!
Count Your Blessings
by Johnson Oatman, Jr. pub. 1897
- When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.- Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
*Count your many blessings, see what God has done.
[*And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.]
- Refrain:
- Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by. - When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings—*money cannot buy [*wealth can never buy]
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high. - So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.
There are so many distractions in this world, so many of which are out of tune with how you want to feel, that it is difficult to maintain your attitudes, belief systems, and emotions. Circumstances can create situations that can become very volatile where things get out of hand quickly. Personal choices can get scrambled easily and beyond belief. Where is reality at that point?
I believe that focus is the key to survival in this world at it now exists. What are you centering your attention on? Is it the news, tv reporting, politics, or the first cup of coffee in the morning as you quietly observe the beauty in your surroundings? That answer makes all the difference in the world. Are you breathing deeply or stressed out, causing you to breathe from your upper lungs? The crux of the matter is there. Is the world outside of your six senses being allowed to dictate your reactions, thoughts, and emotions?
No matter what your belief system is, the problem is the same for all of us, individually. Peace of mind is available to each one of us, no matter the circumstances. “Count your many blessings” is at the core of letting stress go, releasing our thoughts and emotions to center on something else instead of whatever is causing our stress. Changing our focus is vital to our survival.
How long has it been since you stopped your merry-go-round long enough to see beauty in your surroundings, to taste the food you are eating in lieu of just stuffing it in, to take a deep breath with your eyes closed and are thankful for the gift of life…?
The answers may surprise you. You have the power to choose: Stop or keep going in circles…Breathe…see the beauty and majesty around you…count your many blessings right now. Then ask yourself if the price you are paying without that idea is worth the stress and price of enduring it…to keep on without changing a thing…
God bless your journey and your choices, which is God in motion in your life.
The Flow of Life
During this special Holiday Season, I am reminded of the Flow of Life in and through us. Sometimes, it seems like the rocks from disturbances in our minds and affairs cause a minor, and sometimes major, change in the flow of our lives. How we react to those changes determines how we think and feel for minutes, days, months, and even years.
Life doesn’t come with guarantees. Changes in the current can send us on eternal goose chases. That is why one must be aware of one’s thoughts and feelings because they form the power of prayer and connection to the Higher Being in our lives…just like gasoline propels a vehicle forward. These create a mold to be filled, so it is of vital importance to you whether you are aware of it or not.
Are you stuck in a very unpleasant eddy? Something outside of you caused it. However, staying there is your choice. Each day, our choices form the backbone of our every day. They form a link in the flow of our life. The connected thoughts and emotions propel us forward, for good or ill.
As the days pass, we reinforce these flows.
How about you? Are you flowing or stuck? If you are stuck, it is up to you if you stay there.
The flow of our lives is vital to forward progress and movement. Is life a dance for you? Is it a waltz or heavy metal rock? Is Peace of Mind and Body important to you? I include Body because your health is directly tied to your thoughts and feelings.
Your choices got you here. Your choices can get you out.
Are you willing to define and find the Flow of Life in you personally?
God bless you one and all with your highest good in the moments, days, weeks, and years ahead!
Happy New Year 2025!
About Time
Time is the most precious item each one of us has. How we use it, however, is not in appreciation of that fact. We get so caught up in our daily lives that it is lost, perhaps forever, to each person.
What if:
One would never try to travel back in time to another situation or event, perhaps a happier one, not even for one day let alone for a few moments.
One would try to live every day as if it was special…of one’s extraordinary, ordinary life.
One remembers that all the trials, stumbles, and falls, as well as the successes, have brought one to this day, in spite of it all.
Think: Can one challenge oneself to travel through time together, doing one’s best to relish this remarkable ride?
God’s blessings on your journey!
2yq65
God’s Paint Brush
As I am sitting on our back porch, watching the sun go down, the promised Peace That Passath All Understanding fills me to the brim and beyond.
The quiet breeze ruffles the wind chimes as the beautiful gold color in the clouds becomes more prominent, moment by moment, spreading near and far. The magnificence unfolding is beyond a human’s paint brush because of the beauty it reveals.
I am reminded of the beautiful colors in birds and fish, all serving a purpose in nature.
As the colors begin to fade, I hear someone playing a flute.
Yet I carry the wonderful memory of these moments, captured in my heart.
I am grateful to have seen it, to cherish these feelings of peace and joy in an uptight world, rushing by, unseeing and unaware of the magic that is now mine.
So few stop their furious pace even for a moment to see the beauty that surrounds them: God’s messengers of Peace and Joy if one just stops long enough to behold the wonders and beauty of this world.
What do you choose, moment by moment?
God’s blessings on your journey.
Thanksgiving and Christmas – New Year
First, let me take this opportunity to give you warmest wishes for the happiest of Thanksgivings and Christmases, as well as a Happy New Year. God bless you and yours with the highest good for each person. Whatever has happened in your world since this time last year, you have to go on believing that this season and next year can be filled with that highest good, with forgiveness where it is so needed of self and others, and with the joy of living each day the very best you can, doing one thing at a time. May your stresses evaporate and peace replace the space in your being that all the stresses sucked out of you.
That being said, attitudes about Thanksgiving (especially gratitude) and Christmas (joy of Life and givingness in all ways, big and small, to ones you care about deeply, whether it is time, effort or helpfulness in all its many forms) actually begin inside of you…the Heart. If you look inside of you instead of outside at all the commercialism, you will find peace in lieu of stress, joy instead of the rush to find the perfect gift–which you may or may not afford–for someone else, the gift of time spent with loved ones and really active listening to what they have to say to you in lieu of forming a response in your own mind–be it defensive, un-asked-for advice, or anything else.
These Holidays will pass so swiftly that you will wonder where the time goes. It is up to you if you incur stresses beyond your imagination or glide with a smile through your days, enjoying this time of year as it was meant to be.
Our rule is as follows for gatherings:
- “A dry crust of bread eaten in peace and quiet is better than a feast eaten where everyone argues. Better is a dry morsel with joy, than a house full of victims with strife. Better is a dry morsel and quietness therewith, than a house full of feasting with strife. Better a bite of dry bread [eaten] in peace than a family feast filled with strife.”
Having said all this, know that your choices will create your reality at this time of year as well as the rest of the year. Choose wisely what is best for you as well as others for these days will pass and soon you will face the challenges of life that the New Year brings.
God bless you and yours during this time of year. Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Seeds of Thought
Seeds of thoughts are powerful things…for out of them one makes choices, which is the Power of God in Motion in our lives! Thinking generates emotions, which is the driver of our reality.
These seeds we plant in the soul of our lives. From them come the plants that feed and nurture our souls. From them comes the strength to meet our daily vicissitudes with calmness, knowing God is helping us every moment of our day, no matter the situation.
One of God’s names is Emmanuel, which means God With Us. That means we are not alone…except for the idea that we can shut that God off because we don’t turn within and listen. God has not left us. We simply turn our attention to other things, like loneliness and feeling separated from others. Instead of taking His Hand as our Companion, we let go of that Hand and walk according to our own understanding of our reality. How does this happen? One thought at a time.
My personal motto which I live by:
I will plant my seeds for today the very best I can because they are the fruits and blossoms of my tomorrows yet to be.
The reason the present is so vital is because this moment is all we have to live in…our PRESENT.
God bless you on your journey.
upliftingthoughts4u 