I Can't Stop The Rain

“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.”  ~John Ruskin

It’s cold, then rainy, then windy, and then it’s hot!  Have you found yourself complaining about the weather?  I will admit that I do.  I love the sun, I am a solar person.  When it’s raining, I can feel my internal battery draining.  I then start to complain and ask, “When is the rain going to stop?”

Recently, parts of the country have experienced extremely heavy rainfall, which resulted in record level flooding.  Lives, homes and personal property were lost.  As I saw images on the news of the total devastation of whole communities, I started to reflect, and felt bad about my complaining. 

I committed to stop my whining and embrace each and every day for the opportunity it presents. To feel the cold, the rain, the wind and the heat on my skin is a blessing.

It is about experiencing life! 

You may be experiencing rain or heat in your life.  The heat of a poor economy or the rain of a myriad of personal problems.  Hold on, take a deep breath and let go of the things you cannot control and place your faith in God, the One who is able to get you through whatever you are going through.

Can a man, by worrying, add a day to his life?

“Every evening I turn my worries over to God.  He’s going to be up all night anyway” Mary C. Crowley

Have you ever seen the Traveler’s Insurance commercial where a dog takes his bone and tries to find a safe and worry-free place to place it?  He tries to bury it.  Then he places it in a safety deposit box.  That night he tosses back and forth worrying about the bone until he can’t take it anymore.  He then returns to the bank and takes it out.  Worry!

My mother used to always tell me not to worry about anything until you have something to worry about.  I love that!  So many of us allow ourselves to worry about things that have not even happened yet.

We start to build in our minds scenarios of what can possibly happen to us as a result of something that is going on around us. We think of the worst possible outcomes and then may even find ourselves unwittingly working towards making them happen.  Have you ever heard someone say, “I am a worry wart?”  It’s almost like they wear it like a badge of honor.

During one of my speeches I asked the attendees how many of them were filled with worry, anxiety and fear?  Several of them raised their hands.  I asked, “How is it working for you?”  They all started to laugh.  Laughter, that’s a good thing.  Laughing at things you cannot control takes some of the power and sting out of the situation.

The next time you are tempted to worry, think about giving the following a chance to help you overcome the temptation:

·         Ask yourself, what is the worst that can happen?  Then develop a game plan so in the event the worst happens, you are prepared to face it head on.

·         Don’t sweat the small stuff!  Don’t let the small stuff be bigger than it is.

·         Fill your mind with positive thoughts!  Displace the negative with the positive.

·         Remember:  This too shall pass!  Whatever you are going through will not last forever.

·         Lastly, pray and read your Bible.  Filling your heart with God’s soul food will leave you full and satisfied.

Although life will never be completely worry free, remember, worry never solved a problem or added a day to your life. 

What side of the bed did you wake up on?

Each day we wake up faced with the choice of how we are going to embrace the day.
  
How you embrace the day may depend on the amount of sleep, and the quality of sleep you had during the night.  How many times has your alarm gone off and you hit the snooze button because you are not ready to get up?  The quality of the sleep you had can make a tremendous difference on how you see the day.

Have you ever heard the term “he/she woke up on the wrong side of the bed?”  How many days during the week do you wake up feeling crabby and out of sorts?  Although sleep may be ". . . little slices of death” (Edgar Allen Poe), all of us need sufficient sleep.

A good night’s sleep can energize you and open up your mind to creative thinking.  When I get good sleep, I feel like there is nothing I can’t accomplish.

Before you get out of bed, providing you did not oversleep, be grateful for waking up to see another day. While lying down, take time to get a good stretch.  Take a deep breath.  Take time to collect your thoughts.  Now get out of the bed.

One of the worst things you can do in my opinion is to jump out of the bed and rush out of the house before you can even think about your day.

Instead of waking up on the wrong side, try waking up on the right side, the choice is yours.  

Do you have an Attitude or an ATTITUDE?

When you think of attitude what goes through your mind?  How you answer the question can reveal a lot about your current state.  Would your answer reveal someone who appears to be happy all the time or maybe someone who walks around with a chip on their shoulder?  Obviously, one is positive and the other negative.

A positive attitude is more than walking around with a smile on your face or projecting an air of happiness, not that there is anything wrong with that as long as it is genuine.  I think a positive attitude is more than just being upbeat and appearing happy.  I believe there are other forms of a positive attitude that can be just as liberating and uplifting to the people we interact with in our lives.

 

Here are just a few of the positive attitudes that I embrace:

• An Attitude of Compassion – A desire to free those who are hurting and suffering.
• An Attitude of Gratitude – Appreciation and thankfulness expressed for the blessings we have received.
• An Attitude of Forgiveness – Acknowledging the hurt and the wrongs done to you, but being willing to forgive whether you are asked or not.
•  An Attitude of Service – Living life with your hands stretched out with palms down.  Giving, not receiving.

Attitude is everything.  It is important that you embrace an attitude that elevates your mind and heart, which positively impacts the lives of those you come in contact with.

My father in-law used to say to my son, “There are a lot of attitudes out there, now go pick a good one!”