I just stepped away from the family for a few minutes because all of you, my dear friends and subscribers, are in my thoughts at the moment.
For those of us who are Christians, this is a very special time of year.
But I also am praying that those who are Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or atheist, that this will also be a time of blessing for you.
And I’m conscious that while this time is a time of great joy for many, it is a time of sadness and disappointment for others. If that is you, you are on my heart right now.
When Challenges Come…
You will not know, because I haven’t shared this, but in the last 2 years I have faced some of my own personal challenges – challenges that have literally brought tears to my eyes.
These things are a part of life – but knowing that doesn’t make it any easier when challenges come.
What to do then?
If you have a faith, rest on that faith. If you do not have a faith, consider getting one! (see my blog post on the topic)
But either way, whether this Christmas you are happy, or lonely, sad or hassled and still at work…
…develop, if you can, an attitude of gratitude for what you do have.
I remember Joe Vitale (one of the guys in the Secret DVD) talking about when he was dead broke and with nothing. But he had a pencil and a pad.
He looked at his pencil, and started to feel grateful for it. He realized what he could do with it. He thought about how it could be a start to a new life, if he started to use it. And it was. He never looked back!
Gratitude
No matter how down we are, and I have been there recently, we can find something to be grateful for.
And if we can start to feel gratitude, even for something small (a roof over our heads? clean water from tap?), we can begin to change our whole outlook. And once our outlook becomes positive, we can begin to break free from so many shackles that hold us down.
So my prayer for you is that this Christmas is a time of blessing for you all, that those of you who have the privilege to be joyful, should be joyful to the max!
And that those of you that face sadnesses or disappointments of one kind or another, would find both peace and a new beginning in a time of reflection.
To paraphrase one famous line:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, press on toward the goal!
Bless you all this Christmas time,
John
1 Comment
Brad Blosser
July 8, 2016It’s amazing really that there have been 0 responses to this commentary John.
Even though I’ve been through heckfire financially the last 10 years I’m still grateful everyday I wake up, if for no other reason than that … waking up.
Others complain about the constant rain in Washington State here in America.. I think thank you Lord for the rain because I can give some roses and carnations to my wife and daughter… I thank him because the rain fills the rivers and allows my beloved Salmon and Trout to come in from the ocean so I can enjoy my favorite past time.
I’m even thankful for the financial hardship that we’ve been through for the last several years. It’s made me wiser, tougher, more mature and I think a better husband and father.
If you had asked me 15 years ago that I’d be happy that I spent $50k USD moving my family to Anchorage, AK only to be unemployed from my new employer only 6 months later I would have called you a full bore idiot.
less than a year after swallowing my pride and being forced to move my family back down to Washington state and no other choice but to squeeze my growing family into my elderly mothers home and all that goes with having a wife and kids in your mothers home… then going into the hospital without insurance for 11 day in intensive care and almost dying then finding myself over $40k further in debt because of medical bills…. then going back to college and not finishing my degree before my financial aid ran out leaving me $70k in debt and not even getting a degree let alone a job again in the IT industry if you had told me 15 years ago that I’d still be smiling and praising the Lord I’d be calling you daft and looney.
But… I believe good can come out of destruction. I believe hope can exist in the midst of tears and I believe that if you never give up, you’ll get somewhere you want to get. That’s my hope before I die anyway…
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