On A Positive Note...

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." -Philippians 4:8

Positive thinking. Plain and simply put, it is hard as mess. It is very easy to worry, complain, and just be miserable. But what good does that do you? For me, I consider optimism to be kind of like a tenth fruit of the spirit. It is something that is hard to attain and even harder to keep at times. Things in life get us down but it is our choice to handle hardships however we would like. We can complain and make ourselves (and everyone else that has to listen to us) more miserable, or we can choose to be positive and to handle situations in better, more optimistic ways. Maya Angelou once said, "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude." I agree 110 percent with this statement. It is not our situation that determines what we are capable of doing and what we get out of things, it is our attitude. 

The above verse is not only a command to be optimistic, but it specifically tells us what things we should think about and dwell on. If we can manage to keep our thoughts and attitudes focused on the things mentioned in Philippians, I think that we may find that all tasks and situations become more manageable. 

Lastly, if anything seems unbearable or it seems impossible to remain positive about it, we should seek the Lord and His help in these hard times. He is the sole provider of peace and refuge. In Psalm 18:2, David says "The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer. My God is my Rock in whom I take refuge." So the challenge for this blog is to keep it positive and to think about true, lovely, pure, just, commendable things! You, and everyone around you, will be happier!