Left Out in the Rain

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 126. Here is what I learned.

“The Lord has done spectacular things for them.” The Lord has done spectacular things for us.  We are overjoyed. Psalm 126:2b, 3 (GW)

There’s an old song that I heard on the Partridge Family re-run, “She’d rather have the Rain”. The gist of the song is that no matter what the boy could do or give the girl, she’d would rather have the rain.... the more unpleasant item. 

As I read Psalm 126, I had to think, when God does spectacular things, am I happy with what He’s done and how He chose to accomplish it... or I’m I like the girl in the song... not satisfied, and would rather have the rain? 

I wonder how many times, God has given me an amazing blessing, but I was too focused on what I thought I wanted, or needed, that I missed seeing the blessing. 

I wonder how many times, God has wanted to give me a wonderful gift, but I was too focused on getting what I wanted myself, that I missed the opportunity of letting God present me with the gift of His choice. 

Would I really, “rather have the rain, than anything He could give me?” 

It comes down to making sure that my focus, will, and goals match what God’s are. I need to realize that I may not understand the gift God gives me at a particular time, but I can be assured that the gift is exactly what I need. 

To create a positive day, I need to be open and willing to accept what God wants to give me, otherwise I will be left out in the rain, miserable and missing God’s blessings! 

2012

It’s December 31, 2011, and I’m thinking about my goals (some call them resolutions) for 2012. Oh, there are the “normal” goals which everyone makes, and not many keep: lose weight, exercise more, etc.

But what are my goals?

What do I want to accomplish
throughout 2012?

Okay, that’s not right—they shouldn’t be “MY” goals, rather the question should be:

“What does God want me to accomplish throughout 2012?”

That’s a much better perspective. Since God has a purpose and plan for me (Jeremiah 29:11) each goal I set, needs to fit into His plan. As I move forward in my life, I also have to look back and see all that God accomplished. Over the past eleven years, He has taught me amazing lessons, and has demonstrated His love in the most creative ways. I never would have imagined that a back injury in October 2000, would change my life so dramatically and at the same time present so many different opportunities.


So, as I reflect on the past, and prepare for the year ahead, the main thought which I can’t seem to ignore is “writing”. Oh, I mean more than on my blog. Perhaps it’s time to write a book: “It’s all in the details.” Even if I only write it for myself, I think it would be a wonderful blessing to see how God took care of each and every detail in my life.

As I think of where to begin on the details, it’s hard to know where to start. For so many of the situations, God worked years in advance to make sure everything was ready for me at the right time. But since I need a starting place, why not start in October 2000. For me, that’s when I began to personally notice how detail oriented God is. 

As of today, December 31, 2011, I believe that God’s 2012 goal for me is to WRITE.

If you have favorite stories, either from my blog, or from being part of my life, I’d like to hear what they are. You can email them to me, or comment on this blog post.

It’s all the details.

I'm looking forward to seeing God’s attention to details during 2012. And knowing that God is very detail oriented, He won’t miss a thing!

And that, my friends

will make 2012 a VERY POSITIVE year!

Failure?

Goals. We set them to achieve a variety of things. We set daily goals, weekly, and even yearly goals. Often our goals are multiple faceted.


Working toward goals can be very beneficial. It gives us purpose and direction. What happens when we have to change our goals? If we don't complete our goals are we failures? Are we less than we were before?

To answer those questions, we have to look at what goals are, and why we set them. Goal are set by us to achieve something. We aim to complete a task, or change our lives in someway. We set goals to give us direction and motivation. Goals give us a way to mark our progress. If we don't know where we are going, we can't see from where we come.


We set goals for the future. However, we have one problem—we don't know what the future holds. We can plan, but there are things which are out of our control. There are accidents, illness, equipment failure, and many other factors, that we have no knowledge or control.

The best thing about setting goals is modifying them along the way. As the future arrives, we have to evaluate our goals and continue to change it make it relevant for today. We may accomplish our goal earlier than planned, or realize that the goal we set is unrealistic or unhealthy.

As we evaluate our goal

we look at what we accomplished,

where we wanted to be and

how we plan to accomplish our goal.

Not completing a goal because we've modified, does not make us a failure. Rather very smart. Each goal needs to be continually modified.

Not completing a goal because of injury or illness, does not make us a failure. Rather we must look at our goal and modify it to fit our new limits.

If a goal is not reached because of unforeseen circumstances does not make a person a failure. Rather we can move forward with a new goal from the position we find ourselves.

The only person who fails is the one who doesn't set a goal and work on achieving that goal. Or the one who stops setting goals simply because they had to modify a goal.

Goals are to motivate us. If we lose heart and give up forever, than we have to evaluate our original goals. We can't stop everything because we didn't accomplish the ultimate goal. We have to keep sight of what we did accomplish and realize that we did well on what we did finish.

Creating a positive day is a daily goal. And often it's accomplished not by what I do, but rather by seeing God at work or how others grow. Creating a positive life is done one day at a time... it's a goal to work on each and every day. 

Taking a Break

Taking a break. That sounds easy, but can often be very difficult to do. When working toward a goal, it can be a both positive and negative. Positive: to review the progress. Negative: hard to get started again. Positive: a time to reflect and modify the goal as needed. Negative: get side-tracked on other goals. Positive: gather strength to continue. Negative: realize how much energy is needed to reach the goal. 

The list could continue. Everything can have a positive or negative effect. However, taking a break can be very positive and usually is needed. If we don't stop from time to time to reflect, and if needed, readjust our goals, we can lose sight of where we are going and what we are doing. Sometimes, we are forced to take a break, and we waste that time wishing we were moving forward, rather than evaluating and enjoying the break.

Taking a break.

Simple, yet very difficult. 

To maintain momentum when a break is needed, keep focused on the ultimate goal. Review your progress and make notes of what worked and what didn't. Make adjustments as necessary so when your break is over, you can begin working toward your goal again. 

There are times when God forces us to take a break (simply because we are too stubborn to stop ourselves). God has very unique and creative ways to make us face and evaluate our goals. God wants to keep us on track and if we lose sight of His leading, He may sideline us to get our attention.

Taking a break.

Time to reflect, make adjustments

and gather strength

to continue toward your goal. 

Do not take a break from creating a positive day! Being positive is vital especially when taking breaks. By remaining positive, you will continue to see the possibilities before you as you continue on your journey to reach your goal.

Comparison

Yesterday, I was talking with my chiropractor, Dr. Moore.

We were discussing Bruce Johnson,

 a gentleman running

across America to raise awareness and money

for Community Crisis
Center, Elgin, IL (http://www.unitedstatesrun.com/).

He is running about a marathon a day to accomplish his goal. He's had a few injuries recently, yet he continues to run in spite of the pain.

There are many people who can continue to do amazing things no matter the pain. How do these people accomplish that? There are days where my pain is so intense that I can't do much more than get dressed and make to the sofa. When I compare what I can do with other others do it's frustrating. Why can't I ignore my pain and do......whatever?

But then I stop. Comparison isn't always a good thing. Pain is very personal. Each person is able to handle pain differently. I've learned how to function well with a constant headache; however, some can't lift their heads off a pillow when they have a headache. We don't know how each other feels or what they are feeling. We only know what we experience and what our bodies can tolerate.

Some days I do push myself beyond my limit. But for me, that still backfires, has I end up on the sofa for several days until the pain level lowers to a functional level. But if I don't push myself from time to time, I won't know what I can do or handle. Yet, I can't compare my life with someone else. That's not fair to me or them. I do need to continue doing what I can each day to continue building stamina and tolerance to the pain. I need to work at listening to my body and realize when I'm reaching my limit and when I can push for more.

When I look back to the beginning of my pain journey, I can see the progress I've made. I've learned much about chronic pain and how the body works. I now can tolerate more pain than 9 years ago. And I've learned many techniques to handle chronic pain. Learning to live with pain is a journey. And a great deal of tolerating pain is mental. The mind is powerful and controls much of our health, however, we don't use the power of the mind like we should.

I look at others, like Bruce, who continue with their journeys in spite of the pain and applaud them! For me, I need to work with in my abilities and work toward my goals the way my body and mind allow me. I won't compare my progress to theirs, but their stories and lives will be inspirations to what the body can withstand.

Will I ever run a marathon? Probably not. Even before my injury, I was not a runner. But I do know that if I continue to work on my goals, I'll be closer to them, each year—that is one comparison worth making!

Creating a positive day is a personal achievement. Each day, it takes all my mental, physical, and spiritual abilities to create a day that is positive in all areas of my life. And all that energy spent, is well worth the effort. 

You can also follow Bruce on FaceBook:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/United-States-Run/143331158263?ref=nf.

Changing Habits

Not sure about you, but this last week of the year, is...well, strange. I'm winding down from all the Christmas activities, and it's not quite time to begin the "New Year's" activities.... then I thought why not?

Why can't I begin working on the New Year's Resolutions now? What is it about Jan 1st? It's not a "magic" date. "If you begin your resolutions on Jan 1st you will succeed". We all know that's not true.

This year, I'm doing several things differently. One, I'm not making resolutions, I am working on creating HABITS! I want to create habits which will have a positive impact in my life. 

My chiropractor has a very unique idea. He has 6 Factors of Health, which he's divided into the year. Every 2 months, we will work on creating a new health habit to build on the one created the months before. January and February the focus is Nutrition. I'm still working on my Nutrition habit, but it will do with eating proper meals on time. (I tend to eat when I remember or not at all... rather than when my body needs nutrients.)

I'm also creating a habit to be thankful. To help me with this habit, each day I'm writing down at least one thing for which I'm thankful.

Another habit I want to create is to be more aware of and encourage others. I have to figure out exactly what I want to do, and how to make it into a habit.

It's not about a date, or creating some unobtainable goal, rather it's about what habits do I want to change, or create. I like the idea of building on habits throughout the year. The end result is to become a better person. Maybe if I do it slowly over the entire year, the habits I create will actually become part of my life. Habits don't happen all at once.. they are CREATED.

Beginning today, I will begin creating new habits.

Creating a positive day is about habits. To make creating a positive day a habit, write down something positive about each day... then increase it to several times a day.. than as many times as you need to remind yourself that there is much of which you can be positive!

Thanks to Digi Web Studio (www.digiwebstudio.com) for the penguin artwork used to create this blog post.

Welcome!

I'd like to welcome you to my blog! My goal is to share some fun things that happen and maybe post a few scrapbook layouts. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you stop by again. Create a positive day!