When you start getting lost and losing your way, what do you do? Start winging it and trying this turn, then that, and trust that you’ll get where you’re going even though you don’t know where you are now? That’s one approach.
Another is the thinking that the longer you go, the more off-course you could get, so before it’s too late, get back to the main road. That’s what this is about – a brief series of little reminders of how to stay on the main road. When things start feeling complicated, that’s your cue to keep it simple.
I hate steps and lists when they become substitutes for appreciating the uniqueness of every moment and circumstance, but sometimes brief lists can be life-savers. I have a bunch of these little lists I’ve collected on a handful of note cards paper-clipped together. Some are things I’ve learned that have helped me while others I’ve seen somewhere and they hit me as helpful. Here’s the first:
To avoid worrying, complaining, negativity and depression
1. Thank God – continually. If you absolutely can’t think of anything, like, say you have no arms or legs or family, and you’re just a head under a glass jar…
- then thank him that there’s air in the jar
- thank him that you have a glass jar around you that keeps cats from coming and licking your face…you can always find something to be grateful for…
2. Work
- you were created to do good works
- there’s always something to be done
- you were born to create, to move things, to put things in order, to improve, fix – you are made in God’s image – that’s what he does
- when you’re feeling negative and depressed, that is NOT the time for reflection – take it as a cue that it’s time to work.
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