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| Reflections... |
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| ....on the Road to Recovery |
A few days ago, I was driving around and had a bunch of negative thinking going on. So many blessings in my life... so much to be grateful for... and my mind is full of negativity.
A thought came to me: I didn't need to change anything, go anywhere, buy anything, watch anything, play anything... do anything at all to change my frame of mind... I just needed an attitude adjustment.
Needed to view things from a different perspective. Turn my attention elsewhere. A thought adjustment such as life is, and never will be, perfect. We are always going to have some type of struggle and challenge going on... no matter how much we try to control things. It's the way we look at these things and how we address them that determines our state of mind.
Is it a major problem or a minor obstacle?
Is there action we can take to address the situation or do we need to accept part or all of it as "life"?
Is there any positive side to it... short or long term?
Can we use the situation to encourage or help someone else who has a similar situation?
Is it something that will help us build a stronger recovery program?
Get us closer to God?
This is an issue for me more often than I'd like to admit. I met with a few of the elders from my church 2 weeks ago to pray and receive direction from God. I've realized that I cannot control how others respond to situations, but I can control how I react. I have remind myself of this constantly. I am so easily disappointed when I see a friend or a sponsee struggle with something when the solution seems so obvious to me. Again, this affects me the most & it's wrong. God's will, not mine--these words sum it up. I'm grateful to the Lord for my periodic "attitude adjustments."
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Steve. Interesting how our concerns shift over time from ourselves to those around us who are struggling. That's growth and progress. Rick
ReplyDelete