Gratitude is trending upward. It makes me happy and even more grateful to see it more and more in my social media newsfeeds. If you're thinking "yeah, right!" then maybe you need to take a good, long look at the habits you are practicing and who you are BEING. Are YOU inviting the "Negative Nancy's" into your daily thoughts and actions? By simply allowing the things you see and hear to affect your moods, thoughts and actions, you are inviting negativity to rent space in your heart and mind. Cleansing the negativity from your life is not only good for the soul, it can be viewed as a biblical call to action.
Colossians 3:2 says "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." (KJV)
Philippians 4:11b-13 says "... for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. 13 I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me." (HCSB)
There are many more passages found in The Bible that point us toward an attitude of gratitude. And please hear me...I am not telling you to go on a massive "unfriending" spree, or to start making a list of people who annoy you and cause you to go into negativity overload and delete them from your life. I'm saying it starts and ends with YOU. If you can remain steadfast in your love for people, no matter their ugliness or possible expressions of a foul, negative attitude, YOU are the one who benefits! Keep your focus on the things you are grateful for. Keep your emotions in check when you are tempted to put your feelings on social blast. I know firsthand that it is never worth it and it never actually makes you feel any better in the long run. Don't allow negativity to pass from your ears into your spirit.
More importantly, do not forget that kindness and grateful living are a contagious combination. Take your new habits one step further and let your gratitude be known. It is a BEAUTIFUL thing when this more positive and grateful way of thinking *clicks* with us and settles into our hearts and minds. So I challenge you, with a pure heart, don't just let it click for you. LIVE IT OUT. It will change your life and the lives all around you that are so downtrodden and hopelessly negative. You will reach people whose inner light is barely flickering or has been altogether snuffed out. If you've reclaimed your bright, inner light after a season of hardship, let others borrow it as a candle's flame can light another candle. Your story and your openness can speak straight into the darkness of a negative, ungrateful life.
Before you know it, you will be surrounded and filled with love and peace and light.
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