Don't worry, be happy

Following a very bad experience I had with a reputable online store, I found myself really needing some positive energy to get me through the week. The situation made me take a step back and reflect.

What is the one of the biggest obstacles that we face in living a Christ like life and achieving our personal best?

Our mind and our thoughts. Begin to master them, and we can begin to live more satisfying lives. Then there would be little we could not accomplish over time. Happiness, love, character, success – they all begin in the mind.

The moment we begin paying attention to our thoughts we discover how unruly they are. Estimates place the number of thoughts we have each day at 40 to 60 thousand, and we really don’t have more than a very basic control over them. Increasing this control is often said to be the hardest work of all, but the rewards are priceless. The good news is; even the slightest increase in gaining this control is well worth it.

Joel Osteen talks about thoughts in his most recent book "Become a Better You". To over simplify, Joel says that if we would decide to automatically react to a bad situation by mentally "tagging" it with something positive, our attitude and demeanor will improve drastically.

Here are some things I try to do my best at to rid my mind of negative thoughts: Change the radio station. If the song or the talk is negative or depressing, find something else. Leave the water cooler or lunch room if conversation turns to gossip or something similarly unproductive. Don't use your autopilot to automatically react to everything. Take a minute to set up every situation that comes across your path with a positive thought.

David

Starting anew in 2008

It was great to see new faces in our home team gathering Monday evening (01/07/08). Welcome Brenda, Brandy, Mike and Simon (and kiddos!). Thanks for making us your BAF Home Team! We humbly come into 2008 knowing God is doing great things in the background of each and every one of our lives. He is going to take us places we never could dream possible. God is great!