Sunday Inspirations - Attitude

"Everything we encounter throughout the day is a spiritual opportunity, if we approach it with love.  Every moment challenges us to rise to our highest: to choose strength over weakness, forgiveness over blame, faith over faithlessness, and love over fear.  And when we can't, we ask God to help us."

"...The attention we pay to the nature of our thinking, therefore, is the most powerful attention we can pay."
--Marianne Williamson, Everyday Grace

This morning in church, the sermon was about the "fruits of the Spirit" - specifically, self-control.  Many jokes were made about eating too much Halloween candy, and using the vices we each have to unhealthy results.  We even watched a video about kids and the "marshmallow test" that's used to test delayed gratification...  And while, yes, I have some definate issues with self-control in those areas (chocolate, anyone?) - my evening reading tonight made me think about the issue of self-control in a bigger sense, too.

Attitude.  In a conversation this week, a woman was filling me in on the hard time she and her husband are having...  And by the end of the conversation, she said, "I look at the other prayer requests and realize this is nothing really.  It will get better.  We pray and we keep moving forward and we're still very blessed."

Attitude is everything.  How we choose to view the world and the situations we find ourselves in - that's everything.  If I dwell on the problems of my day - I forget to notice the little things my husband does to make my life easier.  If I let one negative, biting comment get me down - I overshadow all the wonderful words that have lifted me up.  If I hold grudges, I miss out on new possibilities and a lighter heart.  If I live in my past, I miss out on the joy of today and the hope of tomorrow.

I pray today that God guides me how to live a bigger and better life - through self-control.  Control over my thoughts and attitude.  I pray that my heart is light and full of love everyday.  And when it's not...  That I remember to ask for help.

(And yes...  Ditto on the chocolate addiction, too!)


Things I am thankful for today:

1.  Hubby finally turned the furnace on!
2.  Celebrating Maggie's birthday with Ghiradelli brownies.  Yum.  (Chocolate, yes.  But I only had one!)
3.  Youth group kids making me laugh.
4.  Celebrating another birthday at church this morning - a spunky, lovely 90 year old!
5.  Sharing lunch with a friend and his two little ones.
6.  Yummy chili on a cool day!
7.  Watching my hubby play with Nola and Fin.  He's crazy.  And they loved it.
8.  A happy dog.
9.  Cuddling on the coach for our evening shows.
10.  Starting a new book!

"For as any one of us finds our wings, the entire world is lifted."

--Marianne Williamson