The glad game

One of my favorite movies is Pollyanna, my kids just tease me because they think it is so corny but I think deep down they really like it. I love it because Pollyanna even though her circumstances weren't the best ...she seemed to find the good in everything. Life is tough and there is truly a lot of things that can make you discouraged and depressed but once again, it is our choice on how we want to handle each day and each circumstance.

I receive through my e-mail  inspirational thoughts and offers for books and movies from Mac Anderson the founder of Simple Truths. Here is summary of a book they are now promoting, it went along with my theme tonight so I thought I would share it with you. I hope it makes you want to start playing The Glad Game...right away!

Play the Glad Game...

In her wonderful book, The Wealthy Spirit, Chellie Campbell describes how, when she was a girl, her mother taught her to play "The Glad Game." On days when Chellie came home from school complaining about something - a bully on the playground, a harsh teacher, a skinned knee, or difficult homework - Chellie's mom would hug her, kiss away her tears, and then suggest, "OK, enough complaining. Let's play 'The Glad Game.'"
"The Glad Game" is another name for a Gratitude List. The Glad Game helps you focus on what's right in your world today, instead of what's wrong. Chellie's mom was a very wise woman, teaching her that no matter what your troubles, there are still plenty of things to be grateful for: a sunny day, good food to eat, a loving family, a house to live in, a family pet to love, a handful of friends to enjoy, and much, much more.
Chellie would follow her mother's suggestion:
"I'm glad I have you as my mom."
"I'm glad the weekend is almost here."
"I'm glad I have some nice clothes to wear to school."
"I'm glad I don't have to share my room with my sister anymore."
"I'm glad I get to watch TV when I finish my homework."
"I'm glad we have pie for dessert."
Playing "The Glad Game" is a terrific way to change your attitude in a hurry. We all slip into self-pity once in a while - after all, we're only human. The important thing is to cut the pity-party short and shift into gratitude. An attitude of gratitude will get you much farther in life than complaining and self-pity. Try it and see.
This is one of many short chapters in Learning to Dance in the Rain...The Power of Gratitude.
Dancing in the rain isn't something that most of us are born knowing how to do. We learn it. We learn it from others; we learn it from Life. The more we dance, the better we get at it. With practice, dancing in the rain becomes almost automatic. We no longer seek to run from storms...instead, we toss back our heads, throw out our arms, pick up our feet, and DANCE!

"Maybe you are here on earth to learn that life is what you make it, and it's to be enjoyed."
Dick Sutphen

"The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things."
- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-87)

Pennies...a simple reminder!

You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story. Gives you something to think about.

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend.. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.
The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live... The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely..

As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband.. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment..

Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts Still silent, the man reached down and picked
up the penny.

He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?

Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value..

A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this?
"Look at it." He said. "Read what it says." She read the words " United States of America "
"No, not that; read further "One cent?" "No, keep reading."
"In God we Trust?" "Yes!" "And?"
"And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is
written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment.. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!

When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, "In God We Trust," and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message.

It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And, God is patient..

"God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow,sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way."

Being ready and prepared

Today in church I learned a great lesson about being ready and being prepared to do what the God needs you to do. In the book of Job we read in the 32nd chapter that "there is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding".  In the book of 1 Kings chapter 19 we read where the Lord speaks to Elijah, not in the wind, nor the earthquakes, nor the fire, but in a still small voice.

The speaker today started by asking the audience to close their eyes, then be very quiet and listen very carefully to 4 different sounds. She challenged us to identify them in our minds if we knew what they were. It was a simple demonstration, but a very valuable object lesson.  After she let us hear all the sounds then she asked us to open our eyes and she then showed us what all the objects were. Then she asked us..."why do you think it was so easy to hear what each thing was?"  Her point was, it was easy because the room was quiet and the sounds were magnified. Then she talked about the scripture with Elijah and how he learned first hand that the Lord does not speak with a loud voice but a very still small voice.

The point also was.... that we listen best when we are ready and prepared to hear what is being told to us. We need to remember to find time to be quiet  and truly listen to what God wants to tell us. Many times we are so busy and there are so many things around us to drowned out that still small voice. Like the phone, TVs, computer, music and on and on. Remember the Lord whispers not shouts! So reverence invites revelation!

I have said before that I think one of the most important things you can figure out in our lives, is to know what the Lord wants us to do each day! Truly understand what our individual mission is here on earth. Knowing that, can make all the difference in the quality of our lives. Are we just wandering around, killing time or do we have a real purpose and mission?

It was a great lesson for me to remember to stop and take time each day to be quiet, pray, study, meditate and listen to that still small voice of inspiration and understanding. I have heard it many times in my life and each time I have been blessed, if I follow it. But there have also been many times in my life that I have been too busy, too many things have been going on that I didn't take the time to be quite and listen and there is a definite difference on those days. Learning how to eliminate some of those distractions (even for a little while) gives me the opportunity to know for a fact what I should be doing. Knowing what your mission is and doing it is....a great feeling!

I hope this is as good of a reminder to you, as it was for me today!  Sundays...I love them!

 

"People only see what they are prepared to see."  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"If you are prepared, you will be confident, and will do the job"  ~ Tom Landry

“I find that when I get casual in my relationships with divinity and when it seems that no divine ear is listening and no divine voice is speaking, that I am far, far away. If I immerse myself in the scriptures the distance narrows and the spirituality returns."   ~Spencer W. Kimball

Optimism!

I read this article that was interviewing Michael J. Fox about his life and dealing with Parkinson's Disease. It interested me, because my mom had Parkinson's too. I found his attitude to be refreshing and a wonderful reminder to me... to make each day count and to be optimistic.

How do you think you helped yourself accept the diagnosis?

I think it is humility and saying "I can't negotiate this. I can't use who I am in the world to get out from under this." Humility is always a good thing. It's always a good thing to be humbled by circumstances so you can then come from a sincere place to try to deal with them.

Once I started to calm everything down, it was just living with the diagnosis and then allowing myself to accept and educate myself about it. I [spoke] to doctors and scientists, and then also concentrated on my family and realized that I didn't have to fear the effect on them. I kind of projected all my worries onto them and thought they must have the same doubts or the same concerns that I had--without giving them a chance to tell me how they really felt. And when I did, they were great. I mean, [my wife] Tracy was unbelievable. But my first assumption was who'd want to deal with this if they didn't have to?

How do you stay so optimistic?

Well, because the world is just so full of possibilities. I was in Mexico a couple of years ago, and we were hiking on a trail on the Yucatan Peninsula. We had a guide, and he showed us this tree on one side of the path that had this red sap. And he said, "If you see this sap, this tree, don't touch it because it'll burn you. It's really caustic and it's acidic and it'll burn your flesh." And then we walked a little bit further down the trail, and there was a tree on the other side that was a black tree and had a black tar. And he said, "This tar heals burns."

And I just thought, well, that's the world—for everything that'll burn you, there's something that'll heal your burns. So I just stay on that side of the path.

I see possibilities in everything. For everything that's taken away, something of greater value has been given. As big as my problems are, as big as Parkinson's is, for example, it can't take up that much space in a world that has so much capacity for good stuff. It just doesn't. I just don't let it take up that much room.

Do you think one can always be both optimistic and realistic?

Absolutely.

Aren't they sometimes at odds?

No, I don't think so. I mean, I think it's okay, obviously, to acknowledge obstacles and setbacks and problems and issues. But as long as you're dealing with the truth, you're in good shape. I find as long as I acknowledge the truth of something, then that's it. I know what it is and then I can operate. But if I overestimate the downside of something or the challenge of something and I get too obsessed about the difficulty of it, then I don't leave enough room to be open to the upside, the possibility.

So I think you definitely have to acknowledge the fact of something. If something isn't a movable object, then you have to start thinking about getting around it. But you can't do that until you acknowledge it and take its full measure and understand its true weight.

Where do you most often find happiness?

In my family, in being with my wife and my kids. If at any moment of stress or tension or whatever I could close my eyes and be anywhere, it'd be with them. That's just never ending. I just get so much joy from my family.

What inspires you?

I think just every new day, just waking up. I wake up curious every day and every day I'm surprised by something. And if I can just recognize that surprise every day and say, "Oh, that's a new thing, that's a new gift that I got today that I didn't even know about yesterday," it keeps me going. It keeps me more than going. It keeps me enthusiastic and grateful.

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” ~Winston Churchill

" For myself I am an optimist- it does not seem to be much use being anything else" ~ Winston Churchill

"One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn't pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself." ~ Unknown

I hope you enjoyed the article! Good night dear friends!