True Positive Thinking

When you look around you, do you perceive the glass to be half full or half empty? I have to be honest, I often look at life through negative-tinted glasses. I can assume a situation is negative, when it is really not. When I see or hear something that is negative, I often blow it up to catastrophic proportions in my mind. I often think of worst case scenarios. It is something I struggle with.

While I often have a "glass half empty perspective" of life, my spouse has the opposite tendency. He does not view the glass as "half empty" or even "half full", but rather as "full". Once when I questioned him about this, and accused him of being idealistic and over-positive, he reasoned that his way must not be wrong since mathematicians also round up when estimating a number that is exactly in the middle. I had to chuckle at his way of looking at it. I am truly thankful, though, to have a partner who helps to balance me out. He often encourages me to "think positive". It's hard though, to change a whole way of thinking. If, for example, you see a person and you believe in your mind that the color of her hair is "dirty blonde", it is hard to just say with any conviction that she has golden hair. 

However, last week I was reading my Bible and found an absolute gem of a verse. It literally stopped me in my tracks. It was Psalm 119:64 which says, "The earth is filled with your love, Lord; teach me your decrees." Think of that -- the earth is filled with God's love! I am now holding on to that verse every day, to keep myself from getting into the trap of negative thinking and to help me think more positively. Instead of letting my thoughts dwell on the sad, scary or annoying things happening in my life, I find myself looking around now to find evidence of God's love. For example, the other day I felt His love for me when a friend sent me an encouraging message. I also saw God's love when I woke up after a good sleep and saw that the sun had once again risen and was shedding its warm rays on the street in front of our house. When I read a passage of Scripture that just "so happened" to touch on a specific issue that I was facing, I was acutely aware that that was another evidence of God's love for me. In fact, I can see God's love right now, as I sit before a beautiful waterfall and hear the roar of its cascading water. I am aware that it is because of God's love that my kids and I were able to find this peaceful spot in nature only 45 minutes from our house and have a time of refreshing during this lock down our country is experiencing. 

Indeed, this world is filled with God's love! "Open my eyes Lord, that I would continue to look for and see your love all around me. And teach me Lord, your decrees - more truths from you Word - so that I will have a better and more clear perspective of life and ultimately serve you and my neighbors more effectively.

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