Monday, August 31, 2009

Positivity

Takes a lot of personal growth to have the wisdom to choose to be positive. There are so many victims and whiners in the world! I despise that - I don't want to hear it! Yet, if I don't consciously choose to do otherwise, I can sure slip into it myself.

I've learned that everything has a flip-side. There are always up to the downs, advantages to the disadvantages. To choose to only look at the dark side and not even look for the light side is so limiting. ie So many people complain about their jobs, what day of the week it is. Wishing every day was another day. How can you be present in that situation? Wonder what job productivity is like when all one is thinking about is wishing they weren't there and wishing it was any day but this one. On Monday it should be Friday. Yeah, it's Wednesday-hump day. Paaaaaalease!

What about doing this: being grateful for the job even if it's not the end-all, dream job you'll have some day. Waking every morning saying, "THIS is the day that the Lord has made. I WILL rejoice and be glad IN it."

Negativity is so contagious. How about this experiment - see how many people we can affect with positivity!

"Hey, how ya doin'? Great rain out, huh?"

"Report done by 4:00? You bet! Would 3:00 be better?" I know what you're thinking on that one, but get the point?

I think good performance, though often labeled as "brown-nosing" or "sucking up" is just not in rich enough supply. My son, Jon, has an interesting spin on "brown-nosing." He says that some people might think that that's what he does, but he says that he notices that all they do is think thoughts like that and he gets the promotion and raise! Gotta love that boy! He's got it figured out because he's not afraid to bring his best game to the table and he doesn't worry about the naysayers who will criticize the producers. Walking the high road has its own rewards, but it certainly is not where you find most of the people. Most of the people are in the mediocre crowd- mediocre attitude, mediocre productivity, mediocre results. Wanna stay comfortable? That's where it's at. Wanna have a greater impact and massive results? Live above that.

Colossians 3:23 "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people." Wow, what a marvelous, refreshing perspective.

I guess it's slightly abnormal to be walking the high road and not caring about the interpretations or spins others might put on your choices, but to have what most people have, do what most people do and above all, be concerned about what they think about you. To have more, be more and do more. In that regard we need all need to be "abnormal." Being "normal" is highly overrated!

We're talking about "Positivity!" That is in opposition to the very accepted and popular style of thinking - negativity. We have to remember that we attract more of the same to us from whatever well we choose to drink from. I'm not sure we make that connection, but it is one of the greatest truths in life that what we focus on expands and multiplies.

What should we choose to attract today and what do we want to attract in abundance next week? It starts with our thoughts today. Try "positivity."

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Knowledge That Has Served Me Well

1. When forced to chose between what someone SAYS and what someone DOES, I chose
their behavior every time. I don't hear nearly as well as I see.

2. We live with amazing power - the power to choose. I can choose whether to get pulled into the drama of life or not. I can choose to get mad at the airline ticketing agent who tells me that my flight has been cancelled or delayed. Or not. Watch the reaction when you choose to roll with the punches instead of venting on the innocent. So much of life is out of our control - the behavior of others, the weather, circumstances -- except for our own reactions. Why not choose to rise above the downward pull of natural human responses, the downward pull of what could be understood
as "normal" and choose instead to be the refreshing one, the positive, up-beat one? The world needs that, you need that, others need to see that modeled.

3. I choose my path and that automatically determines consequences. We can choose to be grateful, for instance, and more things come into our lives for which we can be grateful. We make the right kind of friends and we don't have nearly the challenges we would have if we made friends with people of poor character. We work hard and the fruit of our labor abounds. There is this equation in life of _______ = ________. You don't see inequity there. It's called the law of sowing and reaping. I love it that I get to choose my path. Even good friends don't always understand my choice, but here's the good part. Their understanding isn't necessary for my choice to be a good one. The one God has for me. The real good friends don't understand my choice but love me all the same. That's their choice. And I personally think it's a good one! :)