THOUGHTS

This thought came to me on March 18, 2020….my father’s birthday.

He would have been 117, born in 1913. His father was born in 1863 during the Civil War. (Crazy to think my grandfather was born then. My parents married late and had us kids late. 95% of my relation marry late!)

We come from a long line of ‘thinkers’…always trying to simplify and solve things.

My daughter recently gave me a notepad with the phrase,

“What can I overthink today?”

So anyway the (my) thought was quite simple:

“Your best work is only a thought away. Think well today!”,

So with this thought in mind…what can we think about to improve…

…a relationship, a job, a task, a schedule, a project, a technique, a design?

What could we begin…

…a new adventure, a new hobby, a new product, a new connection, a new job, a new vocation, a new recipe, a new book?

Take your pick! It is only a thought away….your best work !!!

(keep thinking, keep improving, your work will only get better!)

What Do You See?

It’s a matter of training; training ourselves what to look at… a matter of focus.

We don’t aim our cameras for any old shot to take, we take good aim and focus on what we want shown in that picture …that will no doubt be shared with others.

What we focus our thoughts and lives on is what we will share with others in our words or through our actions.

Focus on ugly often leads to doing ugly.

Focus on good often leads to doing good.

An artist focuses on what he wants to paint or draw and that’s what he produces. Even in a ‘non-artistic’ mode what we focus on is what we draw out of our lives.

What are you focusing your lens on?

What are you painting on your life canvas that will be shared with others?

Give them a good picture.

Give them something worthwhile to remember.

Give them something to inspire them to paint a better picture.

It’s Just Me…

‘I keep having thoughts that I should go talk to so and so, that I should go help so and so, that I should write an article, book, speak to this person, apply for this job, start this business, but that’s just me and I don’t want to be proud and do what I think, after all, it’s not about me.’ ‘My church doesn’t believe God talks to people anymore so I know it’s not Him…so I guess I’ll just ignore all these thoughts and go about my own way.’

‘Is this right?’

Well, God does use all the ‘ME’s’ out there. He has chosen to use people to speak through, work through, pray through, love through, care though. He doesn’t personally come down and wipe away tears, or sit in the living room and visit with us. He uses us…people. I haven’t heard God speak audibly to me, but now that God lives in my heart, I can hear Him through His word. I may be in a situation and need some wisdom or help, and I say a quick prayer to God, “Help, Lord, I need your wisdom.” And sure enough a verse of scripture many times pops into my mind, or I’ll remember something the pastor said in a message that is the answer to my prayer and everything ends up ok. John 14:26 says the Holy Spirit will bring to our remembrance that which He has spoken to us, so that is what is happening in my life here.   Or, I’ll have the thought to stop by and see someone and it turns out they were in need of something that I could provide; sometimes it was just lending an ear, or walking to their mailbox for them, putting away their groceries or taking out the trash.

If we aren’t careful, we can be so concerned that ‘it’s just us’ that we miss many opportunities to do good to others, because we were afraid of stepping out on a ‘hunch’ we had… that could have been a real blessing to another person.

And I have found when the other person is blessed, so am I. The joy and happiness from helping another human being seems to take away my troubles and I feel light and refreshed inside!

Go out and do good to somebody today!