Don’t Let Anyone Take Your Pancakes!
I was reading several comments on Facebook yesterday, and I noticed that people by and large are extremely negative. In situation after situation, rather than seeing the positive in a situation, they saw the negative. When someone offered that they had car trouble, others began to tell them the worst case scenario rather than suggest that it could be minor. I have one young lady (who I really do love dearly) who is one of the most negative people I've ever met. The vast majority of her posts are about how awful her day has been, or that it was going to be a terrible day, or how much life sucks. I am reminded of the words of motivational speaker/writer Larry Winget when he said, "If life sucks it is probably because you suck!" What Winget was saying is that it's your outlook on life, your attitude that sucks.
He wrote a book that I have read and re-read several times now, titled, "Shut up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life!" That sums it up nicely, as far as I am concerned. You know, we all have some bad days... but if you are having a bad life; do something about it! Stop looking to everyone else to make your life fulfilling. Believe it or not, life really is NOT about who has the most marbles or toys at the end of the game. It's about enjoying the process... making life count each and every day.
Sunday morning as we were singing the first song of our worship service, I looked out and maybe 5 -7 people were singing and I swear, most of the people looked like someone had just told them they'd lost their job. I said to the people, "Who took your pancakes this morning?" They laughed and it got better, but people, we have got to understand that we get one shot at this life. Let's do it right! We get bad news. We have set backs. We all have problems and sickness does come our way. But we are alive! That's the good news! And if you know Jesus Christ as your savior, no matter how bad it may get, we KNOW it is going to get better!
Right now as I am typing this, tears are running down my face... not because I am sad, but because I am so sick I cannot stop my eyes or nose from running. I have coughed until my chest and my head hurt so bad each time that I do cough that I feel like I am gonna die. To make it even worse, I woke up just after 2:00 AM and started vomiting and had diarrhea. I spent the next 2 hours camped near the bathroom as it just would not stop. In short... I feel like, and I look like road kill today. But in the midst of my sickness, I keep telling myself, "this is just a little setback" and reminding myself that in a few days I will be well and all the things I am not able to do right now, I will get them caught up. I refuse to give in to whining. I refuse to become a "negative Nelly." Life is good... and I am blessed abundantly! I could start listing the problems we have right now in our house... the bills, the leaking faucets, the roof... and on and on and give it to self pity. But I tell myself, "I am blessed to have a house that I GET to do these repairs on. I am blessed to have a van that I GET to put new tires on. I am blessed to have two wonderful kids that I will GET to help put through college. Life is not negative... I am blessed!
Let me wrap this up today with a short story that really happened. Fred Smith submitted a paper to his professor in college with an idea to guarantee overnight delivery of documents and packages. His Yale professor wrote on that paper: "The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible."
A lot of people would have taken the advice of a Yale Management Professor that the idea was not feasible and trashed the idea. But Fred Smith was undaunted and went on to found Federal Express Corporation.
Stop listening to the voices that surround you that tell you how bad it is, that you can't do it, that it's not worth it... JUST STOP IT! Tune them out.
Life is a gift... what are you going to do with it?
I choose joy. I choose the high road. I've done the negative thing enough years of my life and I am choosing to enjoy this life and do my best to help others enjoy it too.
Yeah... I'm really sick today... but just wait until I feel better. I'll have a lot of down time to make up for, so stay out of my way!
He wrote a book that I have read and re-read several times now, titled, "Shut up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life!" That sums it up nicely, as far as I am concerned. You know, we all have some bad days... but if you are having a bad life; do something about it! Stop looking to everyone else to make your life fulfilling. Believe it or not, life really is NOT about who has the most marbles or toys at the end of the game. It's about enjoying the process... making life count each and every day.
Sunday morning as we were singing the first song of our worship service, I looked out and maybe 5 -7 people were singing and I swear, most of the people looked like someone had just told them they'd lost their job. I said to the people, "Who took your pancakes this morning?" They laughed and it got better, but people, we have got to understand that we get one shot at this life. Let's do it right! We get bad news. We have set backs. We all have problems and sickness does come our way. But we are alive! That's the good news! And if you know Jesus Christ as your savior, no matter how bad it may get, we KNOW it is going to get better!Right now as I am typing this, tears are running down my face... not because I am sad, but because I am so sick I cannot stop my eyes or nose from running. I have coughed until my chest and my head hurt so bad each time that I do cough that I feel like I am gonna die. To make it even worse, I woke up just after 2:00 AM and started vomiting and had diarrhea. I spent the next 2 hours camped near the bathroom as it just would not stop. In short... I feel like, and I look like road kill today. But in the midst of my sickness, I keep telling myself, "this is just a little setback" and reminding myself that in a few days I will be well and all the things I am not able to do right now, I will get them caught up. I refuse to give in to whining. I refuse to become a "negative Nelly." Life is good... and I am blessed abundantly! I could start listing the problems we have right now in our house... the bills, the leaking faucets, the roof... and on and on and give it to self pity. But I tell myself, "I am blessed to have a house that I GET to do these repairs on. I am blessed to have a van that I GET to put new tires on. I am blessed to have two wonderful kids that I will GET to help put through college. Life is not negative... I am blessed!
Let me wrap this up today with a short story that really happened. Fred Smith submitted a paper to his professor in college with an idea to guarantee overnight delivery of documents and packages. His Yale professor wrote on that paper: "The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible."
A lot of people would have taken the advice of a Yale Management Professor that the idea was not feasible and trashed the idea. But Fred Smith was undaunted and went on to found Federal Express Corporation.
Stop listening to the voices that surround you that tell you how bad it is, that you can't do it, that it's not worth it... JUST STOP IT! Tune them out.
Life is a gift... what are you going to do with it?
I choose joy. I choose the high road. I've done the negative thing enough years of my life and I am choosing to enjoy this life and do my best to help others enjoy it too.
Yeah... I'm really sick today... but just wait until I feel better. I'll have a lot of down time to make up for, so stay out of my way!
