Memorize the Good

Today is a gorgeous day where I live. Sunny, warm, clear crisp air, with an autumn stillness hovering like a protective hand. I love it, and so I'm going to memorize every second of it so that when dark, cold, drizzly winter days come I can close my eyes and remember today.

It really works! Our minds are powerful tools that we don't use well enough. But we can learn to use our memory, imagination, and interpretation of experience to help us Live in Truth.

Have a sunny day!

Healing

Good news! At first the doctor thought my foot was broken, but the x-rays showed that it is not. There is a lot of swelling in the joint and tissue damage, but no break! For a couple of days after the fall I ached everyplace-my hip, shoulder, foot toes, arm, and hand. I have several bruises and one scratch, but the amazing thing is watching this body heal.

Without me directing it or even knowing how to make it happen somehow my body is actively healing itself. Already, just four days after the fall, swelling is decreasing, bruises are diminishing, and pain is disappearing. It is such a miracle! Likewise, every day my body breathes, my heart beats, my blood circulates, my cells regenerate and I am doing nothing to make that happen. If God can make all that happen, certainly He can direct the rest of my life also.

all this reminds me that there is Someone in charge who knows what He is doing and that I am being cared for at all times. It is only my own thinking that gets in the way. When I relax, trust in God, and cling to the positive in life things take care of themselves in good ways.

Things eventually work out for good. As Paul explained to the ancient saints, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28).

Traveling in Truth

The farther down the street of Positivity you get the easier it is to travel.

At first Living in Truth is difficult. You are changing old habits and establishing new ones. You are changing old ways of thinking and thinking in new ways. It takes times to change habits and attitudes of thought, but with persistence it can be done.

The wonderful thing is that when we persist in Living in Truth, it begins to habituate so that Living in Truth is habit and the Truth is the way we think. Then Living in Truth becomes easy.

As Sharon Begley explains in her book, Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain,  

“The brain can change as a result of the thoughts 

we have thought.”

In other words there are actual physical changes that take place in us when we think differently and when those changes occur we are a different person. We act differently. Our habitual behavior is different. Our natural, first thoughts are different so that we aren't always fighting off what first comes to us and trying to replace it with something better.

When we Live in Truth we are different and so is the world around us!                  

No Big Deal!

I've actually got time today to stop and enjoy the beautiful world around me!

I can't begin to tell you how much the "But Thanks" game helped me through yesterday. By the end of the day I was exhausted and I was in even more physical pain, but my heart was so full of goodness that the pain didn't matter because all day long I kept thinking about how much worse it could have been and how grateful I was that it wasn't worse.

This morning the doctor ordered X-Rays on the right ankle, but I haven't heard yet what the verdict is. I do know that it is swollen and bruised and that it hurts to bend it, "But Thanks" I can still walk on it when it is stabilized in a boot that comes up to my ankle.

Living in Truth really works. I am very happy today. I'm considering it a day off and doing some things I normally would not be able to enjoy. In other words, I'm looking at this as an opportunity! I know that six years ago, before I learned about Living in Truth, I would have been in the Pit of Illusion big time by today and so full of vexation I would be physically ill and unable to enjoy anything at all.

I LOVE Living in Truth!

Playing the "But Thanks" Game

I'm playing the But Thanks game today. My day started like all teaching days. The alarm went off, I rolled out of bed, put on my exercise clothes, and walked downstairs to get a drink of water before my prayers and stretching out. 

The only problem is that instead of walking down the last three or four stairs, I tumbled down them. My shoulder hurts. I can barely walk on my right foot. My hand is swollen, 

But Thanks that I didn't fall from the top stair. 

But Thanks I wasn't knocked unconscious or hit my head. 

But Thanks I didn't shatter the glass display case at the bottom of the stairs. 

But Thanks Mr. J was there to help take care of me and drive me to work. 

But Thanks I made it to school (barely in time). 

But Thanks I made it through my first class of the day. 

And here's hoping that at the end of the day I can say, "But Thanks" that I made it through my three back to back afternoon classes. I'll count on that!

There's always something to be grateful for!

I'm Grateful For Gratitude!

Happiness researchers have identified eight reasons that cultivating an “Attitude of Gratitude” makes people happier. Many of these eight reasons are intuitive and are things we’ve all thought about. But some aren’t. For example, happiness researcher Sonya Lyubomirsky says that expressing gratitude bolsters self-worth and self-esteem. Why? Because when you concentrate on how much people have done for you, how many good things have happened in your life, or how many things you have accomplished you feel more loved and confident.

Lyubomirsky also explains that the research clearly shows that living with an “Attitude of Gratitude” encourages moral behavior. This happens because grateful people are aware of what even a small gesture of kindness means to them and they in turn are eager to reciprocate. They go about their days naturally doing small and large acts of kindness for others and in other ways doing all kinds of good.

Another result of a gratitude attitude is that it builds social bonds because it tends to strengthen existing relationships and nurtures new ones. Several studies have shown that people who feel gratitude toward others, even if they don’t express it, experience higher quality relationships with those people.

We all know the wonderful feeling that comes when we express gratitude, but there are many other benefits to living with an Attitude of Gratitude.

Getting to Pain Free

I've been going to physical therapy for some problems in my back and have been amazed at what I am learning. The therapist contorts my body in very painful ways to get the bones into the position they should be, but the muscles have been pulling in wrong directions for so long that while I'm working hard to keep my bones in the right places the muscles pull in the way they have for months--in wrong directions. What a battle I'm having with my muscles.

But this isn't so different than when we decide we are going to Live in Truth. We use the Truth Tools and learn all we can and practice, but the old habits of thinking pull us in wrong directions.

Part of what I'm learning is that any progress in life is going to require work and patience and diligence. But the work is worth it!