THE ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

THE ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

So the last couple of months I’ve been such a Negative Nelly.  

If your name is indeed Nelly, and you happen to be reading this, please don’t take it personally; unless you actually are a Negative Nelly then you really should keep reading ; )

I know exactly what happened to get me to the province of pessimism; I went on a 6 week vacation.  There’s nothing wrong with a long vacation, except while I was on it, I rarely pulled out my bible.  I was too busy hanging with family, hiking, biking, swimming; you know, vacation stuff.

It didn’t happen immediately; it kinda crept up on me.  A small peeve here, a big annoyance there until it seemed like there was an awful lot that was bugging me!

 

It was only a couple of weeks ago that I realized what a Debbie Downer I was becoming.

If your name happens to be Debbie, please don’t take it personally.  I have an Auntie Debbie, and she is not a downer; but if you actually are a Debbie Downer, you should definitely keep reading ; )

A first I thought it was just PMS, but when the PMS lasted for a couple of months I knew that wasn’t it!

I had a thought; an idea that I thought was just brilliant, away to banish Scary Kari! 

Since my name is Kari, and my husband has told me that sometimes I am indeed scary, I can say that!

What was my brilliant idea?  For every negative or bad thought, I would come up with two positive or happy thoughts!  

I even told the Lord about my plan.

Yes, that’s it I would be like a little cheer leader.  I love cheer leaders! 

Now I picture God up in heaven, smiling down with that knowing smile of a Father and telling me, “That’s nice dear”.

I think that if you were a cheer leader there’s something ingrained in you that makes you always a cheerleader; but I’ve never been a cheerleader, so I failed miserably!

I would think something bad and quickly think of two good things…and then the original thought would jump right back into my brain and I would dwell on that…Aaargh!

And now I picture God in heaven, smiling down with that knowing smile of a Father, the one that knew the whole time that my plan wasn’t going to work, asking me “Did you learn your lesson?”

Ephesians 4:17 & 18, “This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart”

What’s the lesson in a nutshell?  That what I need is a change in my heart in order to change my mind!  

My prayer, Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.” 

When we ask sincerely,   God will change and clean up our hearts and give us what we need to do what needs doing!

And God has given me what I need, what I’m confident will give me that attitude of gratitude and have me smiling, even in South Florida traffic! If you knew that year after year we are rated as the Worst and Rudest drivers in the country, you would know why I’m saying such a thing.

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”

Yes, I’ve heard this verse before, but not taken it to heart, and obviously not meditated on it.  I’m storing this verse in my mind, so that I can store it in my heart, so that I can change into a Positive Patty!

I couldn’t think of another female name that began with “P”.

The greatest lesson that I learned in all of this is to not tell the Lord what I’m going to do to change, but ask Him to change me, and to ask Him to change in me what needs changing even when I don’t realize it needs changing!

Now I picture God up in heaven, smiling down like a proud Father, and telling me, “That’s it, that’s it; now you’re getting it!”