“‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea,
Yet never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.”
~Emily Dickinson
To start, I’m going to take a minute to say what I appreciate.
There are times in life where things happen that make you truly appreciate the blessings you have! But am I the only one, who after experiencing such times, vows: “I will never take ____ for granted again”! Then what happens? Slowly and surely we forget about it; it can so easily slip out of our distracted minds. Then we usually don’t think about it again until another big, or shocking, event brings those thoughts back to forefront of our memory.
Hey! What if I want to be the one who enjoys life and remembers everything that I have to be thankful for? Is there any hope for me?
There is always hope! So, I have thought of some things that I’m going to try so I can hold onto those good things. The blessings; the big and the small.
1. Do something daily to acknowledge what you have or appreciate in life!
Maybe you like writing in a journal, and you could make space to say the positive things (like that friend you just spent time with, etc.)!
Or you could fill a jar.
Or you could just take some time everyday to consciously think about the benefits you have where you are (your job, owning a car, having clean water, etc.). Or be creative with it: think of a way that would be memorable for you!
2. Community!
As soon as you say “community” it opens a whole other world of topicsI However, I’m going to use it to say: “talk about it”! In my experience, if you talk to someone, (a friend, group, coworker, etc.), about the things you appreciate, then you’re more likely to remember it later.
Each sentence can be a conversation starter. For example, “Hey, I really like water. It’s so great that we have this privilege in North America!” Or “I’m glad to have access to healthcare here, I can finally breathe properly!”
In this North American society, we have no problem with sharing negative news with others. Look, it’s everywhere on our TVs, radios, and on the internet. But If we share the good things with our connections – friends and neighbours – then maybe we can help more forward a movement of people who won’t forget or take for granted the small, but hugely important, things in life!
—–
I know 3 is a good number, but 2 is good too so I’m going to stop there. Let me know your thoughts on actively keeping in mind what we want to appreciate!
One thing about being renewed is that it has to start from inside you. It must be an internal change that sparks within your heart and then moves into other aspects of your life, creating outward and viewable changes!
Psalm 51: 10-12, (from the NLT), says:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God.
And Renew a loyal spirit within me.
Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.”
I want my heart to be set upon the things that really matter in the long term. It’s the relationships I make and faith that will sustain me throughout time! So I should focus on being able to demonstrate more dedication in those areas of my life that will support my faith and giving and growing with my friends and family!
So, to keep it short and sweet, I need to get a new bigger heart this year. I want to focus on loving and caring about the things that truly matter in my life, instead of the temporary things that will soon fade away!
Related to my word of the year, renew, is the song “Making Me New” by Royal Taylor. God is making us new! And going along with the theme of renewal, I like what Isaiah 43:19 says:
“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” (NLT)
As I was looking up a few different versions of this verse, I found it interesting what the Message had to say. Consider this:
“This is what God says, the God who builds a road right through the ocean, who carves a path through pounding waves, the God who summons horses, chariots and armies — they lie down and can’t get up; they’re snuffed out like so many candles: ‘Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I am about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands. Wild animals will say ‘Thank you!’ — the coyotes and the buzzards — Because I provided water in the desert, rivers through the sun-baked earth, drinking water for the people I chose, the people I made especially for myself, a people custom-made to praise me.” (16-20, The Message).
Wow! It’s my first post of 2015! I saw the idea of choosing a word for the year from this blog post: http://notesfrominnisfree.blogspot.ca/2015/01/word-for-year.html
And I decided that I wanted to do it this year! I didn’t put very much thought into it, since immediately this word came to me: renew. For this next year I want to renew myself. Spiritually, I want to renew my relationship with God and grow closer to Him again. I also want to renew and strengthen old and new friendships. And I want more confidence in standing firmly where I am.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)
“And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” (Colossians 3: 10-12)
R = Recharge and Reflect
E = Engage
N = New Purpose
E = Expand (knowledge, friends, etc.)
W = Worship
So, are you doing a ‘word of the year’?
-A
positivelysinglelife 