Positive Thinking

Recently, I read an older book titled, The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Peale.  I found it very useful and practical and wish I had read it years ago.  Now, to be clear, I didn't agree with all of it, especially the parts about using Scripture as a formula, but overall I found it quite beneficial.

Changing your thinking is very difficult if you're like me.  You seem to get in these negative ruts and getting out of them seems all but impossible.  Then you remember that with God all things are possible.  He says this to Mary through an angel when she asks how a virgin can conceive of a child.  He shows all things are possible multiple times through Scripture.  In the Old Testament with the plagues among Egypt and then letting the Israelites cross the Red Sea on dry ground.  In the New Testament with all the miracles of Christ, turning water into wine and walking on water among them.

Am I naive to believe those miracles actually happened?  When I saw my boy for the first time, I thought it was a miracle.  I don't see faith and science as operating against each other but rather hand in hand.  Science can explain how God works in my opinion.

If God can do miracles like all of the above, then He can surely help me lose weight.  It has come to my attention the first step is changing my thinking in this weight loss journey.  I've lost weight before but it hasn't stuck.  The main reason I can see is I didn't change my overall thinking.  I'd reach a goal weight and then either move back to the USA or my mind would take a vacation because I had reached my goal or both.

We must realize we are loved deeply and completely regardless of the weight on the scale.  God will not love me anymore or less if I gain or lose weight.  Within that truth I can find great freedom.  Health is very important of course, but it can't be our core identity.  Neither can mental health, emotional health, our connections with others.  All of those are very important, but the main thing is recognizing our role as a child of God.  That is where our true identity is.

I want to be healthy for my son so I can play with him as he gets older.  I want to set an example for him in how to live a healthy life.  I'm a far way from that but I have faith I can get there.  One thing to remember is that it will always be a struggle.  I'll never get to a point where it'll be easy or natural.  And that's okay.  It's similar to marriage or parenting.  The hardest things in life are the most worth it.  If we can engage in that thought process we will be much more set up for success in different areas of our lives.

Joy Thieves & Joy Givers

There are certain people who try and steal your joy.  You're trying something new and they have all the advice in the world but they go about sharing it in the completely wrong way.  Something I've tried to do as I get older is not offer advice unless it's asked for.  This is an extremely difficult discipline to live by and something I'm still not great at.  Normally for me though I ask people for advice when I want it, not before.  I ask certain people who I consider to know a lot in their fields for advice in that field and others for advice in other fields.  Seems only logical to me.

For instance, everyone has an opinion on diet and fitness, but I have one friend who I seek out advice from bc he's a personal trainer and nutrition expert if not an official nutritionist yet.  He gives wise counsel in that area even though I struggle immensely to implement his advice.  There are others though who I would consider to be joy thieves.  People who offer unsolicited advice that you can't take seriously bc of how they themselves look.

This also feeds into the notion that who you surround yourself is very important bc you start taking on their characteristics unwillingly.  Are the people who you hang around with joy thieves or joy givers?  No one is always one or the other, but I greatly admire people who choose joy even as they get older.  The more experience one has the easier it seems to fall into cynicism.  At least that's the case with me.  Cynicism is something I fight almost daily.  Those who cultivate joy may make it look easy, but even for them I know it's a discipline that has taken a lot of practice.

Joy doesn't always look like happiness, sometimes it's simply trusting God in the midst of difficult circumstances.  It often goes hand in hand with hope and trusting that this too shall pass.  

I'm reading a book right now and trying to change my thinking.  It's particularly difficult to do for someone who has had negative thoughts playing in his head for as long as he can remember.  But it's so so worth the fight.