A Thankful Weekend!

I hope everybody had a wonderful Turkey day! I know that I have a lot to be thankful for this year! Not only do I have a new novel out, but I've made new friends and learned a lot too!

There is so much going on in the world today, and so often we only hear about the bad. I want to encourage you to focus on the good though. What we think about and what we talk about can have an amazing effect on us mentally, emotionally, spiritually & physically! You've probably heard the old saying "You are what you eat." Well, I believe it is more a matter of "We are what we think." What you eat is important too, but let's think more about what we think. When we see a problem, instead of thinking about the problem, let's think about what we can do to help solve it! Instead of getting upset when somebody is rude to us, let us be glad that our day is probably going better than theirs. If your own day is not going so well, then instead of allowing the actions of others to make our day worse, let's turn it around and see it as an opportunity to make their day and ours better. Even if it's another person completely, we can buy the drink for the person behind us at the coffee shop, or offer a compliment. Yes, there are those grinches out there who may not appreciate it, but nine times out of ten, they will and you'll have something in the day that caused a smile and/or a "thank you". No matter what is going on in your life, I almost guarantee, there is someone out there who would love to trade places with you.

Now, I know some situations really are beyond a bad day. They may even be dangerous. In those situations, I encourage you to find a support group or whatever help you need to get out.

No matter what, there is always a way through it and hope of something to look forward to. Never give up. My experience is, that it is when things look the most hopeless, that breakthrough is about to happen. So, don't ever give up on yourself or a loved one.

No matter how much negativity is thrown at us, let that negativity never be our focus. Instead, let us focus on finding a solution, on noticing the flowers, not the litter, on what we do have, rather than what we don't, on compliments rather than criticisms, smiling rather than frowning, helping rather than hindering, and speaking thanks not only for what we have, but for what we hope to have. For as long as you have breath in your lungs, you have hope and hope in itself is a reason for thankfulness!