Tag Archives: gratitude

Thought for the day: Day 10

“What do I want?  What actions am I taking to change my habits in order to get it?  What’s my plan?”

Do you know the difference between a wish and a dream?  A wish is a ‘pie-in-the-sky’; want it to fall in my lap, fantasy.  A dream is something that’s been written on your heart; something you long for and aspire to.  But all too often, dreams fall back into the ‘wish’ category.  We tend to not take action and hope someday it will all happen like it should.  It never will.

A goal on the other hand is a dream with a deadline.  Decide what you want.  Determine what must be done – what actions you need to take – to get it done and then write it out.  Of course, the most difficult part of that process is taking the action and changing habits and behavior.  The good news is it doesn’t need to happen all at once.  You can take little steps day by day.  Over time you will have discovered your habits and behaviors did change.

Thought for the day: Day 9

“Big ideas and big plans are often easier – certainly no more difficult – than small ideas and small plans.  BELIEVE BIG.”

This is taken from the book, The Magic of Thinking Big.

Thought for the day : Day 3

What are five things I’m grateful for?

This one should end up being a very long list.  Another way to look at this exercise is this: what if you woke up today with only those things you thanked God for yesterday?  That should get your brain in gear.

Like Fire In Your Bones

A friend of mine sent me the daily scripture just below and I found it powerful.  It reminded me of what I was going through the past several years.  I shared that experience in this post:  http://wp.me/p3nLpj-hf.  I want to share both with you.

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“…But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.” (Jeremiah 20:9, NKJV)

TODAY’S WORD

In scripture, God gave a promise to Jeremiah that he would become a great prophet and speak to the nations. But Jeremiah was young and afraid. He didn’t see how it could happen. He started telling God all the reasons why it wouldn’t work out. He said, “God, when I get up to speak, people mock me and make fun of me. I’m young. I’m tired. I’m intimidated.” Just when you think he is going to talk himself out of it, he says in Jeremiah 20:9, “Your Word in my heart is like a fire shut up in my bones.” He was saying, “God, I may not see how it can happen. All the odds are against me, but this promise You put in me will not go away. It’s like a fire. It’s alive. I can’t get away from it.”

You may be at a place right not where you could easily give up on what God has placed in your heart. But like Jeremiah, there is a fire shut up in your bones. What God promised you will not die. You can try to ignore it. You can try to talk yourself out of it. Your mind may tell you that it’s never going to happen, but deep down you feel a stirring, a burning, a restlessness. That’s the promise God put in you. He loves you too much to let you be average. He is going to push you into greatness. Get ready because the gifts, the talents, the skills, the ideas, the untapped potential is about to come forth!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father, Your truth is like a fire shut up in my bones. Help me to see Your plan for me. Help me to stand strong and trust You. Help me to boldly embrace everything You have in store for me in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Confront the obstacles

“Life is to be lived. If you have to support yourself, you had bloody well better find some way that is going to be interesting.  And you don’t do that by sitting around.” – Katherine Hepburn

Conducting a job search is hard.  Candidates face a multitude of issues and obstacles that make it more difficult.  There are gaps in employment, age bias (whether real or perceived), too much experience, too little experience, not the right kind of experience, you live too far away, salary disparity.  All of these issues (and many more) are significant obstacles to finding your next opportunity.

I believe the first step in beginning to confront, then overcome, these issues is to control the things you can control.  No sense wasting your precious resources (time, energy, mental outlook and attitude) on things you have no hope of impacting.  Instead, put your valuable resources to work for you.

Did you have an in-person interview with a company and you have not received feedback?

Did you get the feeling you are being ignored or ruled out because of your age?

Did they tell you that you don’t have the right industry experience?

Did they tell you anything at all?

Don’t wait around.  Follow up professionally once a week for three or four weeks and move on.

The best way to overcome all of these obstacles is to take Katherine’s advice and not sit around.  Action.  It’s the cure you’re looking for.

Focus your energy and talents on the next opportunity.  Focus your energy on making new contacts each week no matter where they are located or what industry they are in.  Focus your energy on sharpening your interviewing skills.  Focus your energy on learning new skills.  Focus your energy on how you will overcome the interviewer’s objection of your lack of or too much experience.  Focus your energy on uncovering new and better opportunities.  Focus your energy on what it is going to feel like when you get the offer of your dreams.  Focus your energy on all the blessings in your life.  There are infinitely more than you are aware.  Focus your energy in thoughtful, deliberate, daily prayer because you know everything begins and ends with Him.  Focus on those things and your attitude will take care of itself.

Happy hunting!

A heart filled with gratitude….

I have had a remarkable year.  As it winds down I can’t help but continue to feel incredibly blessed and humbled for all that I have.  And today, as I prepare to spend the day with my extended family and eat an incredible meal, I want to share a few thoughts with you.   Thank you so much for being a part of my life and helping me on my journey.

“Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.” – Marianne Williamson

“Be on the lookout for mercies.  The more we look for them, the more of them we will see…Better to lose count while naming your blessings than to lose your blessings to counting your troubles.” – Maltbie D. Babcock

“Every dog has its day, but it’s not every dog that knows when he’s having it.” – Winifred Gordon

“Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting.” – Elizabeth Aquith Bibesco

“Thank God every morning when you get up that you have something to do which must be done, whether you like it or not.” – Charles Kingsley

“When I first open my eyes upon the morning meadows and look out upon the beautiful world I thank God I am alive.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Most of my major disappointments have turned out to be blessings in disguise.  So whenever anything bad does happen to me I kind of sit back and feel, well, if I give this enough time it will turn out that this was good, so I shan’t worry about it too much.” – William Gaines

“You will never be the person you can be if pressure, tension and discipline are taken out of your life.” – Dr. James G. Bilkey

“God brings men into deep waters not to drown them but to cleanse them.” – Aughey

“Failure changes for the better, success for the worse.” – Marcus Annaeus Seneca

“Too many people miss the silver lining because they are expecting gold.” – Maurice Setter

“Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars.” – Henry Van Dyke

“Thank God for dirty dishes; they have a tale to tell.  While other folks go hungry, we’re eating pretty well.  With home and health and happiness, we shouldn’t want to fuss; For by this stack of evidence, God’s very good to us.” – Anonymous