NO Negative

The title of this blog post has been my mantra for the past several days, and if you take it to heart, it will revolutionize your life!

Our Pastor preached a message this past Sunday night about living life with God, and he brought up that life isn’t about you. That is something I’ve thought about for a long time, and I think I’ve hit different understandings of that concept at different times, and “NO Negative” is just the latest understanding. To me, NO Negative is getting above your personal frustrations, beyond your personal perspective and past your personal grudges. When work is tough, and the computers are all having the same problem, but the same solution isn’t fixing them the same way, it’s easy to get really frustrated and want to give the problem to someone else. But then you’re just putting those frustrations on someone else, but if we ask God for help and truly rely on His knowledge, the problem is going to get fixed. It’s easy to come home after a long day of work, and sit on the couch and watch Stargate while your wife makes dinner. She might not need your help, but what does it do for your relationship if you get off the couch and offer help, or stand in the kitchen and talk with her?

The thing about not being negative is that it doesn’t only affect you. Your attitude and the way people perceive you affects those around you. So in my after work example, my wife might’ve had a blagh day too, what kind of a husband am I to not ask her about her day? If I’m too focused on my own bad day, hers isn’t going to get better either. Than we’re both upset and what kind of example are we being to our son? You never know when someone just needs a kind word, or a hug, or someone with confidence to show up and help. You can’t do that when you’re being negative yourself. Oddly, this kind of reminds of Superman. When the super villain is destroying the town, the citizens instantly cheer when Superman arrives. He’s not worrying that he’s on an alien planet never to return home, he’s just wanting to help people and stop Evil. He’s swoops in with confidence and strength and saves the day. Does he do this for himself? No, Superman stops evil so that the everyman can be safe. By taking a minute to become positive you can gain the confidence, and have the strength to accomplish anything! Don’t you want to be like Superman?

I’m not intending for this “mantra” to be like the movie “Yes, man” (Don’t watch it) – where you never say no to anything. This has more of a, “You’re being a jerk, get over it because someone else needs you”  feel. Also, “What are you accomplishing by thinking like this? Nothing? Then change!” – obviously this is not an easy thing to do, I’m sure I’ll fail from time to time, but over the last several days when I’ve gotten negative, I really feel like the Holy Spirit sends a system check through my heart, and at that point I’ve got the decision to change, or continue. Also, when I need help being positive, flipping through a couple Psalms REALLY seems to help!

So my challenge today is to change the way you handle stress! When an unexpected problem comes up, don’t freak out, ask God to help and be strong for those around you.

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~ by mrdiscoman on April 13, 2011.