Today I’m starting my new series “Thankful Thursdays.” My plan was to be live, however, due to events beyond my control I am not able to go live. My first reaction was to get angry and start doubting myself and this project. Then if I let it, it snowballs and I can start agonizing over every decision I have made in my life. But I stopped …. took a deep breath in and expelled out heavily. At that moment I chose to respond instead of reacting.
I took a moment to remember what is my actual goal of “Thankful Thursdays” to share about being Thankful, no matter what! To be Thankful even when it is not November or the actual day of Thanksgiving but to be “Thankful” in the here and now. I know it is hard and stressful in this day and age to be positive and have joy. There is all this technology (from television, smartphones, tablets, computers) and other marketing medium showing images, concepts, commercials, magazines of what we do not have and SHOULD want. You name it… it is out there: You SHOULD want a bigger house, more possessions to own, a better car, a better lifestyle and the list goes on. And our actual being is also under assault; we don’t look old enough (for the younger crowd) or we look too old. We are too short/tall. We don’t have enough hair or too much hair. We are too skinny or too fat, and the list goes on.
At this point, some may be asking what does “Thankful Thursdays” have to do with Hilton’s Heartland. In natural health and functional medicine emotional stress plays a significant role on one’s health. Based on Chinese medicine, emotions and organs/glands correlate. For example, it is not uncommon for someone to get pneumonia, bronchitis, asthmas or something lung related when grieving over a death of a loved one (lungs = sadness/grief). Day to day negativity from yourself and others can eventually affect your health.
Remind yourself to Be Thankful for what God has designed especially for you, which includes how you look and the journey you are on! Now this is not to stay we should not have goals and aspire to feel better, look better and be better. Instead the thought is yes have goals and work hard but sometimes things are simply not going to go the way you expect or plan. During these times, do not let the discouragement and negativity slowly erode the gifts you HAVE and the gift you ARE!
I challenge each of you until we meet again next Thursday to be “Thankful.” This starts by changing the stinking thinking (meaning changing your thought pattern and verbiage to yourself). Now every time something does not go the way you have planned which can include: someone cutting you off in traffic, not getting an A on a project, or not getting that raise, or your child getting sick and you having to figure out another plan for the day.
Instead of thinking what if this happens (probably something negative)… think What if this happens (a positive thing)? Take a deep breath and choose to be “Thankful for what you have AND the gift you ARE!”
Dr. Melisa, this article meant a lot to me today! I was having that kind of day when everything was going wrong. I had to drive a long way to a meeting that wasn’t very productive and lost most of the day of productivity as a result. I was also in a funk because an important person in my life hung up on me over a small disagreement. I started to really stress out about how I was going to get everything done that needed to get done, and to doubt myself concerning my relationships (ALL of my relationships even though only ONE person hung up on me) — it’s funny how one or two negative things can cast a shadow over huge areas of your life!
Your article was a reminder to me to remember the good things. One meeting was unproductive, but how about being thankful for all the work that’s been pouring in that’s been keeping me so busy!!! One person hung up on me, but what about ALL the friends who love me and support me? And even that person that hung up on me, how about giving him grace — maybe he was having a bad day, that doesn’t make him a bad person and it doesn’t mean that I’m a bad person because he hung up on me!
I’ll be coming back often to read your blog posts. You definitely have inspired me to think about things differently.