Thoughts...

 Life is hard, I said that a few weeks ago.  We are not promised happiness but we have some influence over it.  Life happens to us daily, and we chose how to handle and react to it.  Even our thoughts are not totally under our control.  Doesn’t your mind race with things that you would rather not think of or worry about?  You cannot control the thoughts that come into your mind.  But you can control the ones you dwell on.  We should intentionally chose to dwell on positive thoughts and minimize the negative ones.  I understand that is not easy.  And mental illness for some of us makes it impossible.  But many of us can control the thoughts we focus on.  We can choose to be positive.  It may take practice.  Don’t let your negative thought life overwhelm you.

Thankful

 As Thanksgiving approaches it is important to consider the true meaning of being grateful.  Being thankful means to have gratitude or be appreciative.  But if you look up the definition of thankful you get into a circular reference between grateful, thankful and appreciative.  All of those definitions refer to one another.  Being truly thankful is a state of mind.  It is the basic understanding that not all of what we have, and enjoy, is the result of our own doing.  God blesses us daily with the people, places and circumstances in our lives.  Consider your life and be thankful this week.  Make sure that those who positively impact you know that you appreciate them.  Teach your family how to truly understand their blessings and to be grateful for them.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving Holiday!

Reflection

The Monday Morning Minute was born twelve years ago this week.  It began as an encouraging internal communication at Fleetwood Retail Corp., a former employer that that is long since gone.  Since then it has grown to a widely distributed communication with the goal of starting your week with a challenging or encouraging thought.  People need a jump start on Monday morning to get back into a work mode.  We all need some reminder about our leadership roles in life as we begin each week.  More importantly, we must continuously learn and grow.  Some of you have been along for the ride from the very beginning, others have joined more recently.  Many of you I know, some of you I do not.  Whatever the case, I hope you get a little something from my shared thoughts each Monday morning.  I hope that you gain at least a slightly different perspective for your week.  I look forward to many Monday Morning Minutes to come…

Life Is Hard

When I hear somebody say that life is hard, I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?" 
       --Sydney J. Harris

This is a very thought provoking quote.  Life may be hard.  I don’t think we have any real right to complain about that.  We are not promised otherwise, but it is not always hard.  Actually, most of us are incredibly blessed.  When we think life is too hard what exactly would we like it to be?  I know, there a lot of easy answers to that... trouble free, healthy, stable, happy, comfortable, and less challenging.  But that is not life is it?