Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, lots of food, family, and, of course, thanksgiving.
Yet, not so long ago, I still needed a question answered:
What prevents me from enjoying life, in particular a simple life?
Some observations: ingratitude, greed, depression, anger, bitterness, hurt feelings, past hurts, helplessness, or yearning for something or someone from my mythical past.
What contributes to a joyful simple life?
Gratitude, generosity, joy, forgiveness, feeling empowered, and leaving the past behind.
I knew the answers, but something was still in my way. At this point in my life, I had a yearning to go back to a simpler time in my life, back to a time when I didn’t have grown up responsibilities. I began to yearn for the past and eventually started believing that I made some bad decisions in my life. It was affecting my current relationships and even my relationship with God.
Eventually, I “saw the light” – OK, God revealed my sins to me – and I had to make a decision. I could live in the past with the rose-colored glasses and pine for some lost love or some imagined scenario that would have made life easier. OR I could fully live in the now and recognize that those past decisions, good and bad, helped shape who I am today.
And you know what?
I kinda liked me.
So, I chose to live in the now. But it wasn’t easy. My body and my mind both yearned for things/people I couldn’t have. I had to come up with some practical steps to get a grip on my life so I could get to living my version of a Joyful Simple Life, maybe they will help you:
1.) Address what is causing the most frustration in your life: What hurts are hindering you?
2.) Admit that it is a weakness
3.) Take that weakness to God (aka praying)
4.) Leave it with God
5.) Find a positive to replace the vacuum left by the negative.
6.) When you pick it back up again, repeat steps 2-5.
7.) Recognize the triggers that take you down the path of that past hurt or emotion and make a choice to focus on your positive actions discovered in step 5.
8.) When you have a hard time with step 7, repeat steps 1-5.
9.) Make a conscious decision to pray each time that weakness comes up.
10.) Continue to repeating steps 1-9 as long as necessary to finally be able to walk away from that hurt/pain for good.
I had to purposely make a commitment to God that each time my mind wandered back to my supposed happier times, I would pray. Golly it was hard. I went through steps 1-10 several times…i.e. several times a week, even several times a day. It made a difference. The past quit creeping up. I was finding joy again in my life.
So, what is holding you back? Are you ready? Can you let go of the negative and reach for the positive?
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