For What do You Give Thanks?

In these economic times, it is so easy to get discouraged. It is easy to think that there is nothing to be thankful for. This is simply not the case. We have so much to be thank God for each and every day. I have many, many things to thank God for. I can only hope that I thank Him enough.

The first thing that I am thankful for is my freedom. I have so many freedoms that others may not have: speech, religion, etc. There are people on this earth who don't have these same freedoms. It's not something that I think about often, but it is amazing and wonderful to live in a land where we are not persecuted for our beliefs. We can worship God, without the worry of any punishment. It's wonderful to have so much freedom, and I hope your realize that this holiday season.

Another thing that I am thankful for is the love of my family and friends. I have so many people in my life that care about me and love me. I can't imagine what life would be like without these people. They include my wonderful husband. My incredible family. My fantastic friends and coworkers. There are just so many people in my life that I love and that love me. Hopefully, they know how much they mean to me.

The greatest thing that I have in my life to be thankful for is my life, itself. I have, thanks again to God, a life that is so worth living. Even though I have days, as most everyone does, that I think my life is just too stressful and too much of a hassle, there has never been any point in which I thought I wish I wasn't in this life. I have always loved the life that I was given, and no matter how hectic it gets, I know I wouldn't trade places with anyone.

Even though Thanksgiving has come and gone, it is still time to be thankful. We should be thankful every day of our lives. We were given so much to be thankful for, and we never forget that.

This Time of Year

This time of year seems to be stressful to even the calmest of people. There are so many factors that can increase your stress. Food must be prepared. Diets must be stuck to. Houses must be cleaned. Trips must be taken. Family members must be seen, and in some cases "dealt with." There are just so many things to think about when planning for the holidays. The important thing to remember, though, is that this season is about family. It is about being thankful for what you have, and the fact that you even exist.

There are many ways that you can show your thankfulness. One way is to tell people just how much they mean to you, not just at the holidays, but all year round. Another way is to donate to charity. It can be money you donate. It can be food or clothes that you donate. It can be your time that you donate. All donations are appreciated, especially at this time of year. The best way to show God how thankful that you are for the life you were given is to live your life the way that He intended. Don't live your life in an unhappy state. Get all that you can from this wonderful life that you were given. Don't, under any circumstances, take it for granted. This time of year is a great time to reexamine your life, and the choices that you have made. If some of them are not pleasing to God, make some new choices. Get a jump on your New Year's Resolutions, and find that sweet spot.

Who Are You? (Who, who...who, who)

Hopefully with this title, you notice the reference to the song by The Who. For those of you who only know me through this blog, I am going to go ahead and let you know that I am a classic rock kind-of-gal. I love classic rock, which, frankly, is odd for someone that is my age.

All kidding aside, though, this is an important question for me to ask you, and for you to ask yourself. Who are you? If you don't know the answer to that question, you definitely need to sit down and examine your life. While it is okay for you to take a few minutes to think about this, it's a whole different ball game for you not know the answer to this question. Once you find the answer to this question, it is much easier to find your sweet spot.

An interesting realization that I have most recently come to, however, is that whoever I am, I am the only me. I bet if you try hard enough, with only one guess, you can figure out what made me come to this realization. Give up, yet? It was the book Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado. What immediately grabbed my attention was when he said that since God only made one me, if I am not being the me that He created me to be, there is no me in this world. Because I am the only person exactly like me, if I am not being myself, I am depriving the world of the person I am supposed to be.

I know, it sounds kind of confusing. Once you catch on, though, you are going to want to be the you that God created you to be. This is reason enough to find your sweet spot. If you are living in survival mode, and just trying to get through the week, you can't be who God wants, and has created you to be. You are the unhappy person that people don't want to talk to. And, Heaven forbid they ask you how you are doing. ...

Decide who you are. Decide the person that God created you to be. Find out who it is you are supposed to be, and be that person. Find your sweet spot, and run toward it. Make your life uncommon!

The Start of Something Big

Do you find it harder and harder to get up in the mornings? Is the thought of going to work making you feel sick? Do you notice that you are taking more and more days off as the time passes? Do you have work related stress and anxiety that seems to be building up more and more? Does this sound like the beginning of an infomercial to you? (just seeing if you were paying attention)

If you answered yes to any of these questions, there are a few things that you need to know. The first thing that you need to know is that you are not alone. There are so many people in the world that feel exactly this way. Unfortunately, these people rarely do anything about it. They continue to be miserable in their places of employment, and they eventually make others miserable, because, if they are not complaining about their jobs, they are in such bad moods, that they bring down all of the people around them.

The second thing that you need to know is that this is not the way that you are supposed to feel about going to work everyday. You should not start thinking on Friday about how much you don't want Monday to come. You should not spend the entire week trying to get to Friday. That is not a healthy way to live your life. No one should spend everyday wanting to get to the end of the week. We were put on this earth to enjoy the lives that we live. If we are constantly looking for the end of the week, we are certainly not enjoying the first four days of the week.

The most important thing that you need to know is that the reason that you are not happy with your current work status may be that God gave you a different talent than the job that you have requires. It doesn't matter what your job is. It doesn't matter how long you have been doing that job. It doesn't matter how much money you make at the job. What matters is one thing. Is this the job that God had in mind for you when He was creating you? Until you know what it is that God had in mind for you, you will never be truly happy with your job, which in turn means, you will never be truly happy in the life that you are living.

Now, I have peeked your interest, but you are wondering, how do I find out what it is that God had in mind for me when He was creating me? How do I know if this is it, or not? What do I do if this is not it? Those are just some of the questions that I had when I began to investigate the life and career that I had chosen. Although it seems like something that may take years to uncover, deep down, you know whether or not this is the work He had in mind for you. I knew. I think that I had always felt that my current job was not my "calling," if you will. I knew that I enjoyed what I did, and that I was certainly not miserable, but I also knew, all along, that I was not totally fulfilled, either. There was something more, and I just couldn't pinpoint what it was. Then, of course, there was the old saying that "The grass is greener on the other side." Was that my problem? Did I just think that there was something more to life? That was where the line got incredibly fine. I knew that the other people that I worked with complained now and again, but there was no way that they felt the same way I did when they got home.

Flash forward to about a month ago. I was in the local Walgreens when I just needed some chocolate and a little inspiration. Long story short, I had been at a meeting at work, and when I left, I was in such a bad place. I stopped by Walgreens for a Ghirardelli Chocolate Caramel Square when I found myself on the greeting card aisle. There it was...The book that would change my life. The author: Max Lucado. The book: The Cure for the Common Life. I have read many of his books before, and I think he is a fantastic writer. I found two different books, and I was torn between them. Someone (God) was nudging me to get this one. I bought it, and I even kept the receipt for a while, because I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep it. Before I read it, I went back to Walgreens twice, and looked at the other book. I couldn't make myself take this one back to exchange, though. I decided that God must really want me to read this book, and thus, my journey began. I started the book, and I couldn't put it down. I know that sounds cliche, but this was real. It's like I was reading about myself.

If you feel like God had a different plan for you when you were being created, join me in discovering The Cure for the Common Life. It may involve some work, and also a leap of faith, but trust me, this is the way to find the zone in which you were meant to dwell. Take this trip with me, and let God help you with the start of something big.