Looking At The Bright Side...
Red Sun In The Clouds
I have been struggling to look at the bright side of things lately. I have been frustrated, angry, sad, and impatient about just about everything. Part of it is the holidays. I have had a hard time with them most of my life due to the loss of family members, and the family dynamic change with each loss. Losing my grandma and my dad the same year back when I was 14 really changed that whole side of my family. We were not as close, no longer got together as often and just grew apart. Ever since then, I have struggled to enjoy the holidays.
In more recent years, it has been the stresses of being a parent during the holiday season. I am sure most parents can relate to the pressure there is to provide a great Christmas for your kids. We try to get them all the gifts they want, decorate the house to make it “Christmasy”, and try to have a joyful atmosphere.
This year is much harder for me to get into a joyful spirit. Losing my son in April has put a cloud over every event. From attending his team’s soccer games, to Thanksgiving celebrations, to even shopping for gifts for our younger son, it’s hard.
Even things I am looking forward to in my life like, my new business, this blog, and future projects on the horizon, all have a cloud over them because my son would have enjoyed all of those things too.
Romans 8:28 reads “All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose." I have been holding onto that promise for the last several months. I have had to reconcile that although I may be going through a tough time, there is a reason I am going through it. That doesn’t make it pleasant, but it sure makes it more tolerable. I truly feel that I have had the life experiences that I have for a purpose. I am not sure what that purpose is yet, but I am looking forward to it.
So how does someone go from being sad or in the darkness to being positive and living in the light? My answer is prayer and doing your best to see the good in everything that you can. Something changes when you see the glass half full instead of half empty. I used to consider myself a realist and focused on the “facts” that I could see. I believed that it didn’t matter if the glass was half full or half empty because eventually someone would need to get some more water. While that mindset has its merits, it completely loses all feelings of hope or faith in anything. If you are only focused on the here and now, how do you grow into your full potential? Wouldn’t we be stuck where we are due to a lack of vision or faith that we could do better?
These days I do my best to be encouraged about the future. I am actively working towards making my family’s life better than the day before. I am not perfect, I fail at that sometimes, but I don’t quit trying. I am determined to step into the light and into my true purpose, whatever that may end up being. No matter how many hard bad days I have, I am encouraged about the future knowing we are all meant to live in peace and joy. I encourage you to adopt a habit of being grateful for everything in your life. It is your first step towards living in peace and joy.
Sometimes the first step seems impossible, but I believe you are strong enough, we all are.
Philippians 4:4-8 NLT
"Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you."