Last week I wrote about how faith, prayer, love, service, and forgiveness all work synergistically to help me face life with a positive outlook.  At the same time judgment, control, self-pity, blame, and worry are things that I aspire to eliminate in my life. 

It is a work in progress, but the good news is that I am aware and normally recognize when the nasty side makes its appearance.  I quickly change my attitude and rely on faith, prayer, love, service, and forgiveness.

With the sudden realization that I am processing judgmental thoughts, I silently ask Jesus for forgiveness.  I change my thoughts to love and kindness and pray for the recipient of those unkind thoughts.  Sometimes I hear myself saying judgmental things other times I catch myself in the thought process. 

I have not mastered being nonjudgmental, but I am self-aware.  I don’t like how I feel when I catch myself being judgmental.  When I stop myself and make a decision to be kind, I feel myself relax, and smile, and my outlook on life improves.

I feel myself struggling unnecessarily when I try to navigate and control my path without stepping out in faith.  I consciously allow myself to be open to opportunities that arise.  Praying for signals of confirmation that I have headed in the right direction.    

Every day I see the blessings of giving control to Jesus.  It is not that I don’t have dreams, but my dreams are now connected to following my intended path.  I let go of what I thought was best for me because my intended path has led me to so much more than I had dreamed. 

Self-pity is another ugly imposter that I quickly try to vanish from my mind.  When my attitude is less than desirable, sometimes it is because I am feeling sorry for myself. 

The moment that I start to think something is not going my way I thank God for all the blessings in my life, pray for understanding, and ask what it is that God wants of me.  As I begin to focus on others rather than myself, my attitude quickly rebounds and joy begins to surface.

When I start to feel a need to know who is to blame I know that it is time to refocus on my faith.  If I am thinking about who is to blame I am not working out a solution.  Forgiveness plays a big role in moving forward with a positive outlook.  When I am stuck thinking about who is responsible, I am not living life with love in my heart.  Stress takes over and worry exposes itself. 

Worry is something I quickly remove from my life every time it turns up.  I don’t make time for stress.  For me, worrying leads to stress and that is just unacceptable.  The moment I feel worry wiggling into my life I give it to God. 

I have plenty to worry about, but I give my worries away.  Sometimes it takes numerous attempts to give God my worries.  When I have made a major mistake or failed to do something I feel worry creep in but I do not allow it to stay.  I pray for forgiveness and ask God to show me a solution to right the wrong I have done.  I then continue to give my worry to God.  I repeat the process until I feel at peace and discover a solution. 

I rely on faith, prayer, love, service, and forgiveness to nourish my outlook on life.  When negative influences arise I have my toolbox ready and quickly change my thought process and attitude.  Eliminating judgment, control, self-pity, blame, and worry is a continual work in progress!  It is my faith that keeps me going and gives me hope for the future.

Click here to stay connected.