From The Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin
I read an excellent quote a while back that made me sit up and take notice.
It said this: “Repetitive complaining will attract things for you to complain about. Repetitive gratitude will attract things for you to be thankful about.”
Ch-ching!
That one hit me right between the eyes!
For whatever reason, our society seems to thrive on the propagation of bad news and following those on social media who make a living at focusing on all that is wrong in our world.
Please don’t misunderstand me.
We definitely need to speak up for what is not right and draw attention to things that need to change.
However, there is definitely something to be said about frequency.
If all we ever do is complain then our voice will eventually deteriorate from wise concern to nauseating negativity.
I am not suggesting that we subscribe to a Pollyanna mentality, simply that we change course somewhat in our regular conversation to draw attention to things we can be thankful about.
Years ago, an elderly woman in my congregation was in the hospital dying of cancer.
I recall one particular visit where the topic of her breakfast menu came up.
I am very used to people whom I visit in the hospital giving me a rundown of the poor quality of hospital food, and to be honest, I was expecting this review from Marnie that day.
Instead, she described in great detail the delight she had from the tangerine she enjoyed on her breakfast plate earlier that morning.
If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought she was a spokesperson for Minute Maid!
What a difference a change of attitude can make to turn your day around.
Let’s try that this week!
