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Making progress in life is a lot like making progress on the monkey bars at recess -- you have to risk letting go before you can move forward. If you don’t, you just stay stuck.
Father, give me the courage to let go of old resentments and regrets and anything else that keeps me stuck.
“Instead of focusing on what lies behind, I reach forward to what lies ahead.” Philippians 3:13
If you spend the day focusing on what’s wrong and what you don’t have, you’ll be up to your ears in self-pity and discontent by tonight.
Lord, please remind me, over and over again, to say thank-you for what I have instead of focusing on what’s wrong and what I don’t have.
“I am thanking you, Lord, with all my heart.” Psalm 9:1
Depending on your mindset, the people you meet today (even in passing) could look like either interruptions to be avoided or guests to be welcomed.
Father, please help me to live today people-first.
“[H]e ran to meet them and welcomed them . . . and said . . . ‘[R]est. . . . [B]e refreshed. . . .’” Genesis 18:2-5
Imagine what today would be like if you welcomed the interruptions instead of hating them.
“The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's 'own' or 'real' life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life -- the life God is sending one day by day.” C. S. Lewis
“In everything give thanks. . . .” 1 Thessalonians 5:18
It’s easy to hurry through life in me-first mode, hands clenched and arms crossed, but learning to live arms-wide-open takes practice. (It helps to stretch your real arms wide open every once in a while, just to get the feel of it . . . when nobody’s looking.)
“[P]ractice is one of the most important words in the spiritual life. . . .” Sr. Macrina Wiederkehr
“Open your heart wide. . . .” 2 Corinthians 6:13
Think of somebody who is more gifted -- relationally or professionally or physically or whatever -- than you are. Now imagine the relief of feeling grateful and glad (instead of discouraged and envious).
“May God then teach us to give thanks . . . for those who are what we are not. . . .” Anthony Esolen
“Create in me a clean heart, God.” Psalm 51:10
