Note: This article is a regular Friday feature that’s also posted at SetFreeToday.com
You are what you think about all day long. Dr. Robert Schuller
Do you see the sunrise or the clouds?
A rule of thumb for providing feedback maintains that ten affirmations are required to balance one criticism. I don’t know whether ten is exactly the right number, but we all know the principle. A lot of positive feedback is required to counterbalance a negative comment.
I think the same model applies to our thoughts. An entire day of exciting, energizing possibilities can be obscured by a single doubt. No matter how many signs encourage us to move forward with passion, one caution casts a shadow over an entire enterprise.
We cannot manage the words or actions of others. We’ll always encounter people who either intentionally or inadvertently rain on the parade. But we can control the direction of our thoughts and responses to circumstances and events.
SetFreeToday rests on God’s promise that we can choose a new beginning in Christ. God doesn’t want us to live in the mire of fear and regret, and He doesn’t want us enslaved by the chains of our own doubts.
I think our enemy understands this. He whispers constantly that we need to focus on problems. He tells us that life is tough and urges us to seek revenge and retribution. The enemy wants us to believe that we are responsible for others’ words and deeds. He desperately wants us to equate a positive attitude with an immature, “rose colored glasses” approach to life’s realities.
I’m not a Pollyanna. Difficulties are part of life. We can’t always simply ignore them, but they don’t have to become the center of our thoughts. We can choose to face challenges and then move on, refusing to allow them to dominate our attention.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4: 8-9)
Beauty and joy surround us. Generosity and good are abundant. We can contemplate the glory of a sunrise or we can turn our backs on splendor and worry about the clouds on the opposite horizon. One choice leads to anxiety about a future beyond our control. The other directs us to awareness of God’s majesty, to a sense of new beginning, to peace.
What’s a negative thought you’d like to move away from the center of your thoughts today?
Related articles:
Regret
Choices That Define
Lessons From The Jar
Rich Dixon is an author and motivational speaker. His first book is Relentless Grace: God’s Invitation To Give Hope Another Chance.
Learn more about the story of Relentless Grace at: www.relentlessgrace.com
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I addressed a similar audience about a year ago, and I still cannot escape the haunting impressions from that visit. As I spoke to those despondent young people I felt like I’d wandered into a warehouse of wasted potential. 
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