| SUNNYTEESMusic4Lovers |
| For Worrywarts!
His peace will guard your hearts and minds. Philippians 4:7 NLT Jesus said, "Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not" ( Matthew 6:27 NLT). Worry doesn't change anything. When's the last time you solved a problem by worrying about it? Imagine somebody saying, "I got behind on my bills so I decided to worry my way out of debt. And you know, it worked! A few sleepless nights and a day of hand wringing; I yelled at the children and took some pills, and - glory to worry - money appeared in my account." You don't add one day to your life or one bit of life to your day by worrying; but you can age prematurely and die quickly. Not only that, when you worry, you give place to the devil. You literally give him the glory and satisfaction because worry is the opposite of faith. You are saying, "My Father is not capable of taking care of me." Listen to these two Scriptures: "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever" ( Psalm 125:1 NIV); and "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You" ( Isaiah 26:3 NIV). We don't intentionally doubt God, yet when we worry we do. Can you imagine a child asking Michelangelo, "Are you sure you know what to do with that chunk of rock?" Paul writes, "His peace will guard your hearts and minds." Paul employs a military metaphor here. The Philippians lived under Roman occupation and were accustomed to the Centurions guarding their town. What security! Before an enemy could get to them they first had to get past the guards. And you know what? God gives you the same guarantee! Nothing can get to you without first coming through Him. When you know that, His peace fills your heart. |
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| The Thoughts You Choose
Where your mind lives is where your life is headed. What you think about most willingly, when you have nothing else you must think about, will define the direction of your life. No matter what may be happening in the world outside of you, you have the power to choose your own thoughts. And the thoughts you choose can have an enormous impact. When all is quiet, when the necessities of the day have been tended to, when your mind is free of any constraints, what kinds of things do you think about? The thoughts you have at such times, the thoughts you choose to think, are the thoughts that will show you who you truly are. Steer those thoughts away from anger, limitation, worry and envy. Direct your mind toward thoughts of love, possibility, confidence, abundance and generosity. Whatever may be going on in the outside world, your mind can live precisely where you choose for it to live. Choose to let it live in an empowering, life-affirming, rich and creative place. Choosing the life you want begins with choosing the thoughts that will direct you to it. Those thoughts are yours to choose this very moment. |
| I dedicate this webpage to my beautiful daughter, Nichole, who worries about everything just like her mother ... Even if it's in the DNA, we can change the rain in our life to sunshine if we apply the words of wisdom below. Nothing is ever impossible. I love you, sweetheart, Mom. |
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| LETTING GO Letting go doesn't mean I stop caring. It means that sometimes people have to do it for themselves. Letting go is not giving in to powerlessness. It's understanding that complete control is only ever a rhetorical position. Letting go is learning that listening does not mean waiting to speak. Letting go is not trying to change another. The more we seek to change others, the more we are blind to ourselves. Letting go is staying away from the blame game. Things happen, people get hurt, people die. It has always been so. Letting go is not to regret what has happened, but to think of the part it plays in where I am now, and the opportunity it presents for guidance. Letting go is understanding that any experience can eventually be helpful, though this may often be difficult to understand at the time. Letting go is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being, and make their own way, as you make yours. Letting go is not to fix, but to be supportive if my support is requested, or if my offer of support is accepted. Letting go is not to automatically deny or accept, attack or protect, flee or intervene. Sometimes letting go simply means waiting to see what happens. Letting go is not to nag, scold, or argue, but to be aware of how I might improve my relationship to others. Letting go is not to criticize and regulate anyone, but to try to live in a spirit of gentleness. Letting go is to fear less and love more, for in fearing more we love less and fear even more. Letting go is trusting that if I can listen for more helpful understandings of life and how to live it, and occasionally learn, the rest will follow. |
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| MANAGE YOUR STRESS A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked how heavy the glass of water was. Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied that the absolute weight didn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes. And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, lay them down for a moment if you can. Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested awhile. |
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| Click on Sunny to Return to Part 2 |
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| Thank you for visiting ... I would like to leave you with these thoughts: Today, I will delete from my journal two days: yesterday and tomorrow. Yesterday was to learn from and tomorrow...well that will be the consequence of what I can do today. Today, I will face life with the sure knowledge that this day will never return. Today, is the last opportunity I have to live intensely, as no one can assure me that I will see tomorrow's sunrise. Today, I will be brave enough not to let any opportunity pass me by, my only alternative is to succeed. Today, I will invest my most valuable resource: my time in the most transcendental work: my life ... Today, I will spend each minute passionately, to make today a different and unique day in my life. Today, I will defy every obstacle that appears on my way, trusting I will succeed. Today, I will resist pessimism, and will conquer the world with a smile and a positive attitude of always expecting the best. Today, I will make of every ordinary task a sublime expression. Today, I will have my feet on the ground understanding reality and the stars' gaze, and thus will invent my future. Today, I will take the time to be happy and will leave my footprints and my presence in the hearts of others, not just in the sands of time. Today, I invite you to begin a new season where we can dream that everything we undertake is possible and we fulfill that dream, with joy and dignity. Today, why not perform a random act of kindness ...? And, if there are those that you love, tell them, you don't know when it might be your last opportunity. Tell them, as I have just done ... today. God bless you and may He bring you peace, love and harmony, my friend. With love, your devoted friend, Sunny |
| Song Playing: I Will Sing by Don Moen |
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