Wisdom from Mom's Storage Boxes

Mom kept things. Notes from dad, newspaper clippings, funeral cards, business cards, homemade cards from children and grandchildren, girl scouts programs. 

But this typed wisdom, she had multiple copies of this. It was special to her. So I want to share it with you.

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The Key to Peace of Mind and Happiness

Shun suspicion and resentment.

Live in the present and the future.

Don't waste time and energy fighting conditions you can't change.

Cooperate with life instead of trying to demolish it or run away from it.

When you find yourself in the grip of emotional stress, force yourself to be outgoing with others instead of retreating within yourself and building a prison of loneliness. 

Refuse to pity yourself, or seek self-justification in alibis that make you appear NOBLE to others.

Cultivate the old-fashioned virtues of love, honor, loyalty and thrift.

Stop expecting too much of yourself.

Find something bigger than yourself in which to believe. (note from me: Jesus)

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How to Deal with Demanding People 

Be honest and admit the relationship is unpleasant and causing you pain. Demanding people are impossible to please.

When faced with an unreasonable demand, just say NO. Don't waste time giving reasons or trying to work out a compromise. 

Above all, do not be drawn into a fight! Controlling people love to fight and they are good at it.  

Your weapon should be polite withdrawal. Refuse meetings. Screen your calls. Ignore letters, emails and texts unless they contain an apology and indicate a sincere desire for change. 

Note: If you have spent a lifetime trying to please others, you may find these recommendations difficult to consistently put into practice. Habits can become entrenched and are hard to break without some coaching. If you feel constantly put upon, seek out a mentor!  

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The Impact of Our Attitude

The longer I live, I realize the impact of attitude on life. 

Attitude to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. 

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one thing we have control of and that is our attitude. 

I am convinced that life is 40% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you.

We are in charge of our attitude!  

On the Top of the Mountain

Every morning as I have my coffee, I read my Bible. It is one of the benefits of retirement to have that precious time to learn more about my beloved Savior. And as I have been studying the scriptures, I see how glorious God is, especially in Revelation...

...There before me was a throne in heaven with Someone sitting on it. And the One who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 

From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven Spirits of God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures... Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’who was, and is, and is to come.” (Revelation 4:2b-6, 8b)

It is different to consider this on the top of the mountain. In April Christina and I traveled to Puerto Rico and to the top of El Yunque. It was a long, winding, exhausting climb around and up the mountain. But it was worth it. We took lots of photos but none of them could capture the magnificence of the landscape -- mountains of lush green and in the distance the bright blue of the ocean. 

Jesus is much more magnificent than this mountain range, from which I could touch the clouds and see the island emerge from the blue waters in the distance. He is beyond the words on the page I read from my kitchen table, because mere words cannot describe His grandeur, as a photo could not portray the majestic scene before us on the mountain top. Do I properly worship this amazing Savior who invites me into His presence as well as created the immense beauty before me? 

As I stood there, I recalled the verse of the morning, 

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:21-22)

In front of me was this huge mountain, and Jesus promises even this is not too big for me to ask. It is one thing to read this at my kitchen table. Quite another to remember it at the top of El Yunque.  

Jesus invites us to ask for even the impossible. All things should be presented to Him with confidence. We can trust Him with EVERYTHING. As we drove the Puerto Rico coastline, past soaring mountains and endless ocean, it seemed silly to ask such things, to cast the mountain into the sea. But that is exactly His point. He said: don't think it silly. Ask anyway and trust He can do it. Because He can. He has authority over even the mountains and the seas. 

Yes, sometimes He will tell us No. But it's not because He cannot do it. It is because in His wisdom and goodness, it is not best.

He is powerful. He is wise. He is good. We can trust Him.

We should praise Him with highest praise. We should ask Him even the most impossible things. 

 

That is what He reminded me from the on of the mountain.