Originally posted by Cindy

It’s a holiday that comes just once a year. Often what comes to mind is turkey and all of the delicious food that goes with it, the scrumptious deserts, and the feeling afterwards of having eaten too much and wishing we hadn’t. Somewhere in the day, we might manage to remember the things we’re thankful for.

It’s a good thing to thank God for what He’s given us. It’s a good thing to be appreciative of all the blessings He’s bestowed upon us. But it’s terrible that we seem to forget this throughout the year, and only set aside one day out of the year to thank Him. And all that ‘thanking’ in the midst of stuffing ourselves til we are miserable!

Everywhere you go, you’ll probably hear someone somewhere griping and complaining about something. It’s too hot, the sun’s too bright, their clothes don’t look or fit right, they want a new car, they hate their job, the food is yucky, the paint color is all wrong, the kids are too loud, their spouse just isn’t as loving as they used to be, etc. It’s like nothing is right, and everything’s all wrong. What’s wrong with this picture?

Rather than complain and mumble about our dislikes, when’s the last time we thanked God for giving us what He has, regardless of how we felt about whatever it was? We are so blessed that it’s almost a shame, especially when those so blessed seem to never see those blessings.

For the parents that complain about the kids always making noise, try telling that to the Mom that lost her eight year old daughter to cancer last year, or the deaf parents who have never had the precious gift of hearing their children scream and holler. For the one who complains about their clothes aren’t fitting anymore or aren’t the right ‘match’, try telling that to people wearing rags because that’s the best they’ve got to wear. To the one’s complaining of the sun in their eyes, have a chat with the blind neighbor who’s never seen the lovely bright, yellow sun. For the one who can’t stop griping at the sales clerk for not getting the paint shade ‘just right’, take a walk down Main Street and talk to the homeless who have no homes to paint. For the ones that can never stop griping about the meals prepared and laid before them, try going just one day without a meal and walk in the shoes of those that goes days without eating in other countries. When you hate your job, offer it to the man that can’t feed his family or make his house payments, and see how much he loves it.

We are truly a blessed nation. We have more food than we can possibly need everyday, to the point that many of us are overweight. Thank you God for the food on our tables! We have homes, nice and warm when it’s cold outside. Thank you God for the fine homes we have! We have clothes on our backs and shoes on our feet. Thank you God for the warm clothes and shoes!

For those of us that have all or most of our body parts working, thank you God for allowing us to be able to hear, see, smell, taste, walk, run, move, roll over, breathe, think, feel. Never think that you’re so bad off that it can’t be worse, because it can.

We should thank God for our loved ones, for our spouses, kids, parents, grandparents, in-laws, ex-in-laws, and most of all, for dear friends. Never take anyone for granted. Marriages sadly don’t last anymore, and no one lives forever in this life. Cherish them all while you can, and thank God for giving them to you for a while.

When this Thanksgiving holiday is over and gone, don’t wait for another year to pass to give thanks to God for all the blessings He’s given you. Thank Him for that nice slice of pie that you don’t really need, or for that new pair of shoes that you just had to have to match that new dress, or for the promotion that someone got over you.

Thanksgiving is a time for celebration and to remember all that we are thankful for. But don’t let it be the only time you remember to thank God for everything. Let it be a remembrance of having done so throughout the year.

Originally posted by Cindy

Originally posted by Cindy

If you don’t like the person you are, chances are high that any relationship you are in or get into will fail. In order for a relationship to flourish and to grow, a person needs not not only like themselves but also to love who they are. Loving yourself is paramount to having a successful and loving relationship.

The divorce rate today is higher than at any other time in history. People marry for the wrong reasons, they marry the wrong person, and more so, they marry too soon. Not only do they not know they person they marry, they often don’t know themselves or even like who they are as a person.

Many divorces occur because incompatibility. But how can a couple become so incompatible when they loved each enough to marry? How could a marriage that started out with such love, and perhaps still have the love, go so wrong? How can two people who perhaps still are so much for each other end up not liking each other or themselves?

Often the problem lies in an area that’s least expected, with ourselves. We simply don’t like who we are and we strive to become who the spouse wants us to be, rather than just to be ourselves. This can be manifested in several ways. Women get breast enhancements, even though they are beautiful as they are. Men take pills to to enlarge parts that are absolutely fine as is. Another man gives up his particular favorite pastime and does only what the spouse likes to do. One woman goes and buys herself an entire new wardrobe of clothing trying to look sexier for her husband. Still another spouse gives up their entire existence and becomes a virtual clone of their spouse, trying to be exactly like them in an effort to feel more wanted and loved. Another woman wants to control everything her husband does, telling him how to act, think, dress, work, who his friends are, etc. All of these relationships are doomed because the people in them simply do not love themselves.

Before embarking on a relationship, we need to learn to love ourself first. Self love doesn’t mean that we love ourself over another. It means we love and accept ourself as we are. It means we don’t change who we are, our very identity, in order to please another. It means we work to grow and if something in us needs changing, we work to change that something, not for another person but to better ourselves.

To be truly happy in a relationship with another person, we have to be happy with who we are as a person. We can’t not like ourself and expect to be happy. We can’t be at odds with ourself and who we are and be happy. We can’t pretend to be something or someone we are not and be truly happy or love ourself. We can’t be happy and at peace if we are living in the past and not accepting ourselves as we are. But when one has had a troubled past, how can they learn to love who they are and find that happiness?

The answer is learning to let go. Letting go of what we cannot change or undo is a first step in releasing the past to be just that, the past. No matter what happened, what you did, what someone else did, it’s all gone. Instead of punishing yourself for what can never be changed or relived, allow yourself to forgive and move on with life. Punishing yourself by denying yourself happiness and love won’t change anything that’s already happened.

We have all done things and had things done to us that hurt. Sometimes we won’t allow ourselves to be happy or to love ourselves because we think that in loving ourselves or being happy, it diminishes what we did or what was done to us. We think that we deserve to be unhappy or feel unloved and unwanted. We have the mindset that whatever happened in the past is reason for us to keep our present and future miserable, thinking that’s payment for a past we can’t change. Nothing can be further from the truth!

Not allowing yourself to be happy or love yourself as you are is not hurting someone from the past, but it is hurting you and probably someone that cares deeply for you. Punishing yourself for something that’s gone isn’t the answer. Letting go, forgiving, moving on, learning to really like yourself, and being happy with the one that truly cares for you just as you are, that’s where it’s at. Remember that a person who truly cares for you won’t ever hold the past against you, and you shouldn’t hold it against yourself either.

Now is the time to start loving yourself. Focus on what YOU like about yourself, not what anyone else thinks. Remember that in learning to love yourself, you aren’t out to please the rest of the world, just yourself. If you find something that you don’t like about yourself, work on changing that. But only do it for you! Allow yourself to be yourself! Don’t try to be someone you’re not or something you’re not. Be happy with how you look, how you think, how you feel, how you love, how you believe, etc. Realize that you are a beautiful person and allow yourself to see that beauty in yourself.

When you feel you are ready for a relationship again, don’t go for someone who wants to change you. Don’t go for someone who makes you feel that you aren’t good enough as you are. Don’t get involved with a person that won’t allow you to be yourself. Don’t go for someone whose idea of love is for you to lose your identity in order to make them happy. Go for the person that accepts you for you, all of you, as you are. Go for the one that makes you feel like you can be yourself, that isn’t out to change you, that loves you exactly as you are, that listens to you, that understands you, that wants you for you, not some fantasy they want to fulfill.

In learning to love yourself, you have to see and believe that you are loved as you are, that you are wanted as you are, that you are beautiful as you are, and most of all that someone is wanting someone just like you. When you realize that you are indeed lovable as you are and you love yourself, that feeling will carry over into your relationship. The confidence you have in yourself will enable you to love the other person as they are and to accept them as they are, making for a relationship that will go the distance and withstand the storms that come in life.

Originally posted by Cindy

Originally posted by Cindy

How many times have you heard someone complain about the way his or her life is going? How many times have you heard the same complainers thank God for what He’s given them and done for them? Does it get old and tiresome to you, listening to people constantly complain about this or that? Why is it that these people are unable or unwilling to open their eyes and see how richly God has blessed them? Are they too proud? Too lost in their self-pity? Too angry with God for something they did or didn’t do, not Him?

Here’s a question even closer to home. How many times have you complained about how awful you think your life is? And when is the last time you thanked God for His blessings? Do you think the people that hear you complain about how lousy you think your life is enjoy listening to you, knowing that you are blind to the overabundance of blessings God has bestowed upon you?

God never promised this life would be without problems and hardships. He did promise us He’d always be with us, that He’d never leave us. We often leave Him though; especially when He doesn’t do something for us that we think He should. God’s promises are not for those that don’t live for Him or follow Him. Do you really think God will bless you when you’re not living, as He would have you to? God’s not going to bless someone that’s not living His Word, or someone that hasn’t asked God to forgive them. I don’t think God is going to bless someone that hasn’t forgiven him or herself.

How has God blessed me, you ask? All you can think of are the mountains of bills, the kids are sick, the job is unstable, the marriage is falling apart, talk of war is everywhere, etc. You think, and are sure to let all around you know, that your life is terrible. You complain that God doesn’t care, hasn’t blessed you, and has forgotten you, to anyone and everyone that will listen. You’re so blind that you can’t see the nose attached between your eyes.

God didn’t make your bills. But you expect Him to bail you out, right? Learn how to manage your money and stop wanting/buying everything you think you need. Learn to get the things you truly need, and save the wants for when you have money to blow. Plan before you spend and know your financial limitation. Don’t try to live like a king or queen on a pauper’s salary. And be content with what you have! Many people have so much less.

God didn’t make your marriage a mess. It takes three in a marriage to make it work. God, your spouse, you. And in that order. If God is not first, it’ll be miserable. If you put yourself ahead of your spouse, it’ll be miserable. Learn the art of communication. If you cannot or will not talk to your spouse, you’re in trouble. Someone else will talk to them, and the outcome will probably not be what you like. Your spouse cannot read your mind, just as you cannot read theirs. Talk! Stop assuming that just because your spouse loves you and is married to you, that the person is a mind reader.

Times are hard and no jobs are a sure thing, even in good times. Be happy you have a job. Many don’t have one. If you’re one that doesn’t have a job and want one, go get one! Stop waiting for the perfect job. Any money is better than no money. You can always look for something better after you’re working and have some money coming in. As long as the job is morally okay and legal, it’s a good job. And you have nothing to complain about if you are too lazy to get up off your end and go look for a job. No employer is going to come looking for you! A job is not going to just fall into your lap! Get up and try, or stop whining about it.

God did not forget you, but it seems you might have forgotten Him. When’s the last time you talked to Him? When’s the last time you read His Word? When’s the last time you thanked Him for what you have that He’s given you? Yeah, here were are again at that. What’s God given you, you ask? Let’s see.

Do you have a roof over your head? God blessed you with that roof. So it’s not a high dollar mansion, and maybe it’s not even yours, but who cares? You are blessed to have a place to live. Stop complaining that it’s not the right size or the right color or the right floor plan or new enough. Be thankful you have a home to live in. Many don’t.

Do you eat? You’re blessed by God to have meals. You’re not starving. You’re not going hungry. God gives you that food and the means to have it. Stop complaining that it’s not what you want or what you like or the way you want it cooked. Be thankful you have food to put into your stomach. Many people are literally starving. You’re not.

Are you clothed? God had blessed you with clothing to wear. You’re warm in the winter, have a bed to rest on, shoes on your feet. God is good to you.

Do you have all of your limbs and body parts? Wow, you are very blessed by God! There are people that are blind, are deaf, have no legs to walk with, are unable to walk, those that can’t speak, those that their minds are gone. God has blessed you with a body that works. You can see the sun in the morning, hear the rain and the thunder, smell the flowers and the meals cooked get up and walk someplace, and more.

Are you angry with God for something? Why? Who’s the one that did something that caused problems? Was it God or you? Then why are you angry at God? He didn’t do anything. He offers to console you and be there for you, yet you turn Him away in anger. Why? Did He get you into the mess you’re in? No, you did. He’s blessed you with things that you refuse to see or acknowledge.

God’s blessings are for those that love Him and follow Him. If you refuse to live for Him, how can you expect to be blessed by Him? If you refuse to help yourself and make an attempt to do something for yourself, why do you become angry with God when He doesn’t do anything for you? If all you do is complain and gripe about God’s blessings on you, why do you think He will keep blessing you? After all, even God gets tired of the whining after awhile. And even God will get tired of blessing you, only to have you curse His blessing and all He’s done for you.

Do you want your life to be a blessing filled life? Then get off the poor pitiful me attitude, stop complaining about how bad your life is when you do nothing to make it better, stop being angry with God for something He did not do, stop expecting Him to do everything you want, and learn to trust Him. Most of all, start living.

Originally posted by Cindy