LIFE IS BUT A BATTLE OF ATTITUDES!
THE BATTLE IS BETWEEN PESSIMISM AND OPTIMISM.
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
TEXT:
Proverbs 15:13 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
Proverbs 15:15 --- He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
Proverbs 17: 22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dried the bones.
Stop here and DEFINE these two words:
1. PESSIMISM--
2. OPTIMISM --
LIFE IS BUT A BATTLE OF ATTITUDES! THE BATTLE IS BETWEEN PESSIMISM AND OPTIMISM.
Let us begin today by asking are you a pessimist? Are you a fault finder?
Do you give more criticism than praise? Are you inclined to expect the worse?
Do you emphasize the adverse? Do you believe in a doctrine that reality is bad, and bad overbalances happiness in life?
Is everyone picking on you and yours? Is life not fair? Where is your HOPE?
Are you an optimist? Do you look at the positive and praise others? Do you have daily JOY? Do you anticipate the best possible out come? Do you grow HOPEFUL attitudes?
Did you hear about the optimist that fell out of the skyscraper?
Someone yelled out the 50th floor window, "HOW IS IT GOING?"
The man yelled back, "SO FAR, SO GOOD!"
One attitude difference: the optimist sees the donut, the pessimist sees the hole.
Pessimism, when you get used to it and let it, is just as agreeable as optimism.
The pessimist says the optimist does not have much experience.
Today, I want to thank God for how good He has been to me, and thank His Son for watching over my family.
When we have no hope, THERE IS ALWAYS GRACE.
Pessimist fail to find GRACE!
THE PESSIMIST SEES AS A JUDGE AND IN PRIDE, THE NEGATIVE TAKES TERRIBLE ROOTS. THE OPTIMIST KNOWS, WE ALL HAVE BAD DAYS AND FAULTS, AND WE NEED LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING.
Thank God for His MERCY and GRACE.
Jesus loves me, even when I don’t.
Don’t forget God watches over you and yours.
There is a plan. There is a plan in life. Our choices play a major role in this plan.
The choice of your friends? The choice of how you spend your time? Your money?
The plan may not be tear free or pain free.
Shall we focus on the positive or the negative?
God honored Moses by sending him to the Highest School known ...
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SUFFERING. God built a man.
God took the negative and build a positive! Man must accentuate the positive.
While Hannah was mocked and outcast from her family and others, she learned the beauty of PRAYER. The negative pushed the positive into action.
An artist took a paint brush and painted a picture in two colors.
He called the picture ’BLUE AND GRAY."
The artist listened to a critic that couldn’t even paint and threw the picture in a corner and it gathered dust many years.
One day someone saw the picture and offered to buy "BLUE AND GRAY."
To day this painting is considered a Masterpiece and hangs in a museum.
The picture had a new name, you know it... "Whistler’s Mother."
Many copies have been made and sold.
What a pessimist saw as worthless, and optimist saw as valuable?
What made the difference between a dust catcher and a work of art?
Seeing the value?
Remember mom’s strawberry preserves?
God knows how to preserve His people.
Well, God will pull you through, if you can stand the PULL.
Preserve us, O, Lord! Keep me when I am unkeepable.
Teach us to never give up.
Pessimism rules? Can God? or God can! It is in your attiitude.
We want God, but we want God our way? Grow up!
The is great consequences to your choices.
Criticize, fault find, and you will find yourself in a trap.
Alter your moods with other substances and someday you will see.
We make choices and fuss like we will never visit the funeral home.
We can’t seem to see the consequences of our negative attitudes not only in our daily life, but also the consequences of the seeds we sow in others?
A pessimist will never have a good time.
I was riding with my 4 year old grandson in my pickup truck.
Matthew’s brown eyes were just sparkling, as he said,
’’PAW, WE ARE HAVING FUN, AIN’T WE?"
I cried, in my business, I never realized what fun we were having.
A 4 year old boy had to get me to realize, life is fun.
IF I ONLY KNEW? UNKNOWN
If I knew it would be the last time that I’d see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly and pray the Lord your soul to keep.
If I knew it would be the last time that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss and call you back for one more.
If I knew it would be the last time I’d hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would video tape each action and word, so I could play them back day after day.
If I knew it would be the last time, I could spare an extra minute or two,
to stop and say that "I love you," instead of assuming that you KNOW.
If I knew it would be the last time I would be there to share your day,
well, I’m sure you’ll have so many more, so I can let this one slip away.
For surely there’s always tomorrow to make up for an oversight,
and we always get a second chance to make everything all right.
There will always be another day to say "I love YOU."
And certainly there’s another chance to say our "Anything I can do’s."
But just in case I might be wrong, and today is all I get,
I’d like to say how much I love you and hope we never forget.
Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, young or old alike.
And today may be the last chance you get to hold your loved one tight.
My friend, if you’re waiting for tomorrow, why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes, you’ll surely regret the day,
that you didn’t take that extra time for a smile, a hug, or kiss.
And you were too busy to grant someone, what turned out to be their one last wish.
So hold your loved ones close today, whisper in their ear,
Tell them how much you love them And that you’ll always hold them dear.
Take the time to say... "I’m sorry," ... "please forgive me," ..."thank you" or ..."it’s OK." And if tomorrow never comes, you’ll have no regrets about today.
Do not forget that you mean something to other people.
Make sure you are choosing to take the time, time to tell others you love them,
"For tomorrow may never come!" writer of this section unknown.
A child once asked me, what is the greatest sin?
I replied very quickly, PESSIMISM AND PROCRASTINATION... THINKING WE HAVE PLENTY OF TIME, WAITING FOR A MORE CONVENIENT TIME, CRITICIZING AND NOT PRAISING AND LISTENING TO THOSE WE LOVE?
YOU head toward death at 60 minutes an hour, that is fast but 1440 minutes a day is more like it. You are building tomorrow’s memories today. What are the tears building?
We try to gain control and force others, when we can’t handle ourselves?
WHAT YOU LOVE YOU WILL FIND TIME FOR..... ?
WHAT DO YOU LOVE? Show me how you spend your time.
70% of people do not have a legal will written? Why?
We think we have forever? Wasting time and love in pessimism is an abomination to God and to man kind.
May spouses, many children are just dying for the acceptance and approval of someone? We should offer 10 praise reports to every 1 negative report?
We watch our pennies, while we kill time? We treat each other like there will be a tomorrow. Shame on us, we will give an account. Tomorrow’s are best are limited in number.
I have never kissed a stone, until my Mom died. Mom’s blanket is the sod, grass is her bedspread, I wish I had hugged her more.
There is a forgotten old person in a resthome?
There is a husband bitter and cold?
There is a wife and momma lonely and disappointed?
There is a child that’s home is broken...
WHO WILL LOVE ENOUGH TO SHOW THEM THE CROSS?
Jesus said, Do you love me?
His answer was: Feed the sheep! GIVE! Give more. Do more.
Do you love me?
Feed the lambs, little ones!
Do you love me? FEED!
The order still stands. Psa. 90: 12, David asked the Lord, TEACH ME TO NUMBER MY DAYS ... Lord teach us!!! Father make us FEEDERS and GIVERS.
What kind of memories are you building?
What kind of memory are you building today?
Will you get out of your box for your family? The church?
The miserable trap we have built must be broken, as we see our spirit free to focus and accentuate the positive.
His servant,
Wade Martin Hughes, Sr.
Kyfingers@aol.com
