From the Ashes

Last week on Oprah the show was on Spirituality. One of the guests was a favorite of mine, Michael Beckwith, of the Agape church in L.A. Beckwith explained we are created to create and to create new things old things must die. When we are faced with a crisis in our life, our community, country or world we should not resist the crisis or dispair but realize for new things to be created and born old things must die.

I was struck by this notion and recall in my lifetime the number of times when faced with what I preceived as disaster when the crisis ceased new things appeared, usually much greater than the old and completly unexpected.

This view helps me face adversity with a calm and reflective state of mind rather than panic or depression I can expect good things will arise out of the ashes. The bleak state of affairs our nation faces at this time is a good example and a prime time for us to not panic but rather to grow from this experience.

So my goal is to count my blessings: each day to identify the things in my life I can be thankful for and not to focus on the negatives. This is practicing the Law of Attraction: "What you focus on is what you will receive". If I focus on the good things in my life, i.e. family, friends, health, warm water for a shower, food, a comfortable home, a great church family, and a loving dog, then I don't have time to dwell on the fact my business is suffering from the down economy, infact, I'm motivated to do things differently with a positive outlook.

So take a deep breath, give thanks for the things we have in our life that are good, reach out to friends and family and make some smile each day.