Skip to main content

Shifting your focus

Write your hurts in the sand. Carve your blessings in stone. Jamie the Very Worst Missionary

I love the picture this brings to mind.  Sand gets wiped clean and smoothed out by the water and stone is pretty much forever.  So the idea here is to record your hurts, if you are going to do that, in sand where it can be wiped clean and smoothed out and "forgotten" and record your blessings in stone where they can stand as a reminder on the days when the hurts threaten to overwhelm.  In our lives we will have both hurts and blessings and the people who choose to let the hurts be washed away are generally more joyful, fulfilled, and pleasant to be around!  Those who choose to carve their hurts in stone, however, are miserable to be around and miserable themselves.  Why would anyone choose misery as the description for their life?  And it is a choice.  Yes, crappy things happen but we have a choice.  Will we write them in the sand so they can be washed away and smoothed out or will we hold on to them as justification for being crappy ourselves?  Ugh.  
How about you?  Have you been writing your hurts in the sand or carving them in stone?  Have you lost sight of your blessings?  I encourage you to try practicing today's quote.  Try writing your hurts in sand and carving your blessings in stone and see what changes because of the shift in focus.  I think you will be amazed.   

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

April 5, 2015

The Feast of Firstfruits & Easter Go for Broke Day If it scares you this is the day to go for it no matter what. One Day Without Shoes Day Today is to raise global awareness for children’s health and education.  Why shoes? Because shoes help protect from bacteria in the dirt, rusty nails, dirty needles and shoes enable feet to withstand the long distances most children in developing countries need to walk to get to school. Join TOMS One for One There is plenty of criticism out there for TOMS and its short term solutions. Critics don't even buy the "at least they are doing something" statement.  However, you have to start somewhere. And every bit of awareness helps something go from short term to long term.  We all have a part to play. Read a Road Map Day One of the many reasons I would stink at The Amazing Race is because I never did learn how to read a road map well.  I remember doing worksheets and class lessons on maps and I was able to skate by ...

Butter someone up

There are two probable origins for this idiom and I think both are equally plausible. The first one is that when you spread butter on bread you are buttering it up like one would do when trying to flatter someone. The second is in ancient India there was a practice of throwing balls of butter at statues to ask for favor, i.e. buttering them up. ( source ) When we use the phrase today we generally mean that extreme flattery is used to gain information or favor. It's not always necessarily a compliment. 

A dime a dozen

"It's said that in the year 1796, the first U.S. dimes were produced for circulation. Hence, it would make sense for this phrase to originate sometime after." Read more here .  Today the phrase carries the meaning that something is cheap or without value if it can be lumped in with other similar or exactly-like things. It's more of an insult than anything.