In this message, Zig shows why attitude makes all the difference.  He uses a story about a lady who really hates her job.  Using the tips that Zig taught her, she was able to change her perspective and see things in a much better light.

This video runs a little less than ten minutes and I’m sure you’ll find it to be worth every second.  Enjoy.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRMogDrHnMQ

Be blessed,

What about forgiving yourself?  For most people, that is a much tougher thing to do.  We all tend to be much harder on ourselves than we ever would be on someone else.  It’s funny, most of us will beat ourselves up over things that we would tell others is “no big deal.”

So, how do you go about forgiving yourself for things you’ve done in the past? Here are some tips to help you along the way:

1. Accept that you are human and humans make mistakes.  I know that this is stating the obvious, but it’s the basic, fundamental truth of the matter.  You make mistakes and mess up.  So do I and so does everyone else on the planet.  No matter what you’ve done, there is a very good chance that other people have done the same thing…or worse.  You’re not alone here.
2. Repair the things that you can.  If you’ve done something that can be repaired, repair it.  If you’ve wronged someone, try to repair the damage and ask for forgiveness.  How simple is that?
3. Learn to accept that not everything can be repaired.  Unfortunately, life does not come with an “undo” button.  Most things, once done, cannot be undone. Until time travel is perfected, that’s just one of the rules of life we have to understand and accept.  It’s not productive to beat yourself up for something you can do nothing about.
4. Understand that forgiveness is not a one-shot deal.  Many people forgive others, or even themselves and then feel guilty when negative feelings come back a few days later.  They think, “I’ve forgiven them (or me).  Why do I feel this way?”  The fact of the matter is that forgiveness rarely happens in one shot.  Often, it’s a daily ritual. You must be willing to forgive every day for as long as it takes.
5. Once you’ve forgiven yourself for something, don’t keep bringing it up.  The Bible tells us that, when God forgives us, he buries our iniquities in the “sea of forgetfulness.”  That’s what we should do when we forgive others and ourselves. Forgiveness is like a pardon.  The slate is wiped clean.  If you continue to bring up old mistakes, it’s likely that you haven’t truly been able to forgive yourself.
6. Seek help when necessary.  Some people seem hesitant to seek out help when they need it, especially when the need is of a psychological or emotional nature.  That’s just silly.  There are going to be times when you will be overwhelmed by circumstances that are bigger than you can handle alone.  We all get there from time-to-time.  There’s no shame in that.  Don’t be a martyr.  Seek sound guidance from a pastor, counselor or other professional whom you trust.

Listen, that last point is important, so I want to stress it again.  If you feel overwhelmed and think you need help, get it!  Sites like this one are great, but they are not a substitute for sound professional help.

Life is too short to be held down by “skeletons in your closet.”  It’s time to clean them out and get a fresh start.

Do you have any other ideas on the topic?  If so, I would really appreciate it if you would put it (them) in the comment box below.

Be blessed.

I don’t know if it was the weather, the economy or the alignment of the planets, but something was up.  It’s one thing when you meet one person who acts so irritable you start to wonder if he was “toilet trained at gunpoint.”  It’s quite another thing to run into several people like that.  It can be quite maddening if you let it.

So, how do you deal with the day when it’s filled with a bunch of cranky folks?  Well, here’s what I did.

First off, I made a firm decision that their attitude was not going to influence mine.  I was in a good mood and, doggone it, they were not going to take that away from me.  It’s quite simple, we can’t always choose our circumstances, but we can almost always choose our response.

Secondly, I decided to make a little game of it.  I wanted to see how many people I could make smile that day.  I told bad jokes, gave genuine complements and made it a point to “bless” as many people as possible.  These are all things I always do anyway.  I just stepped up my efforts a little bit.

You might be confused by that last thing.  What do I mean by “blessing people?”  Well, some folks call it doing a “random act of kindness.”  I just calling it “being a blessing.”  I did unsolicited good deeds for several people that day.  Now, we’re not talking about huge favors.  Nope.  We’re talking about little things like surprising someone with his favorite soda when he didn’t even ask for it or lending a listening ear when someone wanted to talk about why their day was so bad.  Some may see these as small gestures, but, as the old TV commercial told us, “little things mean a lot.”

By the end of the day, I had several people tell me that I had “made their day.”  To be honest, hearing that made my day too.

For a long time now, I have made it a goal to “bless someone,” in some way, each and every day.  It’s a tall goal, but one I really work to do.  It’s amazing how this lifts my spirits when I am down.  Just imagine if everyone followed this and decided to bless one person each day.  The world would be a much better place, wouldn’t it?

When you are confronted with a lot of grouchy people, or even just one, you can handle things one of two ways.  You can allow your attitude to descend to meet theirs or you can try to lift their attitude up to meet yours.  Sure, sometimes you may not be able to bring someone out of the “funk.”  It happens, but that doesn’t mean that you have to allow them to steal your joy.

I say, keep your humor, keep smiling and be blessed.

What do you do to deal with the cranky people you meet, assuming that ignoring them is not an option?