Well Spring of God's Love

Celebrate even the smallest of things. How do we get better and keep improving our lives without hesitation? By acknowledging our successes.

Do you ever feel like you are just going with the flow? Like you have no set plan or nothing in particular to accomplish? Well, this may not be the best approach to life.

Time is better spent if you set goals and when you obtain them to set another goal. How else will we know if we are accomplishing anything? It is possible to assess your mood and attitude. If you feel good and things are going smoothly then you are making progress and your faith in God is fairly strong. But with this approach you aren’t sure what you are doing well and what continues to need work.

Goals will make all of your progress tangible.

Start with your feelings about yourself. Work on your confidence and self-appreciation. Recognize low moods and discover what is behind them. Set a goal to be happy and able to handle frustration or upset within a certain amount of time.
Goal- I will meet each day feeling positive and hopeful. I will handle stress and upset within 1 hour and will discover a way to deal with the concern and get back to feeling positive and hopeful.

The next goal may be with your spouse. Since this goal involves another person it may be more complicated to achieve it due to the potential responses by the other person. Select the most important aspects of your relationship and define a goal. You may lack trust, appreciation, respect, patience…
Goal- I will remind myself of one positive aspect of my relationship each time I think of my partner.
Goal- I will sit with my spouse for 1/2 hour at the end of the day and we will discuss how we are feeling and what were the important events of the day.
Goal- I will not argue or raise my voice when communicating with my partner.

The next goal may be about children or close family. Then a goal about co-workers, neighbors and community members. Keep going until you have addressed some of the more important relationships in your life.

Don’t overwhelm yourself. Maybe 2 goals are enough to start with. It may even be a good idea to recognize one problem with relationships that are going fairly well then add a goal about a more complicated relationship with someone else. Please don’t set goals for all of the most difficult and complicated relationships that you have. You need to have room for success or you will not follow through.

Always remember that people have their own free will. You may never get an apology or an acknowledgment from another person. You may feel like you have invested more time and attention into a relationship and the other person is not motivated to make improvements. This has to be ok with you. It is the trap of “keeping score” that undermines your own happiness and well-being.

Forgiveness is necessary for your own emotional healing. Sometimes you just have to let go. If you have such a difficult time coping with someone then it may be time to drop the expectations that you have for them. It is Ok for you to let them be. The only person you are able to change is yourself.

Allow yourself to be the person you want to be. Set some positive goals and keep going. Don’t allow yourself to be weighed down by others. Please don’t base your emotional wellness on the health and emotional wellbeing of another. This may be difficult to recognize at first. You may say that your happiness depends upon your spouse or your children or your job…This approach is not predictable or even possible. Your happiness depends solely upon you and your relationship with God and all of your Heavenly Hosts.

You are not alone and you never will be. You are always surrounded by loving beings who are near you for support and encouragement. Success in life is an important goal and it may not include the usual trappings we associate with financial success. We are here, in this incarnation, for spiritual growth and wellbeing.

Find that stable, loving and nurturing place within you. It is from that place that all of your relationships flow including the relationship you have with yourself. Find God in all people, places and things. Know that this is the time to make your desire for spiritual growth known. If you are in a healthy place then all of your life circumstances will improve as well.

It is ok to be strong, valuable, confident, loving, supportive and flexible. This is who you want to be and no one benefits from times when you are overwhelmed and uncertain. God shares with you His strength. Begin within yourself and radiate healing and love to those in your life.

Success is the strength of your bond with God and your behavior will reflect it. Amen.