March 19, 2007
Perspective: "But he did. Then she said."
Sometimes, people get mad at me because I'm "always happy." Maybe not mad AT me, but mad that I think positively all the time. People say I'm "goody-goody" or "perfect" or whatever. That used to bug me, because I'm not perfect. I sin daily. I have bad days. I cry. I hate. I get annoyed.
But I'm not mad any more that people think that. I think the differerence with me is that I don't focus on the bad things that happen in life. I mean, yeah, life throws some hard punches and even some soft ones too, but if we live every day focusing on the little things that are going on, we're going to miss the big picture. Yeah, I might get mad or have a "bad day," but I'm not going to stay mad, because it's not worth it. Sometimes, life sucks and that's how it is. Guess what though? God is real.
If we live every day thinking about who did what to us and who we're mad at and who said what to who about whatever and who lied and who failed and who let us down and who whatever, we're missing the big picture. Do those things matter tomorrow? Do they matter in a week? Do they matter in a year? Do they matter in ETERNITY? Of course not, so why focus on them? God created us and the lives we live, and if we spend every day on this earth gossiping, hating, focusing on the bad things, etc... we end our days empty and depressed.
This past weekend, my Grandma Sheila died. It was unexpected and instant. That night when my grandparents were eating dinner together, they weren't thinking that that would be one of their last conversations on earth. They weren't thinking about the fact that my Grandaddy would be sleeping in a bed alone from now on. They didn't know that would be their last "I love you." They didn't know that was one of the last times they would gaze into eachothers' eyes. We don't know if we are going to live for seventy more years or seventy more seconds. God does though, and he is watching how we spend our time on earth.
And it's not even for spiritual reasons that we shouldn't focus on the bad things in life. It's for our own personal good. Why live every day like that? We only end our day lying in our beds staring at the ceiling feeling empty, dissatisfied, hopeless, and sad. And all that leads to is waking up the next day and living life the same way. Then the next day. And the next day. And the next day. It is NOT WORTH IT.
So now the world knows why I am Jeff Carl. You know why I have a smile on my face. You know why I think the way I do. I enjoy life. Yes, I have my struggles, but they aren't going to beat me. It is interesting....sometimes, we'll be 100% fine in God's eyes, and then someone will do something TO us. Then what do we do? We complain about it. We tell the world how we feel. We tell the world how horrible that person is. We tell the world that they were wrong, and that if they were true Christians, they would have done blah blah blah....
Have you ever wondered if maybe just maybe......perhaps that is worse than what the person did to us in the first place? Don't let the world beat you. Don't let others affect who you are. Don't settle for less. What is God seeing in you? If this is your last day, how are you going to spend it? It's all perspective.
-Jeffrey Laurence Carl ¶ 8:45:00 PM
But I'm not mad any more that people think that. I think the differerence with me is that I don't focus on the bad things that happen in life. I mean, yeah, life throws some hard punches and even some soft ones too, but if we live every day focusing on the little things that are going on, we're going to miss the big picture. Yeah, I might get mad or have a "bad day," but I'm not going to stay mad, because it's not worth it. Sometimes, life sucks and that's how it is. Guess what though? God is real.
If we live every day thinking about who did what to us and who we're mad at and who said what to who about whatever and who lied and who failed and who let us down and who whatever, we're missing the big picture. Do those things matter tomorrow? Do they matter in a week? Do they matter in a year? Do they matter in ETERNITY? Of course not, so why focus on them? God created us and the lives we live, and if we spend every day on this earth gossiping, hating, focusing on the bad things, etc... we end our days empty and depressed.
This past weekend, my Grandma Sheila died. It was unexpected and instant. That night when my grandparents were eating dinner together, they weren't thinking that that would be one of their last conversations on earth. They weren't thinking about the fact that my Grandaddy would be sleeping in a bed alone from now on. They didn't know that would be their last "I love you." They didn't know that was one of the last times they would gaze into eachothers' eyes. We don't know if we are going to live for seventy more years or seventy more seconds. God does though, and he is watching how we spend our time on earth.
And it's not even for spiritual reasons that we shouldn't focus on the bad things in life. It's for our own personal good. Why live every day like that? We only end our day lying in our beds staring at the ceiling feeling empty, dissatisfied, hopeless, and sad. And all that leads to is waking up the next day and living life the same way. Then the next day. And the next day. And the next day. It is NOT WORTH IT.
So now the world knows why I am Jeff Carl. You know why I have a smile on my face. You know why I think the way I do. I enjoy life. Yes, I have my struggles, but they aren't going to beat me. It is interesting....sometimes, we'll be 100% fine in God's eyes, and then someone will do something TO us. Then what do we do? We complain about it. We tell the world how we feel. We tell the world how horrible that person is. We tell the world that they were wrong, and that if they were true Christians, they would have done blah blah blah....
Have you ever wondered if maybe just maybe......perhaps that is worse than what the person did to us in the first place? Don't let the world beat you. Don't let others affect who you are. Don't settle for less. What is God seeing in you? If this is your last day, how are you going to spend it? It's all perspective.
-Jeffrey Laurence Carl ¶ 8:45:00 PM
