Think about a time in your life when it seemed like nothing was going well. There seemed to be one problem after another. Everything seemed bleak and hopeless. Whatever could go wrong seemed to have happened. You tried your best to get what you wanted, but nothing seemed to go your way. Did you find yourself feeling hopeless and angry about the state of your life? Did you have faith that better days were ahead and that you will get what you are seeking in your life?
If you chose to have faith, then you weren't judging your life by appearances. If you have ever been inside a fun house of mirrors at a carnival, then you know that appearances can be misleading. Fun house mirrors can make you appear taller, shorter, thinner or heavier than you really are. It is all just a big illusion.
Life can fool us with its appearances. Our lives can seem so broken, but we are so close to a change in fortune. Most of us get emotionally and mentally caught up in what we see, feel and experience within our lives. If we don't like what we see in front of us, then we start to wonder if we will ever like ourselves or our lives. Will we ever get what we want? Will we ever be happy? Will we ever have more than enough money to pay our bills? Will we find true love?
I've learned that life works in cycles. At some point, we may experience a lean cycle where we may be lacking in some area of our lives. During these lean cycles, we may find it difficult to accomplish our dreams or even create opportunities for ourselves. Everything just seems to be closed or blocked temporarily. Sometimes, we get oh-so-close, only to have what we want slip away from us.
We have a choice in how we look at our lives during these lean cycles. We can choose to judge our lives by appearances and fall into the self-pity trap. We can find ourselves losing hope and giving up on ourselves and our lives. Once we give up, we become angry people who feel cheated or denied by life. We can become fearful and worrisome about the future. We can predict more doom and gloom for the future. We can simply stop trying to get more of what we want out of life.
We can always choose not to judge our lives by appearances. We aren't paying attention or keeping score on what isn't happening or what we don't like about our lives. We are making a conscious choice to focus on what we want to happen in our lives. We still believe without a doubt that we will have the life that we want in time. We don't know exactly when it will all happen, but we simply trust that everything is happening according to divine timing.
There is a reason for the lean times. It is our job to find the lesson and keep hope alive for our dreams. The appearance of a lean time isn't a signal from God that we can't ever have what we want. It isn't a permanent condition. A lean cycle is like a slow moving tornado passing through our lives. The tornado may create a lot of havoc and destruction, but the sun will shine brightly after it has gone. We will survive this event as long as we keep our hearts and our minds attuned to the better days. We will overcome it. We are not defeated ever unless we believe it.
When we judge our lives by appearances, we are giving up on defeat. It is hard to bounce back and stay motivated when you believe that you are already defeated. Judging your life by appearances is like being a runner tying herself to a 10,000 pound boulder before she starts running the race. She can't move, much less win the race, while carrying such a heavy weight.
Think about your life. If you do judge your life by appearances, just remind yourself that things may not be as they seem. You could be closer to a breakthrough than you even know or realize. If things aren't going the way we you want, maybe you aren't ready to get what you want yet. This is no way a judgment against you. It simply means that you have some growing or more preparation to do. Simply pay attention to areas that you are guided to address in your life.
Be patient with yourself and your life. Remind yourself that whatever you are going through is a temporary situation that will pass. It doesn't matter how long you have dealing with unpleasantness, there is always hope for a brighter future. Never give up on yourself or your dreams. You can't possibly imagine all the wonderful opportunities that will be open to you once you make it out of the storm. Find the lesson in the storm. Keep the hope. Free your mind of worry, fear, guilt and anger whenever you are in the midst of the storm. Just believe that the sun is right around the corner ready to come out. Keep your mind and your thoughts aligned with hope while the storm rages. You will see better days, no matter how much havoc and destruction the storm has created.
Affirmations: Hope fills my thoughts each day. My life is getting better everyday. I accept happiness and joy.
Copyright©2006 Jeannine Robinson All Rights Reserved