A Pause

I have paused recently in posting these optimistic blog posts.  Not because things are any less optimistic. On the contrary,  things have probably been more positive for me personally in recent days than they have ever been. 

I am in the middle of a great vacation and posting this from the waiting room of a Dodge service department where my truck sits awaiting a new radiator to be delivered. 

I know that most of you are in bummerville for me.  Well don't be.  It isn't that bad and I am getting a chance to blog. 

Do you see how I flipped that around ? It is easy to view the current situation as half empty,  but those who learn to see it as half full,  find true happiness. Think about the happiest people you know.  Now picture them in a bad situation.  Let's say their car breaks down thousands of miles from home.  How do they react ? I bet the mental picture you conjure doesn't involve them kicking and screaming. 

This is my optimistic lesson for the day.  Life can be happy or sad.  It can be half full or half empty. It's up to you and how you look at it.  My wonderful wife once said,  "stop worrying about how full the glass is,  and just drink up"!

DRINK UP !

Anthony Hargrove a story about the dangers of fame

Money isn't everything they say. Well, I'd like to submit this to you in a different way. Saying that money isn't everything, may be making dangerously light of the situation. Money is something. Money is a powerful thing that most often times causes the underlying issues that we all have buried, to surface.

Money often times, throws fuel on the fire of doubt, depression, loneliness, and all manner of emotions, which we tend to bury. These buried emotions are as embers waiting for the fuel needed to ignite.

Money starts the fire roaring out of control and unfortunately it often takes hitting the bottom to realize what's happening. It seems that we aren't wired to seek God until we've hit bottom.

This is a great example of that and what can happen once you seek him.

Anthony Hargrove went on to play for the Saints and after last night we all know how that story goes !! The Saints won their first superbowl !! Check out this video... and learn from the trials of others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Io7eTgt2TU

Click the link Above for the Video !!

Ammonia Beef

I know what you must be thinking, "how can Ammonia Beef, be optimistic?"

Well, let me explain. The U.S.D.A approved a method for "cleaning" up ground beef that would otherwise be waste or at best be used in pet food. This is horrible news. They take the ammonia filled meat and add it back to the good meat and it's sold to the big fast food chains and grocery chains. The U.S.D.A was so convinced in this method that they lifted the need to check it for salmonella and other deadly bacteria. The company that produces it has found at least two 27,000 pound batches stricken with the bacteria and stopped shipment of it and that's just the ones they told us about.

I'm writing this post for two very important reasons. One is to inform you of this horrible thing that is going on and two is to show you that we can find a half full glass even in this.

This news makes it rather easy to avoid ground beef and when you think about it, how healthy is GROUND beef anyway ?

What I mean by that is, the typical ways that we cook and prepare ground beef are as a general rule not very good for you. Burgers are loaded in grease and fat. Meat loaf can't be thought of as health food, (even if it is a family tradition) and even spaghetti isn't the best choice for our health.

Much of the ground beef effected by this would probably be best if left alone anyway, so lets just leave it alone. I for one have no desire to eat any ground beef since hearing this news and if I have to have a Burger I can always buy my ground beef from a local butcher, less the Ammonia.

This is great news, I otherwise could have been powerless to stop the "Value Meal" !!

Optimistically Standing up for Christ

When the news came out that Tiger Woods was in Hattiesburg, Ms for sexual addiction treatment, many of us Christians thought about how Tiger needed more than counselors, he needed to find Jesus. Many of us Christians began praying for him again. Many of us hadn't stopped praying for him.

Many lost people drove by Pine Groves treatment center and wondered if this treatment would work for Tiger. Many lost people wondered what was the real solution for his problems. Many thought that he had no hope and stood no chance.

Many of us Christians knew that there was a hope. Many of us Christians knew that Jesus, was that hope. Many of us knew that he has a chance. Many of us Christians wished we could somehow let people know.

One of us did !!

Stephen Hannabass walked into the office at work and asked myself and a few others on break, if we had heard about Tiger Woods being in Pine Grove. None of us had and someone pulled up the news article. Everyone was a little shocked........

But, one of us did something !!

Stephen Hannabass has devoted all of his free time lately to ending abortion in Mississippi and has been working with Personhood Mississippi collecting signatures to do just that. For more information check out http://www.personhoodmississippi.com/, Contact Stephen via Facebook, or ask me and I can get you in touch with him.

Many people drove by and read the precious name of Jesus Christ that day. Many people read it in the newspaper or saw it on the news. Several Churches used his good works to teach their congregations important lessons. Many people paused to contemplate their own relationships with Christ. Many will question what they are doing to proclaim the Gospel !!

This is thanks to one man doing something !!

One man, that I am proud to call a friend !!

Optimistic Thoughts

I'll have to admit that there have been a lot less positive thoughts being produced than I am usually capable of. Lately there has been a great deal of mourning and somehow I think that's healthy too. It kind of flushes your system and you come out of the other side with new perspective.

I didn't loose my optimistic, glass half full outlook through it. Although my half glass of milk seems to have been poured into a different glass. A glass more difficult to see through. There sat my milk but I had to struggle to see how full it was.

But such is life.

It seems that this entry will be less about me giving you optimistic thoughts and more about telling you that it is possible to be optimistic even when circumstances look grim. Although you can no longer view your milk through the side of your glass, you can lift your head high and look in over the rim of it.

It it still half full so drink up !!

A few optimistic quotes

The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser - in case you thought optimism was dead.

-Robert Brault-

Beware of no man more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us.

Charles Spurgeon

It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.

Charles Spurgeon

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit. “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:7-10 NKJV)

Family Reunion

Today was the annual Trosclair family reunion and we made the yearly trek to southern Louisiana for the festivities. I don't know of many families that still get together for reunions and for the effort I commend this one.

The Trosclair family is my wife's fathers family and the closeness that this family holds, is amazing. Many miles separate most of them and through it all they start their New Year, every year "TOGETHER" !

Together, is important. There is a certain sense of security and optimism that comes from beginning your year surrounded by people that love you. You leave the reunion and start your new year, with the feeling that you can take on the world, and even if you don't take on the world...... Your family loves you ! Even if you fail at your resolutions this year..... You still have your family.

If your family doesn't have a reunion I highly recommend it. As a matter of fact, I may even see about setting one up for my family. Until next time, remember to be optimistic.