ChristianTales.com
  • Home
  • Spiritual Blog
  • Contact Me
  • The Ghost Driver
  • A Scandalous Education

Making Christmas Merry

12/18/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
In October my son went for a week to Rhode Island to attend a seminar for dog trainers.

But he learned much more than how to educate a dog or grow a canine business. He came back with a long list of really good books to read - none of which had anything to do with dogs, but everything to do with self-improvement.
​
Thanks to that seminar the Kindle app on my phone is now rapidly filling up with great books!
​
I am already re-reading ‘The Slight Edge’ by Jeff Olson. 
Picture
Habits of Thought & Attitude 

The book is about changing one’s life for the better by means of slight daily improvements.

He discusses how habits of thought and attitude can either ‘uphold and support you’ or ‘imprison and restrain you.’ It’s important to be aware of those that don’t serve us and either change or get rid of them.

Replacing a bad habit with one that empowers and serves us is a great way to do this and one way to achieve this is to have a positive outlook. People with a positive attitude move towards their goals instead of away from them.
Picture
​Daily Appreciation 

Cultivate the habit of gratitude. Mr. Olson says that positive psychologists note how consistently happier people share this trait. He suggests writing down three things to be grateful for upon waking every day – three different things.

We tend to take good things for granted and zero in on those that aren’t so wonderful. But by doing that we give too much power to the negative and derive no benefits from the positive.

By switching our focus to the goodness in life we can totally change our outlook.

For me, this means looking for God’s grace every day. Since I’ve started to do that, I’ve been amazed to find out how much He’s looking out for me.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve suddenly caught myself driving too fast and have taken my foot off the gas, only to find that there’s a cop car waiting up ahead. Thank you, God, for giving me the chance to do the right thing!

The other day I went to the dermatologist and my face was basted with a special cream. This was for the light treatment I needed for pre-cancer cells. A piece of Saran wrap was placed over my nose, with another on my forehead.

I had to wait 90 minutes like this before the actual light treatment and didn’t want to sit in the waiting room that long. So I drove across to Panera and bought myself a coffee. As I was walking to a table, I knocked my cup against my purse and the container fell onto the floor. The lid came off and the contents spilled all over the carpet.

Not only had I lost my entire drink, but had also drawn attention to my Saran-wrapped face. It was most definitely a negative moment!

Then a lady jumped up from her table to help me mop up the mess, telling me that she’s a waitress and a klutz and always dropping things on the floor. Whether that was true or not, I so appreciated her empathy!

When I got to the front of the line again to order a new coffee, the lady looked surprised. I told her what had happened and she immediately asked the barista to remake my drink - and charged me nothing. The barista worried that she hadn’t put the lid on my coffee properly, but I assured her the whole episode was entirely my fault.

Thus, on the heels of huge embarrassment came three spontaneous acts of kindness.

Which was going to serve me best? Dwelling on the positive or the negative?
​
If we look for it, we’ll find that goodness abounds everywhere.
Picture
Christmas Thanks 

One year ago my son was in a full-blown flare with ulcerative colitis. He had dropped 40 lbs and was unable to walk without the aid of canes because, as a secondary complication, he had also developed bursitis on his knees. He looked skeletal, was getting no sleep, was in constant pain and enduring all the other horrible issues of someone in his condition.

He made it through this Thanksgiving without a flare (YAY!) and we are looking forward to his first healthy Christmas in three years.

Yes, there is a lot to be thankful for.

I hope you find many reasons to be grateful this Christmas and that the New Year brings you ever more blessings.
0 Comments
    Tweet

    Hilary Walker

    A fanatic horse rider and writer of Christian Inspirational Fiction, who's beginning to understand that making it to Heaven is a tad more important than winning at horse shows.

    Archives

    April 2022
    March 2021
    December 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    March 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    December 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    August 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011

    Categories

    All
    Absolute Relativism
    Acknowledging Christ
    Acts Of Heroism
    Agony In The Garden
    A Happy Christmas
    Air Travel
    Alternative To Cow's Milk
    Anger
    Baby Jesus
    Baby Jesus
    Bad Horse Show
    Battling Relativism
    Battling Ulcerative Colitis
    Believing In The Invisible
    Blasphemy Against The Holy Spirit
    Blessings
    Blind Faith
    Body And Blood Of Christ
    Body And Blood Of Jesus
    Body And Blood Of Jesus Christ
    Canonization
    Carrying The Cross
    Catholicism
    Chaplet Of Divine Mercy
    Chicago
    Chicago River
    Choosing Absolute Truth Over Absolute Relativism
    Choosing Christianity Over Relativism
    Christ
    Christ Crucified
    Christian Faith
    Christian Faith
    Christian Hero
    Christian Heroism
    Christianity
    Christianity And Tim Tebow
    Christian Response
    Christians
    Christmas
    Christmas Fall
    Christmas Stars
    Christmas Thanks
    Christmas Thanks
    Christ's Passion
    Confession
    Constellations
    Cross
    Cross Of Christ
    Crucifixion
    Daily Commute
    Daily Mass
    Dairy-free Product
    Definition Of Grace
    Despair
    Devil
    Disowning God
    Divine Mercy Sunday
    Dogs And Ulcerative Colitis
    Donkey Work
    Driving
    Easter
    Easter Monday
    Evangelizing
    Evil
    Extraordinary Graces
    Faith In The Unseen
    Falling Over
    Fasting
    Father Gerald Vann
    Father Jean C.J. D’Elbée
    Fear Of Flying
    Feast Of The Assumption
    Feeding Horses
    Feeling An Idiot
    Fighting For The Bride Of Christ
    Forgiveness Of Sins
    Funeral
    Gaudete
    Getting Children To Go To Mass
    Getting Young Adults To Go To Mass
    Give And You Shall Receive
    Giving Thanks
    Giving Thanks
    God
    God And Horses
    Golgotha
    Good Deeds
    Good Friday
    Good Habits
    Grace
    Green Chicago River
    Happiness
    Happy News For Easter
    Heaven
    Hematidrosis
    Holistic Approach To Ulcerative Colitis
    Holistic Bee Nutrition & Welness
    Holistic Healing
    Holy Communion
    Holy Spirit
    Home
    Hope
    Horses
    Horses And Heaven
    How To Get Your Child To Go To Mass
    Humility
    Hurt
    Husbands
    I Believe In Love
    Is Heaven Boring
    Jesus
    Joy
    Judas
    Judas' Betrayal Of Christ
    Judas The Weasel
    Keeping Faith Through Adversity
    Lent
    Lenten Mass
    Love
    Love Is An Act Of Will
    Loving Our Neighbor
    Mary Our Mother
    Mary The Mother Of God
    Mass
    Medjugorje
    Men
    Merciful Savior
    Mercy
    Merry Christmas
    Merry Christmas
    Miracles
    Mother's Day
    Mother Therese Of Jesus
    Nature Of Love Of God
    Nature Of Sin
    Novena
    Old Priests
    Our Lady
    Overcoming Doubts In God
    Overcoming Sin
    Parish Priest
    Patience
    Peace On Earth
    Peter
    Pope Francis
    Power Of Prayer
    Prayer
    Praying For Enemies
    Praying For Suicides
    Praying For Those Who
    Priests
    Reconciliation
    Redemption
    Rejecting Evil
    Rejection Of Christ
    Relativism
    Relic
    Relocating
    Repentance
    Resentment
    Rosary
    Sacrament Of Absolution
    Sacrament Of Confession
    Sacrament Of Reconciliation
    Satan
    Seven Daily Habits For Faithful Catholics.
    Sign Of The Cross
    Sins
    Son Of Man
    Spirituality Of Small Jobs
    Spiritual Lollipops
    Spiritual Oasis
    State Of Grace
    St Bridget's Prayers
    St Bridget's Promises
    St Faustina
    St. Jude
    Stroke
    Struggling Christians
    Suffering
    Sweating Blood
    The Agony In The Garden
    The Chaplet Of Mercy
    The Divine Mercy Chaplet
    The Gospel
    The Greatest Sin
    The One Year Uncommon Life Daily Challenge
    The Power Of Setting The Example
    The Real Presence
    The Road To Destruction
    The Road To Perdition
    The Road To Ruin
    The True Presence
    Tim Tebow
    Tony Dungy
    Transubstantiation
    Treadmill
    Trust In Jesus
    Ttruth Not Relativism
    Ulcerative Colitis
    Voting Against Evil
    Weekday Mass
    Widow
    Young Adults And The Catholic Church

    RSS Feed