Note - The following blog is meant to inspire and will have uplifting thoughts (hopefully), inspirations and Christian prayers (simply because I am Christian). I TRULY believe that every faith, religion, creed, and culture have their own deity(s) or higher power(s) that they turn to for guidance. Even non-believers or 'semi'-believers have someone or something they look to for positive help. Please feel free to read this blog and replace the prayers for your own or skip over them completely. I hope I can lift some spirits and provide a loving hand along this journey to be an EX forever.
Today is "Black Friday" and marks the beginning of the Christmas season. It is called this because it is the day that retailers hope to make enough money from shoppers to get out of the 'red' negative profits and into the 'black' of the accounting ledger of positive profits. Shoppers pour through the doors of every business and the internet is bottle-necked from the amount of shoppers online. Things can get ugly out there but for the most part people are in a better mood as they focus not on themselves but others. It's a time where hope is renewed and attitudes are brighter. This season also brings stress and we just want to go back to our former way of dealing with all the extra work to bring about a great Christmas day. It's also a time that many of us will want to or will slip or go back to smoking to get through. This year during the holidays we need to remember that it was our 'old' way to cope but now we need to find the new way to overcome our desire to go back to smoking. It can be tough but we must regard the old way as clouded in the lies we've used for so many years that smoking will help. We must remember that we are seeing the light of day as the smoke lifts and changes our perspective for the better. We must leave our old ways and don the new way with mindfulness that it is the best way, the right way of living.
The book of Ephesians 4:20 says "...when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
My prayer for this Black Friday is this: "Heavenly Father, as we begin the celebration of the birth of our savior Jesus Christ, I pray that we will not only put off our old ways of the desire to smoke and bring about the realization that we are creating our new selves. I pray that we see the lies of our former lives where we thought what we were doing was O.K. and remember that we are new in mind and body. We must wear the new attitude each day and keep the realizations that this is the right way, the clean way to think and live so that the new selves we are putting on remain with us as if it puts us on the black side of the register instead of the red line of negative profits. Thank you for your love and the teachings that are bringing us new positive attitudes and living new lives. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit I pray. Amen."
Have a wonderful day relishing in the fact that your new attitude about yourselves will continue to grow as long as you remember that your old selves were clouded by a selfish desire to light up.
Julie 26 DOF
