Bogged down by depression or frozen in your tracks from fear of the future? Here are 4 simple choices to make that are not so easy to keep choosing but they actually are simple. And if you create these four habits daily, oh the freedom to be happy ANYWAY you will experience.

1. Leave the past behind
2. Accept what you can’t control
3. Look up to where your help comes from
4. Take Action toward a bettter tomorrow

Leave the past behind…

Easier said than done. for me, it’s especially hard if it’s little or something dumb I said yesterday or how I acted so extra and hurt people’s feelings when that wasn’t my intention. But the fact is, I did. Really?! After all the Galations 5, 1 Corinthians 13, Romans 8, and John 15 I’ve read, studied, and even preached? I wanta say, Lord, what are you gonna do with me? But when I do pretty much ask Him that, his reply is a gentle, Forgive ANYWAY! That’s what He so patiently does with us and it’s what we need to do with oursleves and eachother!

Accept what you can’t control…

And there’s a lot you can’t control, the biggest of which are people. We were not made to be controlled or to control. What if someone is raining on your parade and there is nothing you can do about it? You try and work things out but to no avail. How do we not let people ruin our fun? Here’s how: Accept their behaviour as something they are choosing that’s out of your control and choose to be happy ANYWAY. My husband says this all the time and one day this is going click for me so I can actually live this I’m preaching on this blog today lol (just being real) Here’s what he says…People only have the power we give them to ruin our day or sabotage our situation. This is how he can just so effortlessly go on about his merry way confident that “no one has that much power to ruin my day unless I give it to them”. And trust me, he rarely gives that power over. This is a big part of knowing how to be abased and to abound like Paul talks about.

Look up to where your help comes from…

Nothing moves us when we are focused on what anchors us. Have you ever done a ropes course? If so, you know that focus is key to getting across the rope and not falling. So many of our gazes are down or to the right or the left but when we fully trust our Abba Father for all the provision we need spirit, soul, and body, peace floods our minds and souls. We become positve and not negative. We rise up instead of sink into old patterns and ways.

Take action toward a better tomorrow…

Doing nothing is not neutral. I think of when I’m paddleboarding and when I do nothing, I drift. Scripture tells us not to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. The only way to ensure your future is bright is by being steadied by The Word. The steps of a righteous man or woman is ordered of the Lord and you can’t steer a parked car so get moving. Take a step by faith. Do one thing and then do one more thing. Stop being overwhelmed by the dozen things and just do one and one more. It’s not your giant leaps that are ordered by the Lord but your steps. And if you are bogged down by depression or frozen in your tracks due to fear of the future, take one, tiny, baby step even if it’s sitting on the edge of your bed. Then once that action is taken, put one foot over the edge, then touch the ground….I’ve been there. It was too big of a step for me at one time to even get out of bed…for months. But God!!!!! God will meet you in the baby step. And He will fill you with joy unspeakable and full of glory, strengthening you to overcome your toughest challenges.

Save this blog, print it out, put it on your mirror, or make notes on a notecard and stick in your purse or car and refer to it. Share it with a friend or three. Post it social media and tag me! Whatever you do, when you make this part of your life, it will change everything!

Happy Monday!

XO,

Adrienne

PS… Go to adriennecooley.com and register for Happy Girl 23 Sept. 15-16th!!! Details on Eventbrite or at AdrienneCooley.com Hope to see you and your girlfriends there!!!!