Meditate Until a Habit is Formed

Sometimes I begin my day by reading a daily devotional by Joel Osteen. These encouraging little blurbs arrive in my inbox for me to read while sipping on a cup of coffee or while lounging on my couch. This morning, I opened the latest devotional to find this message:

Many people today don’t realize that the reason they’re not happy, the reason they’re not enjoying life is simply because they’ve trained their minds in the wrong direction. They’ve programmed their minds to worry. They’ve programmed their minds to complain. They’ve programmed their minds to see the negative. But just as we can train our minds to focus on the negative, we can also reprogram our minds to focus on the positive. It all depends on what we meditate on.

When we meditate on the Word of God, we reprogram our minds. When we meditate on God’s goodness, we are developing a right mindset. When we choose to be grateful and focus on what’s right rather than what’s wrong, we are choosing a positive attitude. This doesn’t happen automatically, you have to discipline yourself to focus on the right things. You have to make a conscious effort to spend time in the Word of God every single day until a habit is formed.

This message resonated with my soul. It is in fact the very thing I did during the month of July. I woke up at the beginning of July and realized I was so unhappy. I worried about things beyond my control and complained about things I should have been giving thanks about. I focused on the negative day in and day out. However this one particular morning, I decided that I did not want to feel that way anymore. I did not want to live my life that way anymore. I had felt like I had lost a sense of myself. Who I once was. Who I should be. So I embarked on a thirty day journey of happiness.

What an amazing thirty day experience that was. It totally changed my life. Do not get me wrong, it took a lot of conscious effort to reprogram my mindset. There were days that I struggled with focusing on positivity. But I made it a point to find one thing each day to give thanks for. One thing to be grateful for. And day by day, moment by moment, happiness returned to me. Happiness flooded my gates ... my being ... with such an intensity that no words could do the feeling justice.

Thirty days later, a new habit has been formed. It is not an easy habit, but it does become easier with each passing day. So I challenge you - you reading this - find something to be happy about each day. Something to give thanks for. Something to be grateful for. And write it down. Document it. So if you loose your way or begin to fall, you can look back and remind yourself that life is not as bad as it seems. That there is something beautiful in each day ... there is something beautiful inside of you ... if you just take a minute to stop, look around and meditate.