Thoughts are the colors that paint our day.
The things we dwell on – these become the dominate colors.
If we think dark thoughts, we end up with a dark day.
If we think bright thoughts, we end up with a bright day.
Imagine Michelangelo, standing there with a brush in one hand and a color palette in the other. What colors will end up on the canvas? Only the colors that are on the palette.
The canvas is your day. Each day is like a blank canvas, and you can paint it any way you choose. And the colors you use are your thoughts.
Here is one primary color that must always be on our thought palettes: thankfulness.
This is Thanksgiving week, so I want to point out to you the incredible power of being thankful.
Colossians 2:7 says we should be “overflowing with thankfulness.”
It’s hard to have a bad day when you are overflowing with thankfulness.
It’s hard to be negative when you are thankful.
It’s hard to be proud when you are thankful.
Being thankful is a great way to control your tongue, because you know what? It’s hard to say negative things when you are overflowing with thankfulness.
It’s hard to feel lonely when you are thankful, because being thankful is a way of recognizing, “Hey, I’m not in this alone.”
It’s hard to feel covetous or jealous when you are thankful, because instead of looking at what other people have and feeling dissatisfied, being thankful means looking at what you have and feeling grateful.
Listen, thankfulness inoculates us from all kinds of ills.
We talk a lot about depression in
When your palette is overflowing with the color of thankfulness, it doesn’t leave room for a host of more negative colors.
You might say, “Well you don’t understand, Doug. This will be my first Thanksgiving without a special loved one.”
Well what color will you put on your palette? Dark, ugly colors? Does that honor them in any way? Is that what they would want? Would they say, “Yes, please have a terrible holiday in memory of me”?
If our palette is to overflow with thankfulness, then maybe instead of focusing on our loss, it’s time to be thankful for the precious time we had with them.
Thankfulness brightens the most mournful day.
“Well, Doug, I’m more of a realist. And realistically, there is just not much to be thankful for.”
Au contraire! We are to be overflowing with thankfulness! That doesn’t mean we ignore problems or stick our head in the sand. Yes, we must still work to solve problems. But it’s so much easier with a healthy dose of thanksgiving.
Sure, we can walk around with a monkey on our back all day. We can let our thoughts drag us down into a pit.
But honestly, it all comes down to what we choose to dwell on.
So imagine your thoughts as a color palette. It’s our thoughts that will color our day. And if we want a brighter day, we need to think brighter thoughts.
And one very versatile color, good for brightening any canvas, is that beautiful color of thanksgiving!
(as heard on Wave 94.1 FM)
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