Having spent my day creating and building my business, I was undoing all my hard work by simply not being satisfied with what God has given me...by believing He did not help me enough or give me enough. I was ensuring I would never have enough time by being so sure that I didn't have enough time. I was ensuring that business would not succeed by assuring myself that what I was doing was not good enough. I was doing this to myself whole time. How or why would God bless something I felt was unworthy? God does not go against our will. That is our greatest gift, yet we do things with our will that we don't understand and then we blame God for outcome. The answer is in understanding that it is us and not God as source of problem.

How did I fix this? I stopped creating new problems and started being sincerely thankful for what I have accomplished instead of being unhappy about what I have not accomplished. I chose to be thankful. I chose to give thanks. I decided to give God a chance to do something in my life by being thankful and open to where he would take me. I realized that He can't take me anywhere when I am unthankful, because then I will neither hear him nor see his guidance.

So, how else do you apply this? Let's say you are stuck in a job you can't stand. Do you complain all time about how terrible it is, yet stay there out of fear of leaving? How can you be thankful for something so miserable in your life? You just need to look at it differently. Be honest with God and tell him you are not happy in your current situation and that you are open and willing to listen to what and where he would have you go, then, while doing that miserable job, be thankful for where it's taking you. Be thankful for fact that God is leading you out of there.

God doesn't require your thankfulness, but he is unable to work within your life effectively when you thwart his efforts by being unthankful. He can't bless something you dislike. At same time, don't try to fool God. If you are not feeling thankful, be honest and tell him you are not feeling thankful and you would like help in seeing your situation in another way.

Life can be like making a trip down highway. You're a passenger going from A to B. God is driving, so you are not really sure where or what B is. You can choose to let blur of trees and signs distract you and make you fearful and resentful of journey...eventually stopping trip on your own and getting out in a place you really shouldn't be. Or you can choose to accept and trust that God knows what and where B is and be thankful and attentive during trip. God is taking everyone, somewhere better, so don't be fearful or thankless during trip, because trip teaches you what you need to know so that you are prepared to arrive at B in first place.

In a word...TRUST. To trust God is to let him drive.

*Compliments of: Dreams Alive Magazine - http://www.dreamsalivemagazine.com Being Willing - http://www.beingwilling.com

Now think about what happens if you suddenly started drinking two additional sodas a day. What about those big gulps that are size of your head? I am not just picking on sodas. It could be one additional doughnut, cookie, or piece candy. Those little thinks add up.

The good news is that that 3500 number also works other way. Lets say you are drinking three sodas a day and you weight is stable. If you cut back to two sodas a day, assuming that is 100 calories, every 35 days you would lose one pound. That means you could possible lose 10 pounds a year, just by cutting back a little.

Remember this next time you that one extra cookie.