Finding Hope In Trying Times

Written by Dr. Rita Louise


Growing up, as a child ofrepparttar 60’s, peace, love and harmony wererepparttar 142872 words being chanted byrepparttar 142873 hippies, flower children and all who questioned authority and were againstrepparttar 142874 Vietnam War. I remember thinking how I couldn’t wait to grow up. I knew in my young mind it was only a matter of time before these youthful rebels would age and mature and eventually be able to take their place inrepparttar 142875 world of politics and public opinion. With it, they would be able to change allrepparttar 142876 things they saw wrong withrepparttar 142877 “establishment” from a place of power and influence and not fromrepparttar 142878 streets.

I recall my excitement, thinking what a wonderful world it will be, knowing that these brave crusaders were blazing a trail before me, their radical new views and opinions becoming a reality. And at that young age, I recognized I would berepparttar 142879 first generation to reaprepparttar 142880 benefits of their efforts. I felt blessed to be born in such a historic time.

Wow, was I wrong.

Often I ask myself, where have allrepparttar 142881 flower children gone? Where arerepparttar 142882 young men and women who fought for life, liberty andrepparttar 142883 pursuit of happiness? Where arerepparttar 142884 people who burned flags, bras and draft cards; who marched on college campuses and on Washington DC so their voices could be heard? I find it hard to believerepparttar 142885 thoughts and values they fought so valiantly for have disappeared and are only a fond memory of a golden age gone by.

Overrepparttar 142886 past few months, this point has become painfully obvious. As I work with clients and talk with friends I hearrepparttar 142887 sound of hopelessness in their voices. They watch as gas and food prices soar. They gaze in disbelief as senseless violence escalates. They stand by helplessly as their jobs are moved overseas and their personal freedoms are taken away one-by-one. Inrepparttar 142888 end, they are left feeling impotent because they are unable to controlrepparttar 142889 path their lives are taking and feel powerless to change it.

It’s interesting, because on an individual basis, all we want is to be happy, healthy and live our lives in integrity. We want to know that we will have a job to go to on Monday. We want to be able to feed our children, breathrepparttar 142890 air around us, drinkrepparttar 142891 water and step outside our homes. Instead we have become increasingly alienated byrepparttar 142892 harsh reality of our world, a reality which creates conflicts between how things are and how we would like them to be. Thus we end up feeling dissatisfied and give up all hope of a better, simpler life.

Hopelessness is a hard emotion to experience; one we have embraced at some point in our lives. It seems to happen just before we hit rock bottom, when we can’t seerepparttar 142893 light atrepparttar 142894 end ofrepparttar 142895 tunnel or when life seems futile and we just want to give up. It is a natural part ofrepparttar 142896 human condition.

Overrepparttar 142897 last six months,repparttar 142898 feeling of hopelessness has become overwhelming for many of us. Every time we turn around there’s a crisis. Someone we love dies, we loose our job or our child falls ill. Afterrepparttar 142899 situation we are facing is handled, it isn’t long before another challenge steps into our lives and once morerepparttar 142900 drama begins anew. With this unrelenting pressure, we are left feeling tired and disillusioned - transformingrepparttar 142901 most optimistic person into a pessimist.

Your Mind is a Battlefield

Written by Daniel N Brown


Copyright 2005 Daniel N Brown

Every person should enjoy life in abundance and prosperity, but unfortunately, too many of God's people are living way below their potential. So many have health issues, broken relationships, and/or no money in their bank account.

Most ofrepparttar these types of problems arerepparttar 142871 result of what is going on inrepparttar 142872 minds of those who experience them.

In everyone's mind there are always at least three voices being heard, God's,repparttar 142873 devil's, and your own flesh. Which voice you obey is based on your ability to discern (which is next week's topic).

For now, you must understand that your mind is a battlefield. It's where your decisions are made based on who's direction you are following. Who's direction you follow will ultimately determine where you end up.

In many self-help books, they say to always begin withrepparttar 142874 end in mind. That is, to have a mental picture ofrepparttar 142875 way you would like for things to be. Now, I'm sure you have an idea of what you would like for your life to be, but how focused are you?

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
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