The Journey

I haven’t been sleeping all that well lately. I have this heart thing that causes me to run fast, slow down, wobble and skip through the night. I get hot… real hot and cold… real cold. Most of my dreams seem to correspond with my heart rhythm. I am either in a race, running to or from something or in a demolition derby where I am getting knocked around.

So last night was a welcomed relief. I basically (best as I can remember) had two dreams which seemed to come from the same vault. The first one was like a slide show and a collage of old, old pictures – say in the teens or twenties and even back into the previous century. It was a very interesting  walk through the past. I didn’t remember much of what I saw but I kept looking for our story – history of who we are and how we progressed through the years. It was very peaceful as I looked, with anticipation, for the next slide to appear.

Apparently in the first slide show dream I ran across a slide about positive thinking. In this dream this church put out a newsletter, pamphlet or curriculum item which helped people who wanted help to become or stay positive in their thinking and living. This pamphlet had all kinds of different resources to help with our outlook. It even had creative crafts for adults and children to get us in the right frame of mind. I could feel myself smiling as I was warmly drawn to this resource.

I must have loved it so much that I took this little course where a leader would take us through the pamphlet and demonstrate several of the ways to remain positive. We were sitting around these tables and the class leader was starting a new phase of teaching. She would mention a word and we were to write down words from our lives that related to her word. I had this lady sitting beside me who would, when given a word, repeat her word out loud… which really disrupted the class. As we started doing this session she moved closer to me – taking up the space I was using. I moved over a little to give her more space and she moved on it taking that space as well. Finally, I stood up and said: “Well, I guess you need more room.” Before I could completely move out of my seat she said: “I sure do!” and moved into my spot.

I moved t0 the other side of the room and finished the class. It was still a good experience for me but it would have been more positive had there not been this arrogant, selfish person in the room spreading her negative feelings to everyone in the class. I must admit that I let her get to me but I just wasn’t going to return negative for negative. I felt that would defeat what I was trying to experience and learn.

Perhaps the lesson for us all is there is negative all around us and how we respond to it will tell the story if we are positive or if we let the negative drag us down to its level. Sometimes we need to confront the negative in a positive way. At times it may mean that we simply moved to another seat. At others it may mean we need to say a positive word to those who are filling the room with the negative. Do what you can to stay up and positive. You will make a difference being positive.

Happy 2016

Hope you will take a look at my books.

Filed under: Faith |