“You may not be where you want to be, but you can look back and be thankful you’re not where you used to be.”
– Joel Osteen
Do you remember the days when you would dream about the things you have now? Look at how far you’ve come! Life’s responsibilities and pressures often times make it easy to forget about the great things taking place. But, taking time to notice and recognize the good can help you think differently about some of the things you are currently experiencing.
I remember my time early last year being quarantined with COVID-19 for about two months, after continuing to test positive. This was around the time Covid first started. It was such a hard experience but looking back, that time of isolation and separation did more for me than I realized. Going through that time was hard, but once I begin to think differently about that time and started to use it as an opportunity to take care of myself, reflect, learn, pray and and just plan for the future, things begin to change for the better.
Looking back that time became the start of my self care journey. I learned about the importance of taking care of my overall health mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically. I currently have a routine that helps me to consistently have time for self care. It’s crazy how something that was so hard to go through helped to make such a powerful impact. God can truly use the painful things that we go through and turn them around for our good.
The sickness during my time in quarantine sucked, but the time I got to be alone and really focus on myself and grow closer in my relationship with God did so much for me. It prepared me mentally, emotionally and spiritually for the things that I would face the rest of that year. Although that was a tough moment in my life, I noticed the good things I was able to do during that time and it gave me a different type of appreciation for life. I started to realized that although I was sick I was still alive and had nothing but time on my hands to learn all the things I wanted to learn, take care of myself, and to start dreaming and planning for the future.
One thing that season taught me was the importance of noticing the good. When I switched my focus from the fact that I was sick and isolated to the fact that I now have time to practice self care, learn and grow it helped me to realize that although that time was hard it was also still good. From that I discovered that when I noticed the good:
1.The good gets better
When I noticed the good things, my perspective changed. During my time of isolation, I started to notice the amount of time I had to do things that I really enjoyed like reading, listening to podcasts, or practicing self care, etc. The fact that I was well enough to still function gave me a greater reason to be thankful.
2. It helps you to see opportunities rather than obstacles
When I thought about all the time that I had on my hands during that time it made me think about all the things I had been wishing to do but didn’t really have time for. I started to realized that I could use that time to rest, practice self care, learn and do so many of the other things I’ve been wanting to do. I started to believe that I could come out of that quarantine time as a totally different person. And that’s exactly what I did!
3. It helps you to focus on the important things in life
Focusing on the good helped me to realize what was most important to me. I started to see the things in my life that were real distractions and I took that time to really adjust and reflect on what I needed to focus on moving forward.
What are some of the good things you noticed about this season of your life? How are you those things giving you a greater appreciation towards life? In the mist of all that you maybe going through I want to encourage you to remember how blessed you truly are. Life may not look the way you want it to look at this time, but it could be worse. It’s easy to focus on all the things that are going wrong in this season, but what are the things that are going right? I want to challenge you to notice and show gratitude for the things that are going well. Take time to look back and remember those things you use to dream about and look how far you’ve come. You are now living a lot of those things. ” You may not be where you want to be but at least you’re not where you use to be.” Give thanks for the good and never forget how blessed you truly are.
Thanks for reading! I hope this really encourages you. What are some of the things you are thankful for? Comment below I would love to hear your testimony.
Intentional Hope 