Week 2/Day 9~ 21 days to a Positive Attitude (Monday March 10)

Day 9 - Sunday

1) Every day write down 3 good things that happened that day for which you are grateful.

        

A.  Today I graduated from the couch to the bed at my daughters home, because I could manage the pain generated getting into the bed a the lower level. This means I disrupt my daughter's life less that I have been. 

B. On the the parents at the karate school sent home cookies for me!!

C. Physical therapist came by and reported that I was flexing my knee 20 degrees past 90, which is far past where I am supposed to be!!!! Yea.

2) Journal about one positive blessing. One of the three, and explain why that good thing is better than the bad things that happened.

Cookies.  Cookies.  Cookies.  I am not very good accepting help from anyone on anything, and today was no different than any other day in that respect.  No wait.  Yes it was.  I am in the 1st day of the second week, day 8, since they cut my left knee out of my body and place a new one inside. This turns out to be one heck of a lot more complicated than I had anticipated.  The pain is far more manageable than a simple ACL repair, which I have had a couple of. However, it is far more enduring.  By that I mean, the pain medication did not work for ACL, but does with Total Knee Replacements.  But, and this is huge for today, if you let the pain get ahead of you, let the pain hit level 10, it takes 12 hours or more to get it back under control.  Had that covered. Messed it up in the hospital, so I learned my lesson.  So yesterday I had PT, did a ton of work to make my knee better, and was maxing out the pain meds, but I knew that was what my doctor had asked me to do, and I knew the pain meds worked, so we were good. At 4 O'clock I went to get my pain meds, and noticed there were 5 left, enough for the rest of the day, but no more.  I called the doctors office, and got the "we need 24 to 48 hours," thing that they all say, but again I knew where I stood, and knew I was ok, so I took it. After all, I have TBI and they know it, so they really were wasting their time telling me the rules, and they knew that too.  (As it turns out, I will not forget them again, as I remember emotional stuff, and this got emotional)  She asked how long my meds would last, I said until morning, and she said she would take care of it.  Then their office closed.  Then my wife returned from teaching karate, and we discovered I did not have enough to make it through the night, and by 10pm, the pain was ahead of me.  Way ahead, and there was no way back.  I was wrecked, and I had destroyed the next day too. Errr.

That's when the cookies showed up.  You know what trumps pain?  Kindness.  Kindness trumps everything.  Thank you Mrs. Perry for the life saving cookies.

3) Meditate and detach from multi-tasking, by focusing on scripture~ read it, research it, think about how it might impact your life.

Mark 12:42-43 (CEV) - "Finally, a poor widow came up and put in two coins that were worth only a few pennies. Jesus told his disciples to gather around him. Then he said: I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all the others."

Ever wonder why they church spends so much time on tythe?  Of course its in the old Testament, and they have some verses from the New that confirm that giving 10% is good for you, but in light of this verse, have you ever wondered why they don't push this verse?

Because she did not give 10%, she gave 100%.  It is NOT the amount you give, its the sacrifice of the thing.  

Yet we have several places where Jesus tells us the God the Father does not want sacrifice.  What then does he want?  

Love.  So it is the Love of the thing.  She gave nearly nothing, but it was all she had, and that was still not enough. How's that?  Jesus said she has put in more than any other.  What MORE did she put in?  Mere percentage? No, because that is legalistic. It was more LOVE.  That is what the Lord wants.  Your Love.

4) One random act of kindness a week. You can do more. (Try one a day)

Today my wife and I, feeling that we were wrecking our daughters sleep, using her house, monoplozing her kitties, drinking her drinks, eating her food, and making a mess as I recoperate from knee replacement, sent to my daughters office some flower.  This picture came off of Facebook.  We helped her day like the cookies helped mine. Kindness rocks.

5) Pray. Lay down the hurtful things and gather strength. 

Done
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Rules for 21 Days to a Positive Attitude and Day 1.  Click here

Day 2: Click Here.    Day 3: Click Here.    Day 4: Click Here.
Day 5: Click Here.    Day 6: Click Here.    Day 7: Click Here.
Day 8: Click Here.

Day 2 ~ 21 days to a Positive Attitude

If you want the 21 day plan, or you want to read day 1, click here.
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Day 2

1) Every day write down 3 good things that happened that day for which you are grateful.

A. Total knee replacement surgery is a blessing beyond measure. Already I can tell that the bone on none pain is gone.

B. I did not have my kindle or cell phone when I woke up, after surgery, so I asked for a bible from the hospital. St. Vincent's chaplain gave me a new testament.  It was a translation I would never have tried on my own, the Contemporary English Version. It is a meaning translation rather than a word for word translation leaving it open to possible translation anomalies,  however, it does spend much effort in putting the language and context together.  Better, its annotations when it drifts or when there is doubt is awesome.

C) My body cooperated well today,and I got Physical Therapy in for day 3 rather than day 1.

D) I got get well cards from KOTK, my former Sunday school class, and from McCoy's Action Karate.  Feel great.  People care. I feel it in my soul.

2) Journal about one positive blessing. One of the three, and explain why that good thing is better than the bad things that happened.

The CEV bible made the pain and the absence of my wife (she had to work) and the recent badness at church, see day 1, vanish into nothingness. 

I read the entire gospel of Mark. This language and notes used by this bible taught me more than I have ever learned from simple reading. The Holy Spirit jumped off the page into my heart with this clear presentation.  No effort to disguise or even apologetics was evident. It was the best time I have ever spent in the word.  Life changing.

3) Meditate and detach from multi-tasking, buy focusing on scripture~ read it, research it, think about how it might impact your life, your day, maybe even right now.

I read the book of Mark in the CEV bible. I see, for the first time, how often they Jesus and the Holy Spirit us apology to make the point. Everywhere,  old and new Testament.   Literal translation of a mustard seed is, to example, a waste of time.  God is after our hearts.

4) One random act of kindness a week. You can do more. (Try one a day)

Told Anne Not to visit me in the hospital all day, so add he could have a life.

5) Pray. Lay down the hurtful things and gather strength.

Had a discussion with my night shift RN and my orthopedic roommate about the need for prayer.  Universal acceptance was: confess and seek foregiveness,  pray anywhere, anytime about anything, and God is Great.

21 Days to A Positive Attitude - Day 1

Today at Church, Sr. Pastor Fred Masse's sermon, a part of his "Year of Change" series, was about the inconsistency in Christian's attitude. We were made for freedom, and gained it in Grace through Jesus, but we spend our days in fear and anger. He has been asking us to CHANGE, to be the new creation we were meant to be via the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Grace we gained at the foot of the cross.

Pastor Fred is not one to list bible verses so we can feel encouraged at their hearing, but later be confused in carrying out the implied message. No, he is direct both in the meaning of the scripture and in its application. Today, he was preaching about getting an attitude that reflected the gifts we were given by Jesus at this death and later at Pentecost. For a quick note on the content of this sermon click here.

The how of "Getting the Better Attitude Change" is a 21 day challenge.  You are challenged to:

1) Every day write down 3 good things that happened that day for which you are grateful. The biblical support for being grateful can be found almost anywhere in the Bible, but one verse, Isaiah 63:7, was cited. Isaiah 63:7 (ESV) - The Lord's Mercy Remembered: "I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love."  Count your  blessings. 

2) Journal about one positive blessing. One of the three, and explain why that good thing is better than the bad things that happened. The Biblical support is Isaiah 30:8 (ESV): "And now, go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever."

3) Meditate and detach from multi-tasking, buy focusing on scripture~ read it, research it, think about how it might impact your life, your day, maybe even right now. 5 to 15 minutes is all it takes. Focus. This is turning down the noise, the frontal lobe, And your brain produces dopamine when you do this, and focus actually increases. The Biblical support sighted was Psalm 119:148 (ESV): "My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise."

4) One random act of kindness a week. You can do more. (Try one a day) Acts 20:35 (ESV): "In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”  Sowing and reaping have always gone hand in hand.  Sow some Kindness.

5) Pray. Lay down hurtful things and gather strength. Philippians 4:6 recount the goodness if they Lord in your life. Pray with thanksgiving. Find a way to pray with added gratitude Deuteronomy 4:29-31 (ESV): "But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them."

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Day 1

Three Blessings:
1) Second Church service since I got fired from teaching Sunday School because I support LGBT and disagree with the 47% of Christians that assert that the Bible says that modern day LGBT is a sin.  I don't think it is, though I am not sure.  I am sure that all things are lawful, though perhaps not beneficial, and that all things, except denying the Holy Spirit are covered by Grace.  Be that as it may, no one asked me why I was not teaching, so I did not have to create some half truth. Someone did tell my wife that I was not teaching because I have surgery tomorrow.  That was funny.  Blessing 1 was I did not get in a position where I had to decide between lying and harming the peace at my Church.

2) My wife and daughter are still teaching and helping in Sunday School and were not effected by my biblical interpretation.

3) Friend from my wife's and daughter's karate school, and fellow Christians from one of my favorite Churches in Worcester MA, came to our home and repaired our long broken water heater.  

4) (Extra innings on the blessings) My Sr. Pastor prayed over me for healing and safety during my surgery tomorrow morning - knee replacement.  No mention of heretic faith.

Journal about One Blessing:

Today friends from Worcester, 45 minutes from where Anne and I live, came to our house and replaced our gas water heater for us.  For over a month it has been broken or in some state of breaking.  It is only 1.5 years old and under a 6 year warranty, so when it broke, we had a plumber come in, replace some parts, clean it, and turn it back on.  It lasted 5 days.  Then it stopped again.  

We had a factory rep come in a week later, and he too replaced a warranty part, cleaned it, found some other issues in the internal draft, and turned it back on.  It lasted 5 days.  The factory rep company said they would repair it for free, since it should not have broken.  We scheduled the appointment, 8am to 5pm, and I stayed home so he could come.  At 5pm, they called and apologised saying he was not coming.  Seems they scheduled an electric hot water heater guy, and we have gas.  They only have 1 gas guy.  That was a Wednesday. 

They could not schedule the gas guy until Monday, because he was out from the office until the next week. They promised to call us Monday to schedule.  They did, in fact, call us at 5pm on Monday.  Seems they scheduled it for Monday, didn't tell us, and they guy showed up at our house, and were were no there.  Small wonder.  So they rescheduled it for Thursday 8am to 5pm. 

I stayed home again so he could fix it.  I was scheduled to have surgery for total knee replacement the next Monday, and not having a shower would be an issue, plus my wife was already stressed enough. So, at 5pm, they called and said they were not coming because when the driver called to find out if we were there, since "we blew them off on Monday," and we did not answer, he went home. I asked what number they called, and why they called, since we had already confirmed it that morning at 10am.  They said he called our contact number, which happens to be a cell phone, which happens to store all missed calls.  He lied.  No call.  And as I said, we confirmed it anyway. 

So, we rescheduled it for Friday.  Guess what.  They gave us an early time, 8am to noon.  No one showed up at noon, so we called, and they said no one had promised by noon. Anytime before 5pm was possible.  4pm I get the call.  Guess what?  Yep, not coming.  They scheduled an electric guy again.  Now I am 3 days from Surgery, on a week end, and totally lost on how to save my knee and my wife.

In comes some friends who came from Worcester after Church, helped us take the old one out and put a new one in.  The company paid for the new one, since the finally admitted it was broken when I flipped out on them Friday.  It was a larger blessing because not only is it an issue because of my surgery tomorrow, but also because I could not help.  My medication for knee pain had to be stopped 5 days ago for the surgery.  They had to do it all.

One and a half hours later, this friend, two of his sons, and a girl friend and fellow martial artist, had it done.  It works.

God Rocks.

His people Rock.

Meditate and detach from multi-tasking, buy focusing on scripture: Approx 30 min

Matthew 19, 20 & 21 - Matthew 19:24 "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” - I have read about the Needle's eye being the gate going into any middle eastern cities, and have seen paintings of this needle eye, but there is little else to suggest such a thing is anything but myth.  It can not mean that is is impossible for a rich man to be saved, so it must be allegory.  Jesus is drawing a picture for us to see that without God's help, some things are very hard to do. This is an example, perhaps, where literal interpretation of the bible lets you down.  No one is sure of what this means, other than you need God's help to get into heaven and that money can make it hard.  

This weeks Random Act of Kindness:  

Sending Birthday cards that we made on photoshop to everyone whose birthday is this week - online access.