“How you think determines how you feel.” I don’t know where I first heard this, but excluding injuries and illnesses, I believe it.

Controlling how you think takes work and practice, but if you control how you think about things, you can control how you feel. For example, what if on one of those days when the bills were stacked up and you had no idea how you would cover them all, the Fedex person delivered you a package notifying you that you just inherited a fortune from an unknown relative. Do you think you would feel better? Nothing physically changed in this instance, you just looked at things differently and changed your thoughts and your feelings.

Another way I have heard this concept described is, “Events don’t have a meaning until we give them a meaning.” What we allow ourselves to think when something occurs gives the event a meaning to us.

In a similar way, Solomon wrote in Proverbs 15:15, “For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.” NLT

Dear Lord, Thank you for the incredible opportunities you have given us to appreciate your creation and those around us. Help us put our trust and confidence in you so that we may have a “happy heart” and enjoy all that we have. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.