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You can look at the world and think it’s a mess, or, in order. Either way, it means you have an idea (you think there is a plan) and on the one hand, life is NOT following the plan, and on the other, it is.

Thinking there is a plan, a meaning, an intent and a purpose (whether it’s succeeding or failing) may cause you pain or pleasure. The key to each is, THINKING.

When what you THINK is more important than what IS, you create your own paradigm, whether heaven or hell, joy or sorrow, pleasure or pain, peace or fear.

Whatever you think, believe, have faith in, have opinions about–whatever inspires your feelings–those things create YOUR reality (and, they may even prove ‘true’).

You can go through life without thinking about life. You can just live it. You can withhold judgement. You can stop labeling life. You can stop calling things good or bad, devil or angel, stupid or smart, ugly or pretty, nice or mean, etc. . You can actually just live life.

With that said, I choose to call all things–every experience–a blessing. I choose to receive all things with thankfulness. I THINK that life with all its challenges is a huge blessing.

(Receiving all things with thankfulness does not mean you do-nothing or say-nothing when you think there is value or feel there are benefits in saying or doing something–though you may certainly be mistaken....but then, even THAT has value and benefits and is received with thankfulness).

If there is a God of judgement who is all knowing, all powerful and all everywhere, it may or may not do all things out of love (it may do things for ‘its own pleasure’) but that is irrelevant to me, for if it exists, it’s power is greater than my own (like government) and I am subject to its whims, YET, I can be thankful, as a consciousness, for my experiences, irrespective of their source.

The question I usually ask myself is, “What value does the opposite of thankfulness have for me? What value or benefit do I get by complaining, being upset, irritated or angry?” I certainly don’t need anger to get me off my duff and into action.

Last week as I was going out to get firewood my pickup broke down. I didn’t get firewood and was stranded for a week. I rode my bicycle. Got extra exercise. Enjoyed the slower pace of my outback life. I made do without some things. This week the pickup got fixed and I went and got six cords of wood.

A while back I made plans to do something, and a guy showed up at my place and I didn’t do what I planned. The whole day was wasted, NOT. I go with the flow.

Quite a few years ago I lost my job, lost my house AND on the way to another town my pickup had a seizure. No extra money. My wife (plus six kids) asked, “What are we going to do?” I told her that I suppose we’ll just sit here on the side of the road and die.” She didn’t think it was funny. I told her that if it was our time to live outdoors, be without a house and starve, nothing could prevent it, but if that is not what’s ahead, we’ll have something else. A friend showed up, took us to town; we rented a cheap trailer (worked off the deposit and first month’s rent) and my daughter paid the electric deposit, and Christmas was just a hoot. Eventually the pickup got fixed.

My life is a never-ending blessing. Why? Because I choose to think so. nem