Hello Friend!
Today’s vlog concerns finding a way out of the dark places we sometimes find ourselves in. When things aren’t going well, what is it that helps us crawl out of the ditch of despair we sometimes live in and start viewing life with a positive outlook?
Good question…I knew we were friends for a reason!
To try and answer that question, I want to dig a little deeper into the subject of my previous blog, in which I discuss how our outlook is dictated by choice. Well, after making that claim, I think it’s only fair that I give you one personal example of how I know this to be true.
What kind of choices am I talking about?
Well, my change in perspective [to a more positive outlook] happened when I made two choices: (1) To trust God in all circumstances, and (2) to appreciate every blessing along the way. No matter how small.
Why?
Because sometimes our smallest blessings help us overcome our biggest afflictions.
So maybe a positive outlook is easier than we think. Maybe it just takes trusting God’s plan for our new path [actually trusting, not just saying we do – *insert head tilt and “don’t lie to me” look*], accepting that we won’t always know what that plan is, and then choosing to take the time to appreciate the blessings along the way.
Hoping my vlog can speak to you today! And I pray that in the week ahead we can both choose to see God’s blessings…no matter how small.
Love in Christ,
Helen Elizabeth
[“Redeemed” Shirt: “Written” by Elysian Boutique, http://www.shopwritten.com; Photo: Lydiah Christine, http://www.lydichristine.com]
Helen Elizabeth Peters & Your Best New Self Ministries 
Hi Helen,
I’ve written to you in a few other blog comments, and I am still thankful for your story and Godly wisdom, as I am trying to grow more and more in God. I’ve mentioned my own loss in previous comments, and while it may not be something as major as losing a spouse, it has similarities.
One thing I come back to again and again with your story is–I am so thankful for your positive outlook–but I truly struggle to believe in my own life that my loss of such magnitude can ever be made into something beautiful by God. Perhaps I am confusing, “beautiful,” with “worth it,” to a degree; I just don’t know how anything in my life could ever happen that would make me think, “Okay God, my loss is okay, because what I have now is worth the pain (whatever that may be).” I’ve seen you write about ways your husband’s death has brought you and strangers closer to God, and has also given a platform for you to spread the word further (via this blog, future books, etc), but I still struggle to see how any of that could make it okay that your husband died in such a young, unfair way, or that I (or anyone else in the world) are going through heart wrenching pain. I hope that makes sense; I desperately want to understand how this will all ever be okay. It’s not that I don’t feel I can never be happy again (as much as I still want to be in that ditch of despair, I’ve reached a point where I do know I’ll survive onward), but I don’t know how all this is ever going to be “worth it.”
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