POSITIVE THINKING LEADS TO A HAPPIER LIFE

One of my priest friends asked me during the recent Clergy Recollection, “Do you ever feel lonely at any point of your ministry?” No. That was my quick answer to him. I make myself occupied with my personal agenda and prioritise my priestly vocation through serving our church.

There is nothing wrong with focusing on family life as we go through various stages in our lives. At times we may feel lonely or frustrated with so many commitments and tasks at home but God has given us a mission in our family and we are called to be faithful to our vocation. We can be stressed out, frustrated, angry, overwhelmed but we should re-examine our priorities especially on our spiritual aspect by refocusing on prayer and the Sacrament of Eucharist in order to grow in holiness.

We have to be courageous to say “no” to worldly things and willingly and freely to say, “yes” to God. I am also learning to stay focused on my spiritual life and with my church ministry as well. Lately, I was reading a book entitled, “Thinking For A Change” written by John C. Maxwell speaking about successful thinking. He explains that a successful person finds a way to the top because of the way he or she thinks. If one wants to change for the better in life then one must make a change for the better in his/her way of thinking. The author says that our today’s life is a result of the way we were thinking yesterday and tomorrow’s life will be determined by the way we think today.

Even I as a priest I do find it hard to tune my mind with positive attitudes and thinking. My negative thoughts, attitudes and feelings drain my energy and enthusiasm in my ministry. It’s God who gets me through slowly. I need to place my faith in Him, and choose to focus on things, which are ultimately positive.

At times we can be very negative in our thinking due to the situations or people we meet in one way or another. Our negative thoughts, words and attitudes will make us unsuccessful and unhappy. With our positive attitudes we can experience pleasant and happy feelings, which lead us to brighter days and a happy, successful and healthy life.

Positive thinking is all about ourselves. Faith is all about God. We have the power of God to discipline our thinking. As Christians, we should be the greatest positive thinkers. Let the Holy Spirit transform us by changing the way we think and eliminate all the negative thoughts from our minds.

“Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it,” (Ps 37: 5).