Dream Big

There are two phrases that, if used more frequently, could solve the ills of the world..."I'm sorry" and "thank you." Really just think about it. How many broken relationships could have been mended if both parties involved just said "I'm sorry" and meant it? How many suicides could have been avoided if someone had shown a little gratitude for a person's hard work. Those are the things that put people over the edge. Everyone wants to feel needed, appreciated, deserving of love...even God. When I returned to work after New Year's Day, the email below was in my inbox. It was truly a blessing and I want to bless you, my friends with the words of two very inspirational women...

THANK YOU
By Oprah Winfrey

I live in the space of thankfulness - and I have been rewarded a million times over for it. I started out giving thanks for small things, and the more thankful I became, the more my bounty increased.
That's because what you focus on expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it. Opportunities, relationships, even money flowed my way when I learned to be grateful no matter what happened in my life.
"Say thank you!" Those words from my friend and mentor Maya Angelou turned my life around. One day about ten years ago, I was sitting in my bathroom with the door closed and the toilet lid down, booing and a hooing on the phone so uncontrollably that I was incoherent. "Stop it! Stop it right now and say thank you!" Maya chided. "But - you don't understand," I sobbed.
To this day, I can't remember what it was that had me so far gone, which only proves the point Maya was trying to make. "I do understand," she told me. "I want to hear you say it now. Out loud. 'Thank you.'" Tentatively, I repeated it: "Thank you - but what am I saying thank you for?"
"You're saying thank you," Maya said, "because your faith is so strong that you don't doubt that whatever the problem, you'll get through it. You're saying thank you because you know that even in the eye of the storm, God has put a rainbow in the clouds. You're saying thank you because you know there's no problem created that can compare to the Creator of all things. Say thank you!"
So I did - and still do. Only now I do it every day. I kept a gratitude journal, as Sarah Ban Breathnach suggests in Simple Abundance, list at least five things that I'm grateful for.
My list includes small pleasures: the feel of Kentucky bluegrass under my feet (like damp silk); a walk in the woods with all nine of my dogs and my cocker spaniel Sophie trying to keep up; cooking fried green tomatoes with Stedman and eating them while they're hot; reading a good book and knowing another awaits.

I hope you all were blessed by the words of Ms. Winfrey and Ms. Angelou! But think about your pray life. When we pray, we have a tendency to ask God for this and that and complain about how unfair life is. But do you really want life to be fair? Because if Justice had it's way...I can only speak for myself...but I would have been wiped out a long time ago. God says, "while you complain about not having caviar and crumpets on your table...be grateful for those sardines and crackers, in fact be grateful that you even have a table!" You say that you want to live like a superstar, thank God that you are alive. Thank God that you can see the stars. Thank God that He has control over your life. Thank God that you can imagine having a better life. Do you realize that there are people in this world who do not know that there is anything better than eating garbage and sleeping in tents? Mind boggling, huh?
I am going to leave you with another word from Ms. Winfrey and my favorite scripture...
"God can dream a bigger dream than you can ever imagine." (Oprah Winfrey)
"Now unto Him, who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that you can think or imagine." (Ephesians 3:20)