A Bed of Roses

Let’s not kid ourselves, life is not a bed of roses!" Although some people grumble because roses have thorns, I am thankful that thorns have roses." Below is a slide show of the many variety of roses blooming in State College just when we were about to depart for home.

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Do all things without grumbling or disputing (Philippians 2: 14).

It is virtually impossible to complete a day without falling into the trap of “grumbling or disputing”. It is so easy to pick up the habit of negative thinking. Why? Because there are so many things around us that prompt us to be irritable.

The negative attitude reacts to circumstances with blame. We blame ourselves or someone else, or God, or if we can’t find a tangible scapegoat, we blame “fate”. What an absolute waste!

• When we blame ourselves, we multiply our guilt, we rivet ourselves to the past, and we decrease our self-esteem.
• If we choose to blame God, we cut off our single source of power. Doubt replaces trust, and we put down roots of bitterness that can make us cynical.
• If we blame others, we enlarge the distance between us and them. We alienate. We poison a relationship. And on top of that, we don’t find relief!

Blame never affirms, it assaults
Blame never restores, it wounds
Blame never solves, it complicates
Blame never unites, it separates
Blame never smiles, it frowns
Blame never forgives, it rejects
Blame never forgets, it remembers
Blame never builds, it destroys
.

According to Charles Swindoll, the greatest waste of energy in our ecologically minded world is not electricity or natural gas…, it’s the energy we waste fighting the inevitables! And to make matter worse, we are the ones who suffer, who grow sour, who get ulcers, who become twisted, negative and tight-fisted fighters. Some actually die because of this. In short, blame backfires, hurting us more than the object of our resentment. Let’s admit it – not until we stop blaming will we start enjoying health and happiness again!

We spend more of our time concentrating and fretting over the string that snap – things that can’t be changed, things that suck up our attention and energy, all of them inescapable and occasionally demoralizing – than we do giving attention to the one that remains, our choice of attitude.

God grant me the Serenity, To accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And the wisdom to know the difference.

reflection: roses or thorns, your choice?

Reference: Charles Swindoll