As we celebrate Valentine’s Day tomorrow, numerous places will be decorated with hearts of pink and red.
And speaking of hearts, the past several weeks have been a struggle for my heart.
I have felt…
Lonely.
Worried.
Apathetic.
Full of self-pity.
There was no person or event that precipitated these feelings.
Just me, getting inside my own head, and focusing on all the wrong things.
I remembered a quote I read from author, Tommy Newberry. He said, “Your focus creates your feelings.” The first time I read that I was struck by how simple it was and yet how profound. I cannot focus on negative, critical, and unhappy thoughts and expect to feel positive, loving, and happy feelings. It just doesn’t work that way!
So, I spent time praying, searching my heart, and journaling.
And the Lord brought to mind a list. Have I mentioned that I love lists?
One list was the foci (yes, that’s plural for focus 🙂 ) of an unhappy heart. The other was the foci of a happy heart.
The list for an unhappy heart (my heart the past several weeks) was negative, self-serving, and defeating while the list for a happy heart was positive, Biblical, and transforming.
The Lord convicted me that I have a choice when it comes to what I focus on, and I had been choosing to focus on the negatives in my life. This is crazy, because I have WAY more positives in my life than negatives. I just need to make the choice to focus on them. And when I do, my feelings will change.
Please tell me I’m not the only one who struggles with this? In assuming I’m not, I made a printable of the list I wrote out in my journal in the hopes that it might encourage you as well. It’s by no means exhaustive. Feel free to keep adding to it (and maybe share with the rest of us?!).
You can never go wrong focusing on God and His Word. It will provide truth with which to counsel your heart. It will take your focus off yourself and your problems and put them on the One who has “loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). Choose to focus on Him, His truth, and the many blessings in your life. I’ll just bet that you will see a serious shift in your feelings and experience a Happy Heart.
