Food for Thought.

●We've all had bad things happen to us, we all have skeletons in our closets, we all have dysfunctional families. But we don't have to let where we're coming from dictate where we're going:

"Its not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life;
it is how you handle what happens to you."

~Zig Ziglar

●If people don't like us... could it be because we don't like ourselves? If we come off as costic, aggrivated or anti-social, is it because we're angry, negative, or feeling dorry for ourselves?:

"How we think shows through in how we act. attitudes are mirrors of the mind. They reflect thinking."

~David J. Schwartz American Trainer,

Author of ''The Magic of Thinking Big''

●Cheerleading is about becoming positive. That doesn't mean being Pollyanna or saccharine- it doesn't mean going through life in denial, thinking that everything is a happy Care Bear's movie. It doesn't mean being fake. But it does mean that we can't wallow in the past or obsess about our problems. Being positive means looking forward, and moving ahead, looking up. The following passages are often talked about in Christian circles as "cheerleader" verses. The ealy Church in Philippi was facing religious persecution, St.Paul was in prison, facing martyrdom. Yet Paul told them to work on their relationship with God and to focus on the positive. That's awesome advice:

⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. ⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me–put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

¹²I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

~Philippians 4:6-8, 12-13