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We See What We’re Looking At

I finished reading Have More Fun: How to Be Remarkable, Stop Feeling Stuck, and Start Enjoying Life by Mandy Arioto a few weeks ago. One of the things Mandy wrote that has stuck with me is this, “We see what we’re looking for.”

I’ve thought a lot about those words. It’s made me stop and think in my own life, What am I looking at? What is catching my attention? Is it all the negativity around me? Is it the fighting of my children? Maybe the frustrations of daily life?

If I am actively looking for beauty all around me, I am going to find beauty. If I’m looking for good all around me, I’m going to find it. However, if I’m looking for faults, I’m going to find them easily both in myself and in other people. If I am focused on fear, I’m going to see life through that lens.

We Need to Focus On God’s Goodness

Our focus should be on God and His goodness. It’s impossible to focus on God’s goodness and negativity at the same time.

Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about.

Philippians 4:8 TLB

I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness. They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of Your righteousness.

Psalm 145:5-7 NKJV

So how can we practically look for goodness and beauty in our lives?

Actively looking for good

1. Practice gratitude every day.

I do this each morning in my Faithfully Stepping Journal. There’s a section for gratitude where I write down at least three things I am grateful for today. It’s the very first thing I do when I start my morning time routine. It puts my heart and mind in a right framework to begin my day.

2. Spend time in God’s Word each day.

It doesn’t have to be a long time. Even just five to ten minutes can make a huge impact on your day. Choose a good devotional, a Bible-reading plan, or pick a plan on YouVersion, an app that has literally thousands of Bible plans to choose from.

3. Read inspirational books.

I try to always read an encouraging and uplifting book for at least a few minutes each day after I’ve read my Bible. Why? Because reading makes us apathetic to whatever we are reading. So if I’m reading about a woman who learned to pray more and it made a huge difference in her life, then I’m probably going to start praying more. If I read about how a mom learned to be a better mom, I can learn those principles and become a better mom too. Reading other people’s stories gives us hope, encourages our hearts to stay faithful, and pushes us to become better Christians.

4. Listen to uplifting music that gets your focus off of yourself and onto God.

Music was created by God and has an incredibly powerful impact on our lives. Have you ever found yourself singing and dancing in a store simply because you heard a song you really like come on? That’s the power of music. So when you turn on a song that praises God, you can’t keep your bad attitude. The music will bring peace, remind you of God’s faithfulness, and act as a soothing balm to your soul. That’s the power of music.

5. Get out in the sun and into nature.

I am not a nature person. Most of the time, I would rather stay home and read than go for a hike. I will say, though, that I love getting out in the sun for some fresh air and exercise. We have a park that we try to go to several days a week when the weather is nice. It’s the most perfect park for our family because there is a playground set that the kids can play on, and there’s a trail that loops around the playground that isn’t huge. I can walk or jog on the path and still watch my kids.

The great thing about this path is that it runs alongside a patch of woods. So, I can walk the path, and get a small dose of nature. We’ve seen a fox there a few times and several deer on multiple occasions. It’s our little piece of nature in the city. So many times I have been upset, frustrated, discouraged, and after just twenty or thirty minutes of peace and calm and some sunshine, quiet, and exercise, I feel like a new person.

6. Actively look for the good in others.

I’m not going to lie. This is the hardest one for me. I have wired my brain to find the faults in myself and others all the time. My kids bear the brunt of this. It’s something I really have to work on. Finding the faults in others is so easy, but finding the good in others? Not so much. If I want to find more beauty in my life and less negativity, I am going to have to start looking for the good.

7. Go for a trip to someplace that quiets your heart and helps you focus on God.

This is obviously not something you can do every day. But it is so worthwhile to take a break from the pressures of life and just get away, especially if you can get away to a place that has some aspect of nature you can enjoy. Maybe it’s a trip up into the mountains. Perhaps it’s a few days at the beach. Maybe it’s packing a lunch and taking it to a park that has a lake nearby that you can sit and enjoy. For us, sometimes it’s simply a trip upstate to Amish country where the houses are spread out, the grass is green and lush, and the pace is slower. Whatever it is, find a place you can escape to and focus on God’s creation and let its beauty soothe your soul.

Looking for the Good and the Beautiful.

I am convinced we miss so much good and beauty in our lives because we simply don’t know how to look for it. We haven’t made it an active part of our lives. It’s time for us to stop focusing so much on the negative and start looking for the beauty and the good all around us. Pick just one of the ways to actively look for the good in your life each day and see if that doesn’t make an impact on how you see the world around you.

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Amanda Manney

Hi friend, thanks for stopping by! I'm Amanda. I am a pastor's wife and a homeschooling mom who has a passion to encourage women to faithfully step every day into what God has for them.

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