Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
I came across this prayer last night when reading something about positive thinking. I’m familiar with the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, but it’s the first time I think I’ve read it in full and really appreciated it. It encompasses what I’m trying to implement into my life right now. Last evening I had a lot of time to think, and I realized my biggest problems come out of me focusing on myself and all that I’m not getting. When I play the dutiful and imprisoning role of the victim, life loses it’s sparkle, and I am trapped.
I’m renewed this morning to take responsibility for creating my own happiness. To not let my mood or my actions be determined by others. To pour myself out into helping others become the person they long to be. As artists, we should be richly equipped with the creative tools needed to make good out of bad, to bring restoration, to work with what we have and make something of it. Afterall, we are fashioned in the likeness of a God who can make ways where there seems to be no ways.
When you start to think of yourself as someone that people need, instead of someone people use, you start to live life differently. You put up wise boundaries for yourself. You take care of your mind, your heart, your soul, your body. You try to become the best that you can be because you know, if you do, you’ll have more with which to help others. There is a slight shift and it makes all the difference in the world. You are no longer trapped and sucked dry. You are free and pouring out.
Today, life is getting better. May this be true for you today too!
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Wow. I was just stomping around this morning doing things that I was sure should have been done by someone else … feeling used and certainly not needed. {gulp!} Thanks for the healthy dose of perspective!
That was me the day before I wrote this post. Stomping around. I want to be childlike this year, but not childish. Ha! It’s hard as a mom to keep this good perspective though. Working on it!