I have never seen really, really extreme weather where I live. Yeah, I was around for the Blizzard of 1977 in Western New York, but I was a kid and it meant nothing but fun and whole bunch of days off from school.

Oh wait, there was one we experienced while in the Clearwater, Florida area. It was Hurricane Hermine in August of 2016. Check out the video we made in the midst of the storm: https://youtu.be/mCqXL4_9Ols

I really feel for folks who have lost their homes to things like tornados and fire. I know I would be devastated to lose my cherished items … things like photos and memorabilia. And not to mention the unmentionable loss of a loved one during a natural disaster.

We have so many challenges in this life. The smallest ripple can overturn our canoe.

My friend Terese had this post on October 1st on Facebook (with a picture of the nail that punctured her daughter’s tire):

We are blessed. Emily ran over this today. She was able to get safely to work before the tire went flat. I was just across the street and was able to place a AAA service call. The tow truck came within 15 minutes and the super nice driver put on the spare so fast! I left Emily my car and drove hers to the tire shop (where they know us by name). It will be fixed tonight or tomorrow. I’m so thankful for how everything worked out.

What a mess! Emily ran over this today. She got to work ok but I had to stop what I was doing and call AAA. The tow truck took longer than they estimated to come and the driver just wanted to talk talk talk. Can you believe I had to leave Emily MY car? Like what am I gonna drive?!?! Then I had to drive her car to the tire shop. The guys there are so nosey! It’s like they have to know everything about us. Ugh. And they don’t even know when it will be done. Maybe tonight. Maybe tomorrow. What an awful day.

Same situation. Totally different response. Attitude is everything!

The Power of Positive Thinking

Here’s heartwarming news: People with a family history of heart disease who also had a positive outlook were one-third less likely to have a heart attack or other cardiovascular event within five to 25 years than those with a more negative outlook.

That’s the finding from Johns Hopkins expert Lisa R. Yanek, M.P.H., and her colleagues. The finding held even in people with family history who had the most risk factors for coronary artery disease, and positive people from the general population were 13 percent less likely than their negative counterparts to have a heart attack or other coronary event.

Yanek and her team determined “positive” versus “negative” outlook using a survey tool that assesses a person’s cheerfulness, energy level, anxiety levels and satisfaction with health and overall life. But you don’t need a survey to assess your own positivity, says Yanek. “I think people tend to know how they are.”

Hope and Your Heart

The mechanism for the connection between health and positivity remains murky, but researchers suspect that people who are more positive may be better protected against the inflammatory damage of stress. Another possibility is that hope and positivity help people make better health and life decisions and focus more on long-term goals. Studies also find that negative emotions can weaken immune response.

What is clear, however, is that there is definitely a strong link between “positivity” and health. Additional studies have found that a positive attitude improves outcomes and life satisfaction across a spectrum of conditions—including traumatic brain injury, stroke and brain tumors.

Can You Boost Your Bright Side?

Although a positive personality is something we’re born with and not something we can inherently change, Yanek says, there are steps you can take to improve your outlook and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Simply smile more.

A University of Kansas study found that smiling—even fake smiling—reduces heart rate and blood pressure during stressful situations. So try a few minutes of YouTube humor therapy when you’re stomping your feet waiting in line or fuming over a work or family situation. It’s difficult not to smile while watching a favorite funny video.

Practice reframing.

Instead of stressing about a traffic jam, for instance, appreciate the fact that you can afford a car and get to spend a few extra minutes listening to music or the news, accepting that there is absolutely nothing you can do about the traffic.

Build resiliency.

Resiliency is the ability to adapt to stressful and/or negative situations and losses. Experts recommend these key ways to build yours:

• Maintain good relationships with family and friends.
• Accept that change is a part of life.
• Take action on problems rather than just hoping they disappear or waiting for them to resolve themselves. 

Definitions

Cardiovascular (car-dee-oh-vas-cue-ler) disease: Problems of the heart or blood vessels, often caused by atherosclerosis—the build-up of fat deposits in artery walls—and by high blood pressure, which can weaken blood vessels, encourage atherosclerosis and make arteries stiff. Heart valve disorders, heart failure and off-beat heart rhythms (called arrhythmias) are also types of cardiovascular disease.

Immune response: How your immune system recognizes and defends itself against bacteria, viruses, toxins and other harmful substances. A response can include anything from coughing and sneezing to an increase in white blood cells, which attack foreign substances.]

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-power-of-positive-thinking

This other article suggests that your personality traits may be inherited. https://www.verywellmind.com/are-personality-traits-caused-by-genes-or-environment-4120707 This is a very interesting concept, but I am convinced that a lot of our attitude is learned behavior which can be modified with practice.

I want to be the positive, not the negative. I want to be the person people can turn to for encouragement and hope.

Do you ever wonder why God has put you in a certain situation? I believe it for “such a time as this”! There are no accidents with God. He has designed our life from beginning to end. He knows when we are being obedient to Him and when we are rebelling against His plan.

This does not mean that He gave us a chronic or acute medical condition! The Bible firmly explains that the original rebellion of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden caused the sin and corruption to spread like wildfire in this world. So fast forward to today….there is so much corrosion in our society and so much illness and death. We can view these circumstances with a gloom and doom attitude, or we can seek out the cheery side of things.

There is a book in the Bible that tells the story of a young Jewish woman living in the area of Ethiopia who had to grow up way too fast. Her story and her name is Esther. She was taken from her family (who really was just her cousin Mordecai) around age 14 or 15 and put in “queen” training class. The king of the land has suddenly found himself single, and his advisors suggest he find a new wife who will “complete him”. Esther, whose name was changed from Hadassah, was chosen for her youth and beauty, along with several others to be considered as the king’s new wife.

Aren’t you glad that we don’t get fixed up by our parents any more in arranged marriages? Side thought…

We don’t know much about Esther at this point, but I know when I was growing up, one imaginary game I liked to play with my sister, is that of being a princess and dressing up in my mom’s old prom gowns and pretending we were royalty… I think a lot of ladies have that thought when younger. My little niece who just turned 5 wore the same pink dress for nearly a year every time I saw her! And her daddy affectionately calls her his little princess.

I’m betting that Esther was no exception to this. That she would have been be-dazzled by the palace and all it’s splendor.

But in Esther 2:9 it is clear that she knows how to conduct herself as a lady. She pleases the person who supervises their training, and he gives her anything she needs to be successful. Esther is just behaving respectfully, instead of acting out and rebelling in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Why are her circumstances difficult, you might ask? Because there is a possibility that the ladies who are NOT chosen as Queen will still have to live in the palace forever as the king’s concubines, which mean (in my interpretation) as the king’s “play toys”. They don’t get the fancy honor and title. And there is only one winner from this group of contestants!

And it probably is not the best life. It is a bit like being enslaved. I imagine there is some hefty competition. And I feel that women do not always play clean with others.

I can guess that Esther’s diary could have gone like this, “Day 1, Some official looking men were here talking to Mordecai and the next thing I knew I was in a limo on the way to the palace. No time to say goodbye to my family or school mates. No farewell dinner. I wasn’t even told what was going on. Upon arrival, I was placed in a secluded wing of the palace with other girls my age and we were given our instructions. We are, apparently, in training to be the next queen for that brutish king Ahasuerus. I cry every day. I refuse to eat or bathe, I am so depressed. I didn’t get to bring my cell phone with me and I cannot talk to anyone on the outside or on Facebook.”

But that is not the attitude she assumed. She rallied in the midst of struggle, being separated from her beloved cousin Mordecai who she knows as her father since her parents died when she was very young. She excelled in her classes, both academic and cosmetic. After one year of training, it was time to go before the king.

And guess who he chose! Of course he chose Esther.

Esther, being Jewish then goes on to use her Queenly powers to save her Jewish people from imminent destruction! Read the book to see how bold she is with approaching the king “uninvited”.

Where did she get such grace? She was only like 15 or 16 years old when she became Queen.

Most of us agree that God had His hand upon her and upon her situation the entire time.

So how to beat this apparent “curse” from our parents genes that says our attitude is fixed by our DNA? Dig into Jesus and the Word of God for comfort, peace, and right thinking.

This is failproof! And I know sometimes we will slip and fall, but He’s ready and waiting with outstretched hand to pick us up.

Today is a new day. Let us practice at positive thinking TODAY! And retrain our brains to a more satisfying life! And better yet, train ourselves to let go and let God handle the big stuff (actually, all the stuff, He’s really good at everything). This is life changing and you will find that no matter what tsunami is crashing over you, you will be unshaken because God provides an immoveable rock on which you will be rooted.

As always, if you have questions or need a listening ear, bloodcanceruncensored@gmail.com