Keri SoVery…

The other morning as I was heating up some coffee for the road, I was also trying to get in a big glass of water to meet my water goal for the day before I headed out.

As I was trying to finish the water, the microwave ding indicated my coffee was done and I thought, “I might be so full of water I can’t drink my coffee.”

That really made me think! “If we focus on filling ourselves with good, we won’t have room for the bad.”

I am by no means considering coffee bad it was just the thought I had as I attempted to meet a water intake goal that day.

I see all these diets that list all the things we CAN’T have. Those diets are hard to stick to.

What if instead we measured all the good things we need to get in each day? Maybe we still won’t meet the goals, but we will be more focused on what we CAN do and work toward those goals and possibly busy ourselves and then FILL our bodies with the positives. Filling our bodies and quite frankly our minds with positive things then leaves less room for the negative stuff.

Possibly even if we do find ourselves WANTING the stuff that isn’t as good for us, we should be somewhat full and only able to fit in a little of the off limits stuff.

This thought process then led me to think about my upbringing in the church. I am SoVery thankful for that upbringing. As I remember it though, there was a lot of “thou shall not.” Of course, it is my belief that our primary goal is to LOVE, not just in word but in deed. I believe that even Jesus came along and said the greatest of the commandments is to LOVE.

Matthew 22:35-40 New International Version (NIV)

35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Again this leads me to believe that if we focus on what we CAN do instead of what we CAN’T do, we end with better results.

This should also be true in each of our relationships.

This is what I’m aiming to do and I hope you will join me. How do we do this? For one, I’m utilizing the goals on my FitBit to measure the number of steps I take and ounces of water I drink. These are two things I’m excited to work on. They are also easy to measure with this wonderful tool I have.

So, how can we measure how we love? I think it quite simply starts with how we treat people. Maybe we can have a goal for how many good deeds we do, or encouraging words we speak. Or maybe it’s simply smiling at someone we pass on the street. Maybe it’s in sharing we are thankful. Maybe it’s whispering a prayer for someone who crosses our mind or calling someone just to see how they are doing. Maybe it’s showing someone we appreciate them or listening as they share something?

Whatever it is, the point is, let’s fill our bodies, our minds, our hearts, our time with positivity and see if that makes a difference.

Who is with me?

What are your positive goals?

Are they measurable?

Do they focus on what you CAN do?

Do they line up with what you want your end result to be?

#KeriSoVery #SoVeryFilled #SoVeryPositive #SoVeryThoughtful #SoVeryThankful