You don’t get to choose much about how November finds you—whether the year went your way, what the numbers did, perhaps even who’s coming to the table and who isn’t. But you do get to choose what you notice, what you listen to, and what you give your attention to. That may sound like a small thing. Watch how it actually works.
What comes in through your eyes and ears turns into a picture in your head. The picture becomes a thought. The thought travels about eighteen inches, head down to heart, and turns into a feeling.
A feeling doesn’t stay put, either. It moves out through your hands, your feet, and your mouth, and by then it’s an action. Somebody’s day is better or worse for it—usually somebody close to you and often those who live in your house.
This is why Paul’s instruction is practical, not just a nice sentiment for the season:
Fix your thoughts on what is True, and Honorable, and Right, and Pure, and Lovely, and Admirable. (Philippians 4:8)
He isn’t telling you to pretend. He’s telling you where to aim your attention. What you focus on is what you take in, and what you take in comes back out of you 18 inches later.
He says it another way two verses earlier, for the things you can’t simply set aside.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.(Philippians 4:6)
When you ask God for the things you need, be sure to also bring Him a list of what He has already done for you—the Truth and Goodness you can already see. And somehow, in the midst of what still hasn’t changed, a Peace you can’t quite account for stands guard over your heart and mind.
Notice the order, because it won’t run backward. If you get clear about what’s True and Good, Peace follows. Thankfulness follows the Peace. Generosity comes out the far end.
Nobody talks themselves into feeling Grateful at a table on Thursday. It shows up downstream. Gratitude grows out of what we have trained ourselves to notice—the Truth and Goodness we’ve taken in not just all month, but over the years.
So, take an inventory. Not a mood. Make an actual count of what is True and Good in front of you, the way you would take stock of anything else you’ve been given.
The person across from you has heard every story you’ve told yet pulls up a chair to listen again. Somebody in your house still hears well enough to argue with you. A kid called this month and didn’t need anything. A neighbor shut your gate and never brought it up. The work wore you out this year, which means there was work. The truck started this morning.
None of that makes the news. All of it is True. And most of us drive right past it looking for something bigger.
Before the big Thursday, write 10 of them down. It takes longer than you would think, and that is the point.
You can’t change much of what’s around you. You can change what you look at.
Every Purpose and Principle Driven life starts here. Getting clear on what’s True and Good is where a better year starts. It’s the part you actually have some say over—what you choose to notice, name, and hold onto.
And something happens when you get clear about what you have: It frees up your hands to give some of it away.
That’s where we’ll pick up next month.
Jesse Hardy is a Purpose and Principle Driven coach in Dripping Springs.
P2Driven.com | @p2driven