As we struggle with the challenges and difficulties of everyday life or things that happen to us that are unfair or unwarranted, it is easy to get pulled into a habitual mindset of negativity. How we deal with the challenges we face will depend entirely upon our perspective. God is there, and He does more for us each and every day than we deserve. But it's so easy to lose sight of the good, because we can be caught up in the reality of the bad. How do we combat this perfectly human attitude? Well, we need resolve—resolve to have an attitude like Christ. Take inventory of every blessing: life, your every breath, every heartbeat, time spent with a spouse or loved one. What is on your inventory list today? If you were honest with yourself, would you say you have been looking for the positive aspects of the situations in your life? Are you considering how God could be using those things to draw you closer to Him? Or have you been primarily focused on the negative? During times of negativity, we actually become our own enemy. We wage a battle in our mind, looking at our situation from our own perspective, instead of considering what God may be doing through our situation. So, in order to change our minds, we have to choose to change the way we think. "Since Jesus went through everything you're going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you'll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want" (1 Peter 4:1-2, The Message). Winston Churchill once said, "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." The more you practice challenging your thought patterns, the more automatic it will become. Changes may not take place immediately, but over time the challenge gets easier, and optimism can become the norm instead of the exception. UN