I haven’t written in this blog for quite awhile. Its not because there hasn’t been big things
happening in my life, because there have been many big things. Rather, I don’t want this to become like a
Christmas card. Christmas cards are when
you get those form-like letters telling you how great the sender is, and what
amazing things they accomplished over the last year. But the truth is, this is Christmas card, its
unavoidable. I just feel so incredibly blessed right
now. Things in my life are going very
well. That is not say that my life is
perfect. My life is far far far from
perfect. Yet I have developed an
attitude and methodology of looking at life and it really works. I’ve said it many times before in the space
of this blog and it bears repeating.
Instead of focusing on what I don’t have, I simply focus on what I
have. I have a beautiful wife, a healthy
and happy baby girl, a new house, a dog that loves me, a burgeoning career
where I am a respected contributor, and most importantly a very intimate walk
with God. All this is possible because
of my outlook in life. Positivity and
Negativity all have domino effects. I
just happen to be riding the crest on the wave of positivity and I am now a
disciple and advocate for this way of thinking because it works. I have to mention that God used Joel Osteen
and his philosophies in a significant way to alter the course of my life. I have attended several churches where the
Osteen philosophy of positivity were decried. I think I am living proof that it
works. The low point in my life happened
around 2005. Instead of believing what
other people thought of me, I started believing what God thought of me. Eventually, I started believing it
myself. Instead of going to job
interviews and going about life defeated, I started holding my head high. I didn’t believe it at first but I had to
fake it til I made it. (Good thing I was
a good actor.) But good things did
indeed eventually start happening. I got
an excellent job opportunity with an ad agency, that helped build my
esteem. That led to another position,
which led to the next. My life was in a
series of upgrades which each climb up the ladder giving me additional evidence
and faith that God indeed had a perfect plan for my life. When I lost everything, I would have been
stuck in the mud if I would have wallowed.
Plenty of friends and family felt sorry for me and they wouldn’t have
blamed me for feeling sorry for myself, because they all felt sorry for me too. But inch by inch, I drug myself out of the
mire. I am so glad I did because I would
have missed out on so many amazing opportunities in life. Firms want to hire
“can-do” personalities, not the boo-hoo look what my life used to be-types. When I met Jennifer I was really at a high
point spiritually, professionally, and emotionally. That attracted her to me. How else was I going to land a gorgeous
athlete, with an amazing career and intelligence off the charts? Do you think she would have been attracted to
a guy in an emotional fetal position? Of
course not. As you can probably tell, I
am a total glass half full kind of guy.
I believe if you are a Christian, and you are doing it right, you have
to be an optimist. That is just the way God
intended it to be. “I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4. I
also believe that God helps those who help themselves. God recognized my heart and sent several
tools my way to enable me to believe in myself.
They more I believed in myself the more I believed in Him. It was a wonderful perpetual cycle. It works.
Jennifer was a tool that God sent my way to help complete my propulsion
into the limitless possibilities of the future.
Lets bring this philosophy of the rose-colored glasses to
current day. I had an amazing weekend
with my wife and I am really on cloud 9 in love with that woman. On Saturday we had some huge fights and
arguments. (No one quite fights like
Jennifer, which makes her special in and of itself). Yet on Sunday we made up and had a very dreamy
like day (with the only negative being a 28-0 loss by the Raiders to the
dreaded Chiefs). But even that was OK,
because I was able to hold my baby in my arms in the through the third
quarter. So I can look at this weekend
as being bad because of Saturday or being fantastic because of Sunday. If I want my Monday to be great, on which day
should I dwell?
I sometimes get a little giddy about how ideal my life is
right now. I think that is what it means
to “Delight yourself in the Lord.”
Again, I have had some really devastating things happen to me very
recently that could have easily destroyed my optimism if I were to have allowed
it. Instead I crowd my head with all the
good things that are happening to me today and will continue through
tomorrow. Thus if I fill my head with
joy and hope the negativity and loss soon get crowded out. Its not like I’m burying it, because it will
always resurface in time. Rather I am
just tabling what I can’t control in the full faith that God will restore what
was lost in his perfect timing. In the
mean time why lose sleep over it? I have a very sexy wife, an innocent and
healthy baby girl, a nice new house, and a working car to get me home at 6:00. Although I love my work, I can’t wait to get
home each night. I truly have a wonderful life, but only
through the grace of God and the power of my positive spirit, which He had
instilled in me. “Have a great life now,
ask me How.” So if you are down in the
dumps and need someone to chat with, feel free to email me at rickbeeman@mac.com. Many people already have. I just want to help make the world a better
place. I believe sharing my philosophies
is just one of many ways to do that.
