It has been a hard few years for me. I was excited to open some new doors when we moved into our new office. Buying an old house and restoring it to a commercial condition. This was followed by the purchase of several other properties and ultimately diving into development. Along the way, I picked up some experienced partners, and some have worked out great, others not as much.
This has been my second mission while trying to stay true to my prime mission. To change the way the world views health while maintaining honor and respect for God and my family. It has been tough, with so many issues that I have had to deal with that are both costly, as well as urgent. I would say it has been one of the only times in my life that I have actually felt true stress. Not the stress I used to feel before my college hockey games... getting off of the ice after warm-up and having to run to the bathroom to get "light" before stepping on the ice for the game. Funny how that momentary stress happened so frequently and passed so quickly. Yet the stresses we deal with so commonly stay with us for months, or years.
I have always been a great leader for how NOT to be stressed, but this time has been a different story. However, the fact that I am stressed might actually make me a better teacher on how to cope with stress. Remember my doctor's report. I do not, for one minute, believe that stress does no less than steal your life from you. Slowly killing your capacity to function and heal.
For that reason, I take this stress seriously, identifying DAILY that it is there for a reason, and that I can beat that stress by coming into action every day with action steps to win for myself, and ultimately for my God.
So it is with this point, the point that you need to take daily steps to put yourself in command, that I feel like thanks are in order. I am currently living in my mother in law's house, after selling my house quickly, and my next house not being done. I am living in a situation that is not at all the best situation that I could hope for, but how thankful I am that my mother in law has a house with excess bedrooms (an American problem for sure), and there is a ton of room for my family right now.
How thankful that I was able to sell a house for a great profit, and it took only days on the market to do so... how thankful that the stress that I have dealt with for the last four years comes from an opportunity to leave a legacy behind... and to teach my kids the value of hard work and risk-taking that is rooted in trust in God.
How thankful to be redeemed daily from the stress by a community full of people who are looking forward to being together, and to strive for great purpose together (I consider that all of you by the way), and to be able to find comfort in so many places in this society that is ripe with comforts.
You see, we have an endless amount of items to be thankful for, and it is so important that we start our days, every single day with the desire to be thankful. My ritual has been, though admittedly at times when stress creeps up I tend to forget to be committed, even though that is the time I should be most committed... to the ritual of hitting the floor every morning and starting with 3 to 5 minutes of thanking God for all things in my life.
The KEY to this ritual is to find yourself being thankful for the things you think you cannot stand. Thanking God for your stressors, and for your "enemies" (strong word, ask me what I really mean by that), for your great things and your horrible things. Because through all things, you will be strengthened and better able to serve the will that you have been called to serve.
And for that reason, I pray thee be Thankful!
Be Blessed and Be Well! - Dr. E
PS - the image is from YEARS ago, but is a strong reminder of the GOOD things we should remember and be thankful for.