Lighter Living: ConfidenceНамуна

A few weeks ago, I glanced across the hall into our master bedroom and observed how warm and lovely it looked. I felt a warm glow of gratitude stir inside. Then, I remembered that a matter of days ago, from the same vantage point, I thought the exact opposite — our room is too cramped, too old, too dark.

This quick memory flash made me realize that nothing had changed about our 1979 ranch in the span of mere days. The only thing that had changed were my thoughts about it. What is plenty one day is far from enough the next. Which means on any given day, I’m either touching down on one side of the seesaw or the other. Abundance or deficiency.

This is never more true than when I look into the mirror. Some days I feel ready for a reason to dress up and go out, other days the wrinkles on my skin and bags under my eyes make me want to raise a white flag on social gatherings altogether.

Psalm 23 offers us a spiritual retreat in response to our worldly jolts of lack. It returns us to gratitude in the midst of anxiety, depression, fear, and loneliness. It reminds us that God’s hand is on every inch of our lives, even when we feel we’re lacking or that we missed the turn to “more.” The author, David, reminds us to relax and trust that we lack nothing. And anything that truly is lacking will be met and more than addressed in God’s perfect way and time.

So, are there ways we can soften and relax to actually feel grateful? There is, and it starts inside of us about us. Everything is better when we feel better about ourselves. When we don’t feel like enough, no one and nothing around us is enough. To be open and present for the abundance God has for us, no matter how small or significant, we need to put on self-gratitude.

A spirit-led mind has countless reasons to not only be thankful for the abundance around, but the abundance within. Uncovering confidence is uncovering the true life and peace that God designed you to experience and activate into the world.

• Memorize Psalm 23 to remind you of your open invitation to full confidence in who God made you to be and what He has for you, today and forever.
• Subscribe to the Wou newsletter for the Internal Progress Report, a simple exercise to help you think about the good you’ve experienced within and around you recently.