Warm Fuzzies

Ya know what, after the first half of this week, I’m in serious need of some cuteness:

That’s better.

A lot has happened in the past few day. Work, school, and relationships are all demanding my attention right now. Not to mention some internal things that I’m learning or trying to work on. I haven’t thought them out well enough to write about them, but I will leave you with a few things to think about:

1. Community is important. Fellowship, brotherhood, friendship, however you want to frame it.
   • Take some time out this week to build into your community. Make something better, spend some more time in it, or just let the people know how important they are to you.
   • If you’re not in a strong community, take some steps to getting there. It can be scary, it can hurt, but a good community is worth that.
   • I realize the term community may sound dry to some people (if you for instance, read teh introduction to Wikipedia’s entry on community.) But it means something more to me here.

1. Meditate. Take some time to write down a list of people around you, situations in the world, and personal concerns (things you need, like, want to change, or are thankful for).
   • Give yourself 20 minutes at the end or the beginning of your day (or both) to think about these things.
   • Express them all in words. It doesn’t have to be out loud, but using words can help you think about and process things.
   • If you are a praying person, then pray.
   • Try to set aside your concerns and realize that worrying won’t help, but giving them thought may help you reach a conclusion.
   • Try to focus on needs that you see around you. You are more likely to notice when good things happen and, more importantly, you will be more likely to help out.
   • Be thankful. Recognize the good things. Be greatful toward people or just for how things turned out. Try to see the good even in situations that you aren’t completely happy with.

When I was a freshman in high-school, there was a science teacher who helped lead a Fellowship of Christian Athelets group. It was a silly group since very few, if any, of us were atheletes. He told me that it takes three warm fuzzies to counter-act just one cold prickly. I still believe that.