A negative visit to the hospital that turned into a positive one
There I was, entering a hospital that I had not been in for years. Walking through those doors immediately brought back some memories of a painful experience! My last visit was due to me having third degree burns; which was not a fun ordeal. Although I was walking myself into the hospital with a minimal amount of pain this time, I still had some negative thoughts going through my head. I needed to get x-rays of my foot that I hurt during a soccer game. This foot has screws in it, so when it gets hurt it is important to make sure nothing has shifted.At this point, I had a pretty negative attitude due to rough memories of this place. As I was walking around this hospital (lost) on a hurting foot trying to figure out where I was supposed to be, I finally got to the x-ray sign in area. Once I signed in they had me fill out a lot of information. Then they asked me to take a seat and wait for my turn to get x-rays.There were not many people waiting, and after sitting for 30 minutes I began getting impatient. Right before I got up to ask what the hold up was, a nurse walked up to me and apologized, "Sorry for the long wait sir." she said, "We had a lot of people come over from the ER needing x-rays."Once she walked away is when it hit me. Although I had been waiting a long time to get my x-rays taken, I was not there with a serious or life threatening injury like some of these people getting x-rays before me. Immediately, the impatient and negative feelings left me; instead, I felt thankful to God for my healthy body and that I was not there due to a serious injury.My attitude did a full 180 in this moment. Instead of feeling frustrated and negative, I felt thankful to God. The rest of the time waiting and getting my x-rays was spent praying for the people that filled the hospital and being a positive light to those around me. I changed the position of my heart to thankfulness toward God instead of negativity looking at my circumstances.
Thankfulness is dependent on the position of your heart.
As believers we cannot allow circumstances be the deciding factor of our thankfulness. Our thankfulness needs to come from our hearts toward God. We need to be able to view every situation as an opportunity to show God's love to the world around us. If this can become the permanent position of our hearts, we can change the world.