Take a step toward opportunity.

     I was thinking about acceptance and the Serenity Prayer this morning right before I came upon a news story about a “fast food worker” telling the CEO of McDonald’s she can’t feed her kids on the $8.25 an hour she makes after 10 years with his company.  She had accepted this job for 10 years. Now apparently her hours have been cut since she made the public statement. The article did not say anything about whether she had asked for a raise previously or about her performance. The CEO’s response, that he had been with the company for 40 years, was not only dismissive, but rude. He didn’t say how much he made. He should have taken her name and said, “We’ll look into your history and work performance and get back to you.”

     My recommendation to the employee would be to ask this question: “What do I need to do to get a raise?” The employee needs to sit down with any supervisor who will give her some time (by asking, when is a good time to talk?) and ask if it’s possible to get a raise and how can she do it. If she is told “it’s not possible,” (which I wouldn’t believe) then it’s time to find another job. It’s human to want to share that you are struggling to feed your two kids, but the focus needs to be on: How can I change this? instead of “I can’t….”

Acceptance doesn’t mean we have to like it. But when we  catch ourselves thinking, “I can’t…,” we need to focus on changing the things we can. What are the small steps you can take to improve on a situation you don’t like? Small steps can add up to big changes. The things we can change fall under two categories: our thoughts and our actions. Thoughts make up our attitudes and beliefs. We can always tweak our thoughts for the better.  Our actions include changing our clothes, our our tone of voice and how we breathe. In any situation, we can always take a deeper or longer breath, well unless we’re under water, then we can kick our feet and swim to the surface. (That’s what I get for questioning my “always.”)  Taking a deeper or longer breath can help  calm us into wiser decisions or give us strength to face a challenge. But we can always pray and we can ask for help when we need it. How we ask for help makes a big difference.  If we only criticize what’s wrong, we are less likely to get help.  If we ask, “How can we make this better?” we move toward a solution.

Have Courage and ask the right questions!

God, grand me the Serenity to Accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference…..Amen.

God is Great

 

waiting for the stars

Last night, my husband and I watched the meteor shower at the beach and talked about how big God is when we allow God to expand beyond the box some people try to put God in. We don’t want to get rid of the box. We just want to let it expand to be as big as God really is. God is beyond male or female. God is beyond age or race. God is bigger than any church or any one religion. That’s why there are so many churches and so many religions.  We, with our limited understanding, cannot contain all of God, but pieces of God can be in us and shine through us.

That reminds me of the story of the blind men and the elephant. Each blind man encountered a different part of the elephant, and each of them thought what he experienced was the elephant. They were each partly correct, but none of them got the whole “picture.”

I will still practice my religion and go to my church where I see and feel God’s love through the teachings and image of Jesus. Yet, I also know God through creation: through the dynamic sunsets, the powerful ocean, the wisdom of the trees  and the twinkling of distant stars that seem close enough to touch. God is the creator of this beautiful, magnificent planet we have all been given to live on and to take care of.

God is awesome love. God is great. God  is good. Thank you, God.