Thankful Thursday: ....

Colossians 3:8

But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

Today is one of those bleh days for me. I'm mildly depressed and completely overcome with ennui...everything seems to have taken on gargantuan dimensions and absolutely everything is tragic...school work seems to have taken crazy growth pills, and personal ish seems to be going downhill today...i do not like this feeling. At. All.

That being said, on with the post!...i started typing it earlier, and in that version it went straight to thankfulness, no mini sermon (*cringe* i need to stop with the sermons! don't get me wrong though, it's not coming from a "i know what you must do" point of view...selfish as it sounds, i write, first and foremost,for me...it takes seeing it out there for me to make sense of it, see...)..But in line with the mood of today,my laptop went off without warning...and i got pissed...i was about to really indulge in the anger...

And then i realized i had a theme for the mini sermon! Anger. It is one of the sins that i am constantly falling in to...it is so easy to give in..and the annoying thing about it is that it feeds on the energy you give it...a teeny spark of pissed of, when indulged quickly escalates into a higher pissed of that raises your blood pressure and literally makes you hot in the head..this is when you start raising your voice. The more you raise your voice, the more energy you feel...you are completely riding this anger wave like a pro now...but then at some point, it's over...and you feel drained, and you realize what an ass you've been..and most importantly, you realize the damage you've done. See anger has the power to put a nice gap between you and God, between you and yourself. Beyond the moment of anger when you're blind to your better knowledge, the aftermath often leaves you too resentful and guilty to go in the presence of God, or face yourself for that matter.

Anger. I have...or being optimistic, lemme say i used to have a temper problem. It is very easy to set me off...but i've been working on it, and i honestly do think i've improved. I've learned to breathe and shut the hell up, because in line with the anger feeding off the energy you give it theory, when i make my first comment...theres no telling where it could end. It sucks. More sucky than the anger at the moment thing is the anger beyond the moment. lemme explain. It's one thing to react with anger in a situation at the moment you've been provoked (or not :P ), but it's quite another to resurrect this anger ages after the moment has passed. Hanging on to bitterness and not letting it go, i believe it's called. Anger is always too pleased to play along, waking up from it's long (or not so long) forgotten slumber and growing with the energy you give it. I am guilty and i pray about it every day..abi it's my cross to bear? I'm learning though...breathing and meditation and quite a bit of the literature i've been so fortunate to come across help a lot....

Let go of your anger...do not feed it dammit! like the notices in the zoo that go "do not feed the animals!"

Ephesians 4:26,27 In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ and do not give the devil a foothold.<<<>

Lemme throw in some Bible verses for credibility...

Psalm 4:4
In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.

Psalm 37:8
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.

Proverbs 15:18

A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.

Proverbs 16:32

Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.

Proverbs 19:11

A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.

Ecclesiastes 7:9

Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.

Ephesians 4:31,32 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

James 1:19,20 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

Proverbs 15

“A gentle answer quiets anger, but a harsh one stirs it up.” “Hot tempers cause arguments, but patience brings peace.” (1,18) Proverbs deal with practical advice as opposed to the Psalms, which tackle deeper theological issues.

Proverbs 25

“If you cannot control your anger, you are as helpless as a city without walls, open to attack.” (28)

Proverbs 30

My favorite: “If you churn milk, you get butter. If you hit someone’s nose, it bleeds. If you stir up anger, you get into trouble.” (33)

Ephesians 4:26 (NKJV) "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath

There! i know i went a tad colour happy, but oh well...hope that helps put it a bit in perspective as it's doing for me small small *sigh*

I am thankful for life..because it really is b-e-a-utiful!

I am thankful that life has so many wonderful things tucked away, just waiting to be discovered..it's like the great treasure hunt! all the principles, all the secrets...

I am thankful that i able to, by interest and with an abundance of support both material and moral, i am able to slowly but surely be on the path of this great treasure hunt...i promise that life is so much more fulfilling that way! It's the difference between getting your money's worth, just cruising through

I am thankful for that mug of coffee somewhere in this dark room that is scenting surely as only Heaven can...mmmmmmm!!

I am thankful for friends both old and new...

I am thankful for sincerity...It is the single most endearing quality a person can possess and it makes all the difference in the world. Any action could be classified as heroic, or egotistical, based on the sincerity behind the action alone...It seems sincerity is rare, and so i am superthankful for the people in whom i sense it!

I am thankful for vanilla and cinnamon and nutmeg and coffee and...did i mention coffee? lol..i will eat it, i will spray it on, i will rub it on, i will drink it....lol i'm not crazy nau...we talkin body spray and lotion and...you get the picture!

I am thankful for the getting on the bus situation this morning!..i shall start a side career as a sprinter :P and todays bus driver wasn't half as crazy as the one with diarrhea yesterday...because it is only that kinda situation that will make him keep the doors open for one second flat and skip stops...poor kid :(

I am thankful for the nice people who do the whole pass the money thing on the bus...it's amazing that they are ungrumpy enough not to bite somebody!

I am thankful for the sweet sweet women in the er...coat collecting room in school...their smiles and general cheeriness brighten my first period and my way home!...and then theres the thing about being pleasant to start with..it's ah-mah-zing what a smile and approaching someone in a good way can do...it's all rewards meyyn!

I am thankful for schoool!...for all the sweetheart people, from my friends, to my lecturers to the security guards to the women in the cafe to to....yea...it's all gravy!

I am thankful that V.V is coming back next week...*ahem* even if i'd rather he stayed wherever he was a bit longer..can't complain though...his classes are the best! and not just because we all sit spellbound :D

I am thankful for the way God lifts me above problems...all the obstacles i fear each week disappear to oblivion...(speakin of which..i have a SERIOUS craving for video games... :( ) It's a fabulous thing...

I am thankful for forgiveness...cuz i mess up majorly on the daily...today being a day of MAJORLY..and yet...He hasn't smited?smote? ah..spell check didn't underline smote..so i guess i should be thankful that He didn't smote (LMAO!) me for my very careless and irrational sinning, but instead, He used all of that to give me a theme for this post...i am still asking for it though...sometimes, we hold things against ourselves long after He has let them go..it's being human :(...

I am thankful for His grace!

I am thankful for His support...He just never leaves me down, even if half the time i'm a hopeless case :(

I am thankful for S!!! like the vid i saw with my friend yesterday said, "if you can put into words how much you love someone, then you probably don't love them very much at all"...I am thankful for him for so many reasons that words fail me :) I am thankful that he gets me, i am thankful that when i see/read certain things, my mind goes straight to him and i want to share it with him, knowing that he'll GET it, i am thankful for how i realize how thankful i am that much more each day, i am thankful for the grin i get for an hour give or take when he facebooks me (ha! don't you just love all these new verbs? google it, facebook it, facebooked me, youtube the vid...*sigh* we will make words out of anything!), i am thankful for who he is, his intelligence, his philosophy, his ubercuteness ^_^, for the way i've learned to care again, for for...this list, i should warn is inexhaustible, because i discover new things each day!

I am thankful for my mommy!!!! she is the bestest ever person in my life...She's my first, my constant, my everything! One of my fears is that i won't be able to rawk as much as she does with my children, that i wouldn't be able to have this awesome take on parenting as she does...She assures me that i'll do just fine...i love her beyond words,beyond hand gestures, beyond anything that i can imagine!

I am thankful for my dadddy :D...i realize this a bit more each day...especially at the eerie points when i notice i'm becoming him! It hit me when playing psychologist for my friend, sounding exactly like my father!lol...It's awesome to understand someone, because then, you appreciate them a whole lot more...

I am thankful for my superduperawesome friends...I must have done something good somewhere, because i have a group of the most uplifting and supportive friends ever! They are always there to hear me out, to let my cry on their shoulder and to just let me rant until it's all okay...i Love them guyssss!

I am thankful for His word

I am thankful for wisdom..it totally changes your paradigm for the better!

I am thankful for learning a bit more each day, and learning new principles and how to prioritize and see things from a higher point of view..it is not easy at all,seeing how your humanity is screaming at you to wallow in animal instinct..

I am thankful for music! God should bless Buddha Bar's DJ's and whoever else puts together their CD's....er...awesome much?

I am thankful for the internets (na so dem say make we talk am o!)..so much info! so much good stuff! so much to learn! and it's all there! woohooo!!

I am thankful for forgiveness again...grrr, guilt is eating at me!

I am thankful that He can keep me away from the bad stuff...even though for a while it's nothing but shivers and shakes...eeeek!

I am thankful for the way everything is related to everything and it's alla huge cycle...it's fun..or i'm just a geek like that :P

I am thankful for moviess! and watching them online...

I am thankful that i don't use "human hair" weave (lol or any weave for that matter...yet)..because i would have ripped it out by the handful after watching that bit in Good Hair...like, i always though it was a bit freaky, but seeing them bald chicks,and the fact that the hair is sacrificed to the temple and that sometimes it is stolen off the head of these girls...er...eww to it all!

I am thankful for nailpolish! oh the fun! the fun!

I am thankful for my sisters! they are the best human beings in the world! They are so teeny and so wise! i learn heaps from them every day...and they are sooo smart and have the wikidest sense of humour..i share the largest collection of inside jokes with them...i am thankful that i have them..because when it comes down to it...it rawks to have siblings! so i am thankful for my mom once again, and her resolution to have three children, so that none of us are alone like she was..yay!

I am thankful for letting things be...while it's good to plan, i have a lot of respect for letting things be the way they will be, and not struggling to fit squares into circles...sometimes, you need to let things go, and sometimes, you need to fight for whats yours...in both cases, you will sense the way it needs to be, and that is what you should listen to...so learn to shhhh and listen!

I am thankful for how this post is turning out to be...i was depressed when i started typing the first time, was very ready to go, i am thankful for family and friends and put a nice big full stop. But lookee what we have here...and my mood is radically different from the way it was!

I am thankful for Love!!! all the types and all the sorts..Love of and from God, love for family, the love i get from them, love for friends, love for...lol yea, that kind...*sigh* the energy love creates is mindblowing!...so keep creating it!

I am thankful for my self claimed extended family!

I am thankful for laughter

I am thankful that er..i started doing that assignment...all this work sef..Kilode?

I am thankful that i grew up in PHcity!!! i wouldn't change that for anything in the whole wide world! God only gives out the best gifts,made uniquely for you :D

I am thankful for thoughtfulness...i still get the warm and fuzzies everytime i see the number 18...or Eyore (? ) and thats just for starts..

I am thankful for sillyness ^_^

I am thankful for cake! dhaeeeemn! see aunty T was here a couple of days ago and brought this cake...and it's my weakness...you should see the love in my eyes whenever i see it...:D mmm....gotta have some more when i'm done with this...will go back to eating sensibly once the last mouthful is gone :D

I am thankful for fooooooood! omigossssh!..hippopotamus much? whale regularly? tehhh, it's worth..ish it :P yummy yummy food

I am thankful for long hours of gistiiiiing :P

I am thankful for the way things just work

I am thankful for naps..that fit within the planned time, i must add :P

I am thankful for movies...sometimes, you just need to escape for an hour thirty

I am thankful for books!

I am thankful for good looking people...seriously! i'm just admiring artwork jor :P

I am thankful for Art in all its forms

I am thankful that i have two countries to call home...and both of them are very strangely similar...i do love them, but they break my heart..they, i'm sorry to say, are both hos. Prostituting themselves shamelessly for the benefit of the limited elite that is their pimp, leaving the country and the masses exploited, abused and very much impoverished...i shall pray for them...

I am thankful for my grandparents! they are cool peoples

I am thankful for amateur anger management...baby steps!

I am thankful for daily devotionals

I am thankful for the sad and grey times, cuz like Vika and I concluded today, without them, we won't appreciate the good times, we'll take them for granted...so here's a big thank you to all the ones who hurt me and didn't quite hit the mark..cuz thanks to you, i can see whats good and appreciate dammit!

I am thankful for no regrets..One musn't have regrets, because above feeling bad/feeling guilty over something you did, theres always a lesson learned..so i've learned to be thankful for the lesson and not bitter over the process that led to it..you can't afford to beat yourself up!

I am thankful for that Yoga place...now if only i could find the time...

I am thankful for youtube! :D there are youtubers who warm the soul :D

I am thankful for bloggers!..this time specifically for Rita and Aloted, who inspired me to have a God centred blog :D thanks!!

I am thankful for SCL! because Jon brings me back to earth and the fun in God whenever i start going off on a legalism tangent and getting too serious..i believe legalism is when we get caught up in the rules of what should and shouldn't be done...like any deviation, it builds and builds and we demand more and more ridiculous things of ourselves until we completely miss the point and are walking around miserable...a relationship with God, is anything but miserable. I choose to have a chilled out relationship with Him, because that's real to me. No offence to any Catholics or Orthodox people. God is too close to me for me to make Him into an entity that is so distant. Sorry. Not happening.

I am thankful that i am not under any beliefs involving believing in being cursed to the 7th generation..er..read the new testament lately? yea, it's called forgiveness. On the other hand, i do believe that believing in something gives it power in/over your life...i'm free from that because i do not give it energy by believing in it..i guess the people that do believe are subject to the conditions that come with it..ah well

I am thankful for living in the now,and it sill being okay to have wishes for the later...I want someone to press fast forward and then play 6 years from now, give or take..but at the same time, i know that everything has it's reason and you shouldn't throw away the joy of today by being miserable that you don't have tomorrow right now...

I am thankful for music again!!! i absolutely adore Salif Keita and got reunited with the song i've been looking for for 5 years give or take...Yamore with Cesaria Evora...i LOVE that song!! aaaand Youssou N'dour too :P who would have thought, right? anddd i absolutely am in love with Spanish language songs...Malaguena Salerosa and el mariachi much? teehee....it takes very little to warm the soul :

I am thankful for quotes! hi, i'm TIQ, and i'm a quoteaholic..what? what was that? no, no, i do not need help, absolutely not! i'm just here to er..see who else has quotes so that i could er...ah...look, yes, just look...of course i won't commit them to memory! don't be silly! :P

I am thankful for those weird funny moments that only i seem to get...will find the bit from Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables" that had me laughing till i cried today..it was about the Provincial language and how they make everything sound grand :P teehee..speaking of which..it's kinda very coincidental that i had just read the chapter where Fantine sold her gawjuss hair to send money for her daughter, when i watched that bit from Good Hair..double whammy! i believe is the apt expression here

I am thankful for literature...again for words that come together perfectly, lyrically...I am thankful that God made man with the ability to be creative, so see and to seek beauty...

I am thankful for our blog :) i never did have a blog with anybody before :P

I am thankful for us..however defined or undefined that concept is..

I am thankful for the snow outside..it looks so pretty when you're indoors and warm and ish :P

I am thankful for cooperation...i needz to copy some homework meyyn!

I am thankful for hot showers...and the deliciousness when it hits your neck and shoulders just so

I am thankful that..blink and another week is practically over..fly time, fly!!!

I am thankful that i am so thoroughly blessed :)

I am thankful for time spent in the hostel....good times!

I am thankful for an open mind, i am thankful for the plethora of information and influences that surround me that keep me from being ignorant..well, completely ignorant, cuz i have a LOT that i still need to learn..but i'm thankful that i have the chance of keeping an open mind..

I am thankful that God is everywhere and in everything...you cannot escape Him, and yes, i do believe He is beyond any single definition that we attempt to shrink Him into...

I am thankful for Dalai Lama quotes! Such brilliance i haven't come across in a long time. The wisdom packed in every sentence...

I am thankful for this >>>*agonized Obi-Wan Kenobi scream* which i saw as a comment to someones fb status...i laughed my depression away meynnn...did i mention how much i love words?...and quirkiness? *contented sigh*

I am thankful!!!!

:) Have a faaaabulous weeked! and keep reminding yourself that anger is more trouble than it's worth. Don't feed it, learn to take a deep breath and let that moment go...ESPECIALLY where it concerns revisiting old bitterness...do not even go there...Find peace within yourself and be happy..cuz in the big picture, anger looks ridiculous...