A few months ago I went to the Dominican Republic (DR) with a ministry I serve with. When we boarded the transportation bus, the leader in charge of the DR arm of the ministry kept asking everyone, “Are you excited?” She seemed excited. She frequently demanded a response from us.
When we returned to the US and met for a board meeting, the executive in charge of the excited woman on the bus addressed all of us. He said he was convicted, and he asked himself in a loud voice, “What am I excited about?” Then he challenged all of us to ask ourselves the same question.
Popular advice these days is to be grateful, and that is good. I have tried applying gratitude in my own life. One example is by jotting down a list every morning of things I am grateful for. But recently I start my day by asking, “What am I excited about today?” There is so much each of us should not only be grateful for, but excited about. I also discovered that we can reframe both burdens and what we are grateful about into what we are excited about.
Here are some examples for reframing our thoughts:
Switching gratitude to excitement:
- “I am grateful for my wife” becomes “I am excited I have such an amazing wife who loves me and loves our kids.”
- “I am grateful for my job” becomes “I am excited I have a job today where I get to practice my craft, touch people’s lives, and provide for my beautiful family.”
- “I am grateful for my house” becomes “I am excited to have a house that gives me shelter, a place I can bless people by hosting them.”
Switching burdens to excitement:
- “The vision is unclear” becomes “Today I am excited because I have the opportunity to pray about and craft a vision.”
- “Finances are tough” becomes “I am excited to seek God’s provision and discover innovative ways to steward resources for His kingdom purposes.”
- “Criticism on me is heavy” becomes “I am excited to recognize new opportunities for growth, to practice my resilience, and to affirm my commitment to standing firm in my faith and convictions.”
Changing the narrative in our mind is powerful. It takes intentional effort to reframe our thinking.
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