No Negativity

Earlier tonight, I began writing a post in regards to some software that I had some issues with. I stopped a quarter of the way through and began thinking that I should write about something else. I do not want to make this site a soapbox for my rants.

I get disappointed when my expectations are not met or if I make a decision that turns out to be a bad call. Instead of blaming myself, I start looking for a scape goat.

And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel – Leviticus 16:8

In the bible days, after a High Priest would sacrifice a bull on the Day of Atonement for his own sins. He would then take two goats to present at the door of the tabernacle to deal with the sins of God’s chosen people, the Israelites. One of the goats were chosen as “The Lord’s Goat” as a blood sacrifice to be sprinkled on the mercy seat above the Ark of the Covenant. The High Priest would then confess the corporate sins of the Isrealites and place them on head of “Azazel” scape goat which would be sent off into the wilderness. The sins would be taken away and never seen again. This is where the term “scape goat” originates from.

I stopped myself from going on a rant about this software tonight. I am glad I did, because doing so may have given a particular project a black eye. This is not good for the open source community and it certainly would not be good for me.

Being negative is deconstructive. While in one sense I may feel like I would have been warning potential site owners from making a similar mistake, it would have been done in such a way that it could have harmed the project. I am going to delete that post, let some time pass and think of how I could provide a positive methodology of success. This will add value to the project, help someone in need and not make me look like a jerk.

There is an amazing power in positive thinking, positive attitude as an ingredient for success.

Thinking back on my life, I regret a lot of situations where I was negative instead of positive. I have some stretches of feeling worthless and towards the end of my rope. Sometimes I am so hard on myself, that being positive is a conscious effort. Miserly loves company and I gave into being negative when I should have made better decisions or taking more control of my environment. Last year, I vowed to make some serious life changes to live a more positive life.

One of the changes I made in my life that I felt really helped was to read the Bible everyday. I’ve learned to devote fifteen minutes a day to help remind me to live for the Lord. It is my duty as a Christian to set a good example and be a light in people’s life, not a source of pain.

Positive attitude equals positive results.

Image Source: Wavy1 (Briann) on Flickr