Page 172 – Guideposts Articles

Cliff Shiepe on Overcoming Life’s Obstacles

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Brett Leveridge

Hi, Guideposts, I’m Cliff Shiepe and the last time I was in Guideposts, it was for a health challenge I went through in my 20s and how I was restored. This time, I’m in the October issue and it talks about a setback that I had and how I felt that I was back in the same spot as I had been years ago.

The first time I was in Guideposts, I heard from people from all around the world, people who were chronically ill, and, frankly, I was overwhelmed. I’m not a doctor; I didn’t know what I could say back. But I first thought, What would I have wanted when I was in that position? And that was someone to listen, to know what it’s like to be in that space.

And so that’s what I did. I offered people who emailed me or found my phone number a phone conversation. And I heard so many stories of people who were chronically ill, and what they wanted? They want to know that they were going to get through it, that they had to believe that they were going to get to the other side of it, whatever that looked like. When you go through things in life, you’re separated from things you put your identity in, and that isolation, and, you know, we’re experiencing that now with Covid.

When all the self-quarantine started, I said, “Well, I’ve been in this space. I know what it’s like to be cut off from the world and to have to kind of confront yourself and all your relationships.” That’s an opportunity, it’s an opportunity to be transformed, to grow into the person that you were created to be.

I think for people who struggle with chronic illnesses, identity is such a big issue. They see themselves defined as a bundle of their symptoms or some diagnosis. And the truth is, who you are is something bigger beyond that. I had a challenge I had to overcome, figure out, but it wasn’t who I was.

And if people ask me, you know, are you chronically ill? I say, “Well, I have a health challenge and I have to live within certain boundaries.” And when I go out of those boundaries, things happen, and I have to back off from life because they can get out of control. And yes, during those seasons, it makes your own life smaller, but it’s for a season.

When you’re in that space, you have to believe that you’ll get to the other side, whatever that looks like. And I had a restoration verse: After you have suffered a little while, He himself will restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

So this is what I learned: We all have setbacks in life, And just because you feel like you’re back in that spot where you were years ago, it’s not necessarily the truth. There’s been growth. There’s been life between that time and this time. And you are more equipped to get to the other side of that trial, whatever that looks like. You just have to believe that you will, and that you’re not alone.

Christmas in the Waiting Room

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Kathy Howard

Dreary. that was the only word for it. The waiting room was a U-shaped space outside the hospital’s cardiac ICU in Greenville, South Carolina. Stiff gray chairs with metal arms lined the walls; stains blotted the carpet. A dozen people were gathered in clusters, heads bent in weariness and worry.

The air felt still and stale. Could there be a more joyless place to spend Christmas?

We were hunched in our own corner. Mom and Granny had been here since the night before, the twenty-second. I made the five-hour drive from our home in Georgia as soon as I got the news that Granddaddy had suffered a heart attack and needed surgery.

I hated seeing him in his hospital bed, a breathing tube in his mouth, a tangle of wires attached to his 87-year-old body. The surgery was successful but the doctors were guarded. “We have to wait and see,” they said. But how long? Days, a week, a month?

No way around it, this would be our place to celebrate Christmas, not at home baking cookies, humming carols, stuffing stockings, decorating the tree. That antiseptic hospital smell instead of pine boughs; fluorescent lights instead of candles.

I flipped through a year-old magazine, too distracted to actually read anything. I glanced at the two women across from us and wondered what their story was. As if on cue Mom nudged me.

“They’re sisters,” she murmured. “Their mother had an aneurysm. She was a photographer and took some beautiful photographs. Let me introduce you.”

A minute later we were talking about the amazing places their mother had traveled to. One of them took out a bag of bagel chips and passed them around. Our crunching seemed incongruous in the tense silence. We almost laughed, then put the bag of chips out by the vending machines for everyone to enjoy.

I returned to my magazine. My husband, Moye, was staying at Mom’s house with our two young girls. We’d had to throw everything in suitcases so fast I couldn’t believe we hadn’t forgotten anything. At least I’d wrapped the girls’ presents. There were still their stocking stuffers, though.

I tossed my magazine aside. No use. Granny took out her Bible. She and Granddaddy had been married 65 years. She was beyond tired, but insisted on staying at the hospital, waiting. I wished I could do more than just sit here feeling helpless.

An older woman in an overcoat and a scarf walked in and sat down by herself. Mom and Granny seemed to know her too.

Granny went over to talk while Mom filled me in: “Her husband is a heart patient too. They haven’t been in town for very long and don’t have many friends. Their son lives nearby but he’s sick and can’t come. She’s all alone.”

“How’s your son?” Granny asked. “And your husband?”

A girl in sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt had taken over three chairs and was curled up on them with a blanket and pillow. She couldn’t have been more than 18. A big plastic garbage bag sat on the floor next to her. It looked like it held everything she owned.

Mom followed my gaze. “Her boyfriend was in a shooting,” Mom said. “He’s in for surgery right now. We’re waiting to find out if he’ll pull through.”

I closed my eyes and said a prayer.

Every few hours we were allowed into Granddaddy’s room to check on him, but just for a minute. Then it was back to the waiting room. Doctors would come and talk to a relative. Nurses reported on a patient.

The stock of food by the vending machines grew. Nuts, pretzels, cookies. Someone added candy canes. A splash of holiday cheer.

The girl in sweatpants sat up and stretched. Mom went over to her and sat, holding her hand for a moment, bowing her head. I couldn’t have imagined the two of them meeting anyplace else, Mom in her perky Christmas sweater and the girl in her sweats.

Here in the waiting room the barriers fell away. We were one. Worried. Waiting. Hoping. Praying.

I called Moye.

“I’m sorry you’re not here,” he said. “We just hung some ornaments on Mom’s tree. The girls did the lower branches and I filled out the higher ones. They’re putting up their stockings by the fireplace and then we’re going to watch White Christmas. You know how they love to sing along. We miss you.”

“I miss you too. But I’m glad I’m here.”

Granddaddy spent two and a half weeks in the ICU and then three months in a rehabilitation facility. When he went home, though, he walked through the front door on his own.

I can’t tell you how happy we are to have him home this Christmas. But we won’t soon forget how we celebrated the holiday last year in the ICU waiting room.

It wasn’t where we wanted to be or hoped to be, but it turned out to be just the right place to honor the birth of a King who came for us all, rich and poor, young and old, the lonely, the sick, the distressed.

No smell of balsam, no radio or TV blasting Christmas music, just the quiet conversations of strangers looking after each other. Praying. Waiting. Hoping.

Download your FREE ebook, A Prayer for Every Need, by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

6 Pictures of Christmas in Hollywood

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Brett Leveridge

In their book Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays: 1920-1970, authors Karie Bible and Mary Mallory have gathered more than 200 rare images depicting famous actors and actresses celebrating the holidays, from New Year’s Day to St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween and, of course, Christmas.

Here are some of our favorite Christmas-themed shots from Bible and Mallory’s book. How many of these actors do you recognize?

Start each day with encouragement for your soul. Order Mornings with Jesus 2019

Chocolate Cake Christians

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Michelle Cox

I used to teach 7^th grade boys in Sunday school. I often got comments of sympathy when I mentioned that, but I loved those wiggly, goofy guys. It was a metamorphosis each year as I watched them grow from little boys into young men.

When I first started teaching them, it only took a few weeks to realize that I’d need some innovative ideas to keep their attention, so I came up with the idea of doing object lessons.

Light for Life NASB Study Bible in Article

The boys waited with anticipation each Sunday morning to see what we were going to do that day. One Sunday I brought rocks and water and taught them about Baal’s prophets. For another class I came decked out with fishing gear and taught them about being fishers of men.

But one of my favorite memories with them was of “Chocolate Cake Sunday.”

I took a covered cake carrier one Sunday. I held it in front of me and said, “Boys, do any of you like chocolate cake?” I had to quieten them as loud whoops and “Yeahs!” echoed around the room.

I said, “Oh good, because I want you to have some chocolate cake this morning.” They all grinned and poked each other with excitement.

I then handed out a cup of cocoa powder to one young man, a bowl of eggs to another, and then containers with flour, oil, sugar and all the other ingredients to each boy. They looked at me in puzzlement and disappointment. “What is this? We thought we were having chocolate cake.”

I smiled as I told them, “That is chocolate cake. I know it doesn’t look like it now, but without adding all those ingredients, you won’t end up with a delicious chocolate cake.”

We talked about the individual ingredients and how each of them had a purpose, such as the sugar adding sweetness and the flour holding the batter together.

We discussed what the cake went through in the process as the ingredients were put in a bowl and then beat with a mixer. We talked about how the batter was put into pans and placed in a hot oven.

Then I shared with them how that chocolate cake mirrors our lives. Sometimes there are sweet times–like the sugar that goes into the cake. Sometimes there are bitter times, like the cocoa when eaten by itself.

Other times when we go through hard times, we feel like we’re being beaten–just like the batter in the bowl.

Finally, we talked about how it was necessary for the cake batter to go into a hot oven. Sometimes as Christians we feel the heat of hard times, of circumstances where we feel like we’re being put through a hot oven of trials.

Just like I had a plan for that chocolate cake, God knows exactly what ingredients to put into our lives and how long we need to be tried in the oven of hard times so that we can go out and carry the sweetness of Jesus to a world that need to know about Him.

Looking at their faces throughout the room, I could tell the boys got it–especially when I removed the lid from the cake carrier and revealed a chocolate cake for them to enjoy.

Some of those young men are now grown, some with children of their own. I love it when they come to me and tell me that they’ve never forgotten those object lessons.

I’m so glad that God etched those moments into their hearts and minds, that they realized that even when life doesn’t make sense–just like those individual ingredients for the chocolate cake–that God has a purpose and plan for each thing He brings into our lives.

And if any of those ingredients–those life circumstances–are missing, the final result is a disappointment. I hope God keeps working on me so I’ll be a beautiful chocolate cake Christian someday, so I’ll be able to share the sweetness of Jesus with those who need to hear about Him. How about you?

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! (Psalm 34:8)

Chewbacca Mom Now: Candace Payne Opens Up about Trusting God and Saying No

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Alikay Wood

Candace Payne’s life transformed forever in May 2016 when she posted a video of herself laughing hysterically while wearing a Chewbacca mask. The video went viral and “Chewbacca Mom” became a household name. The stay-at-home mom could not have imagined all that happened next.

“We all have seasons,” Candace said in an interview with Guidposts.org. “Some seasons are going to be busier than others. Some seasons are going to be more restful. Now I’m a stay-at-home working mom.”

In the two years since the video went viral Candace has published several books, starred in a TLC web series and went on tour with Mandisa. She’s made appearances on late night talk shows, met J.J. Abrams and, as she shared in her Guideposts cover story in November 2017, was able to fulfill a dream of taking her family to Disney World. It’s been a busy, but joyful time.

Her latest project is Consider It Joy: A Six-Month Guided Bullet Journal, a follow-up to her 2017 book Laugh It Up!: Embrace Freedom and Experience Defiant Joy.

“I feel like people need a tool in their hands to actually uncover and get the joy that they are fighting for,” Candace says. “[The journal] has habit trackers to help you keep account of how much space and time you are devoting to things that aren’t worth it in comparison to the joy that I know I could have?”

Cultivating joy is something that has always been important to Candace. She never expected her video to go viral or the opportunities that would come from it. But she saw God’s hand at work.

“The opportunity afforded me was not a forced open door,” Candace says. “I think a lot of people are trying desperately to push things open when you just have to be obedient in the little things that God’s asking of you.”

A few weeks before the Chewbacca video went viral, Candace had an intense prayer time with God.

“I was asking God, ‘Are you real? If so, I’m all in,’” Candace says. “To this day I feel like I’m just walking through open doors.”

For Candace, the real challenge has been believing that God trusts her to handle the opportunities in front of her.

“It’s a beautiful thing to finally realize that God wants to trust you with [things] because He loves you and has a plan for you,” Candace says. “I think a lot of people hold back from walking into what they’re meant to do because they don’t feel as though they’re trustworthy to God.”

Part of trusting herself has required being confident in saying no. From the outside it may look like Candace is doing it all, but she says she actually so ‘no’ to business propositions more than she says ‘yes.’

She uses a simple tool to evaluate whether an opportunity is right or her.

“I say all the time to my husband and team, ‘That doesn’t belong on my beam,’” Candace says. “What I mean by that is I have a balance beam that I’m asked to walk every single day. As a mom, as a wife, as Candace, as a speaker, an author, whatever. There are only so many things that I can balance at a time. I have to realize what belongs on there and what doesn’t.”

That’s the heart behind the Consider It Joy journal.

“I really wanted to give people more than just advice about joy,” Candace says. “I wanted to give them the ability to actually own it in their every day.”

Changing Your Worldview Can Change Your Life

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Holly Lebowitz Rossi

Safe, inviting, hopeful—these are the ways someone with a positive life outlook might describe the world they live in. Daily stressors and worrying world events can feel troubling, and they should. But at a primal level, positive thinkers have a basic optimism about the possibilities for the future.

“Primal” is the key word from the findings of a new study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology. The researchers studied the connection between primal beliefs and character and personality traits.

Those with positive “primals” (short for “primal world beliefs”) describe the world as “good, enticing or interesting” and are more likely, according to the study, to display positive character strengths like hope, gratitude and curiosity.

Primals are organized into a hierarchy, from most to least abstract. The most general primal is simply to see the world as “good.” From there, secondary primals include seeing the world as safe, enticing and alive. And tertiary primals include seeing the world as stable, just, funny and worth exploring.

The study’s authors point out that research on this connection is a relatively new field within positive psychology—and that understanding it better can help support people who seek to cultivate positive thoughts and behaviors in their lives. This includes the quest for “post-traumatic growth following the Covid-19 pandemic,” the authors write.

And importantly, despite the hard-wired sound of the word “primal,” we can adjust our primal attitudes—and by extension, improve our positive character traits.

“Everybody can see some degree of beauty in the world, but some may believe that this beauty is confined to treasured places or memories,” lead author Alexander Stahlmann of the University of Zurich told Forbes magazine. “Developing positive primals means gradually extending confined beliefs to the whole world. This development may be achieved through anything that helps people realize that beauty is all around them and always has been there, no matter the historical period or what the future may hold.”

I hope this insight inspires you to think today about how you might expand your connection with the beauty of the world. If it’s hard to connect with something positive, that’s ok. Bring your thoughts inward, toward a micro-joy that feels real and meaningful to you, even if it’s a photograph of a fun experience you shared with someone you love or a single flower in a garden you walk by today. Learn something. Admire something. Notice something.

When you do, you’ll be encouraging your mind in a primally positive direction. From there, you’ll be ready to keep going—and keep growing.

Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Katie Allen Berlandi

Positive thinking is how you think about a problem. Enthusiasm is how you feel about a problem. The two together determine what you do about a problem. (Dr. Norman Vincent Peale)

As you might guess, as a granddaughter of Dr. Noman Vincent Peale as well as a mental health professional and psychology teacher, when I see the words “positive thinking” or “negative thinking” as a part of a research study, an article, a book or even an advertisement, I like to find out more about what is being said or written.

It’s my impression that positive thinking, countering negative thinking, positive imaging and choosing one’s attitude have been in the news and part of conversation of late.

Start each day with encouragement for your soul. Order Mornings with Jesus 2019

I know that the New Year is often riddled with new ways of thinking and living, but it feels a bit different this year. Perhaps the election has something to do with it. Perhaps people are ready to connect better with themselves in order to relate (and listen!) better to others. Maybe a sprinkling of each? Who knows? But it is good to see.

A friend wrote me last week to tell me that her husband is reading and “loving” Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s book Positive Imaging, and that she is downloading it to read as well. I am thrilled by this. I trust that the messages within the book will prove helpful to them.

The New York Times ran an article last week entitled “The Year of Conquering Negative Thinking”:

“All humans have a tendency to be a bit more like Eeyore than Tigger, to ruminate more on bad experiences than positive ones. It’s an evolutionary adaptation that helps us avoid danger and react quickly in a crisis.

But constant negativity can also get in the way of happiness, add to our stress and worry level and ultimately damage our health. And some people are more prone to negative thinking than others. Thinking styles can be genetic or the result of childhood experiences, said Judith Beck, a psychologist and the president of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy in Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

‘We were built to overlearn from negative experiences, but under learn from positive ones,’ said Rick Hanson, a psychologist and senior fellow at the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley. ‘But with practice you can learn to disrupt and tame negative cycles.’”

The article goes on to explain steps to take in order to shift the power of negative thinking. A “change your thoughts and change your life” approach that Grandpa Peale would find familiar.

This morning I received a brochure for an educators’ conference to be put on this spring as part of the Learning & the Brain conference series. The topic? “Positive Student Minds: The Science of Promoting Positive Emotions and Empathy, Grit & Gratitude.”

As I have written in prior blogs, it remains so gratifying to know that our brains are so tied into our attitude, gratifying also that there is scientific proof that our lives can be enriched through positive attitudes, emotions and behaviors.

Suffice it to say that I am tuned into the impact of positive and negative thinking, and I am very pleased to see that there’s a renewed interest in these ways of thinking lately.

I will do my small part, as a person, a parent, a teacher, a mental health worker, a friend and a granddaughter of Dr. Peale to do what I can to enrich the lives of others through my own actions and attitudes. I know Grandpa Peale is walking beside me as I do so.

Change Your Life, No Worries!

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Heather E. Schwartz

Worried? It’s no wonder. Watching TV, reading the paper, surfing the web and talking with friends, every day we’re inundated with tens of thousands of situations that call for a reaction. Sometimes stressing out—over, say, rising gas prices or your parents’ health—seems warranted. But sometimes it can get in the way, like it did with me last year.

“We all get anxious from time to time,” says Bromwyn Helene, Ph.D., a psychologist in private practice in upstate New York. That’s fine, even useful. But for some people, stress can spiral out of control. Each year, 19 million Americans ages 18 to 54 experience a diagnosed form of anxiety, according to the National Institutes of Mental Health. And some of us just worry far too much. Simply put, worry is negative thinking.

You may recognize the symptoms. You can’t relax or even sleep. Anxious feelings can linger long after the event that triggered them. Do you worry too much? “The division is between whether you’re able to function or the anxiety is interfering with your life,” Helene says.

I know if I had been reading this a few months ago, I’d have started worrying, This sounds like me. I’m doomed! Don’t go that route yourself. Read on and you’ll find there’s plenty you can do to put worry in its place.

Anxiety never kept me from doing what I wanted to do. But I knew I was in trouble last year when I realized I was too worried to actually enjoy what I was doing. At work, that made sense. I didn’t love my job. On weekends, though? Stress seemed to spring from nowhere. What if I’m too nervous to have a good time? I’d fret before dinner out with friends. It got to the point where I would worry about being too worried!

My gloomy predictions came true once or twice, and I took that as proof things would only get worse. My negative thinking was a big part of the problem, but I couldn’t figure out how to stop. Over and over, I retraced my steps: At what point had worry taken over my thinking?

But sometimes it’s impossible to find the source of your anxiety, according to Helene. You might even make connections that aren’t really there to try and solve the mystery. (Hmm…kind of like the way I kept worrying my new, happy marriage was in trouble, though there was no evidence other than the fact that my anxious feelings reminded me of my first marriage, which ended in divorce.) “If you can find the source, good,” Helene says. “If you can’t, it’s helpful to talk about some strategies for coping with and reducing your anxiety.”

I’d lived with worry all my life. Did I study hard enough for this exam? Will my car make it through another winter? Do I have enough money to pay the cashier at the grocery? I made a decision: I was tired of letting my anxiety run the show. I would do whatever it took (for the rest of my life, if necessary) to feel good again.

It turns out I was onto something. Stress affects different people in different ways. Some people get migraines and backaches; others tend toward worry. If you’re one of them, you need to be aware of that tendency at all times, so you can recognize and handle the anxiety when it strikes again. And you have to have faith that a power greater than yourself is in charge and wants the best for you. Too much worry means I’m not trusting enough in that higher power.

Helene told me some anxiety-reducing strategies that have worked for her patients. I also did some research on my own. There’s an added benefit to developing healthy mental habits. Each time you overcome worry and succeed in doing what you want in life, your confidence grows. You realize you can do it. And, as I’ve learned, really enjoy it, too!

Download your FREE positive thinking ebook!

Change Your Life: Define Your Goals

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Norman Vincent Peale

What’s your goal in life?

It’s important to constantly ask, “Why was I born? For what purpose did I come into this world? What am I supposed to do here?” Answers to these questions will shape your life goal, which will bring meaning to your life.

But, you may ask, how do you reach your goal? By the application of twin principles: to will and to believe. Will power is the process by which you tap the enormous force that’s in you. Believing is the process by which you surrender yourself to the power of God. So “to will” means to bring out your personal power; “to believe” means to bring out God’s power. If you really begin to practice these principles, you’ll find that your achievements can be astonishing.

A friend of mine told me a story about a young California couple. Things were difficult, but they had a goal: They wanted to have a home that would be filled with love and beauty. They talked about the house they wanted. It was the big goal in their early life.

One night the wife sat down and drew a picture of the house—a complete floor plan, upstairs and down—and mapped out a garden. She showed it to her husband and said, “This is my dream house.”

Though the couple had little money, he said, “Let’s hold to our dream and to the belief that one day we’ll have that house.” They looked everywhere trying to find such a home. Real estate agents showed them one house after another, but they did not find it. So they sat down and prayed about it and visualized themselves being led to it.

One night they were talking with friends about their dream house. One of the friends said, “Why, the house you are describing is well known to me; it belongs to a Mr. Davies. His wife died, but he continues to live there. He has turned down offers for three times its price. He won’t sell it until he finds a couple who will love the house as he and his wife did.”

“Please take us there,” the couple said. When they saw the house, the man and his wife were overwhelmed. It was exactly as it had been pictured in their diagram. Mr. Davies, a kind man, saw the love for this house in the eyes of this young couple. “I’ve turned down everyone else, waiting for the couple to come along for whom this house was intended,” he said.

They were thrilled. But they had to face reality; it was beyond their means.

“Some things are more important than money,” said Mr. Davies. “This is your dream house, isn’t it? All right, you write your own terms, and I will help you to have this house.” The contract was drawn. This couple had practiced the great law: Belief is visualization, dreaming, conviction and will. As a result, they reached their cherished goal.

Believe, dream, will—and put it all in the hands of God. Work, struggle, visualize! These are the great principles bound up in the text, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Get it into your mind and get going, and you will reach your greatest goals.

If these techniques fail, as they sometimes will, ask yourself: “Have I failed because I have some ‘dirt’ in the mind?” By “dirt” I mean wrongdoing. Something that clogs, accumulates, creates “carbon” in the mental processes and corrodes the soul.

A young salesman once came up to me and said, “I’m worried that I don’t succeed because something is wrong with me personally. I wish you’d talk with me and see if you can get at it.” Well, the fellow’s conversation was filled with profanity. It was clear that his drinking was out of control. And he told me he was “mixed up with a couple of women.”

It so happened I had a quotation in my pocket that I had copied from an advertisement for motor oil. It may have just been a coincidence that I had it with me, but God works in coincidences, so I handed the young man the slip of paper. On it was written: “A clean engine delivers power.” I could tell from the look on his face that he got the message.

Whatever your goal, if it is a good and honorable one, you have it in you to attain it. If you’re specific about your goal, if you clarify it and blueprint it, and if it is within God’s righteousness, you can attain it. This I sincerely believe.

Did you enjoy this story? Subscribe to Guideposts magazine.

Celebrating Three Years of ‘A Positive Path’

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Holly Lebowitz Rossi

The traditional third wedding anniversary gift is leather, meant to symbolize that by the time a couple has been married for three years, their relationship is both durable and flexible.

This week marks a third anniversary for a different sort of relationship—the one we’ve shared here at Guideposts since February 2017. Twice a week in this space, I’ve explored what it means to walk “A Positive Path.” I’ve written about approaching life with authentic positivity, especially searching for genuine optimism even in complex times.

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I do consider my work to be a relationship, a writer’s attempt to meet you wherever you are and offer a bit of hope, inspiration and insight to help you make any amount of adjustment you feel you need in your life—or to give you some space to take a break from working so hard to be “better.”

“Durable” and “flexible,” the words used to describe the meaning behind the third anniversary gift, are also watchwords of “A Positive Path.” The power of authentic positivity to make a lasting, sustainable impact on our lives is borne out by both scientific research and lived experience we share here. Cultivating healthy habits is an investment in your positive future, and together we can discover what that looks like.

Flexible thinking and non-judgmental curiosity are crucial aspects of the process. The freedom we feel when we’re excited to learn, grow and experiment with wellness strategies that can serve our lives can’t be overstated.

So no cows will be harmed in the third anniversary gift I have for you. Instead, please accept a simple offering of my heartfelt thanks for reading, for commenting, and for carrying the possibility of “A Positive Path” with you as you walk through each of your days.

Here are some of my favorite posts from the past year, plus a walk down memory lane to the very first post in “A Positive Path”:

How to Set a Positive Weekly Schedule

Can Positive Thinking Help You Sleep Better?

3 Positive Aspects of Living Frugally

5 Easy Ways to Give Yourself a Fresh Start

Why Decluttering Now Will Help Your Family Later

February 2, 2017: Welcome to “A Positive Path”

Celebrating Small Victories

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Pablo Diaz

Life is about more than winning, but there are times when we must celebrate the small victories. A few days ago, my wife, Elba, overcame a fear of hers. When driving to the airport, she took the highway that she typically avoids at all costs. For most people this is not a big deal. However, for Elba it is. This took courage.

During the ride, I sat quietly in the passenger seat, encouraging her when needed. Though she was tense, she was focused and committed to the task at hand. Elba was determined to work through her fear so that she can pick up our son from the airport when I am out of town. After we returned home, she turned to me and said, “thank you for your support.” This was a win and she needed to pause and take it in.

There are things in life—some big, some small—that we struggle to do or overcome. Each of us has our own unique battles, fears and mountains to climb. And when we are able to work up the courage and strength needed to face these challenges, celebration is called for.

There is always something that we can celebrate and thank God for. For example, being able to take a few steps on our own after heart surgery or enjoying a quiet evening at home after a stressful day at work. And when we stop to recognize these daily wins and express our gratitude to God, we are encouraged to face tomorrow with hope. Pay attention to your small everyday victories, they are God’s way of bringing us joy and strength. What victory are you grateful for today? Please share with us.

Lord, every day I can celebrate the small and big wins in my life, thank You.

Carla Hall: Find Your Happy!

Posted on March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 by Carla Hall

Find your happy,” Granny, my mama’s mother, always told me back when I was a tall, gawky kid, watching her make chicken pot pie at home in Lebanon, Tennessee. And that’s why I’d moved to Paris, France. But all I’d found was myself feeling forlorn and homesick.

Quitting my job and flying off to Europe seemed like a gutsy, glamorous move. I’d been in an accounting position for two years. One afternoon, I’d watched my boss carefully fold and refold a receipt while taking an inventory of steel beams.

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Was that me in 20 years? Crunching numbers in some dark office, withering away–death by spreadsheet! My college friends had found their dream jobs. Why not me?

I prayed for direction. Then a friend called about a modeling gig in Paris. I took it as a sign. I was no fashionista, but I was tall and I’d done a little modeling in college. This was it! I’d discover my purpose along the moonlit Seine.

Mama thought I was foolish to give up a steady, well-paying job. But Granny had my back, as usual. “God has something big planned for you, baby,” she said. “Go find your happy!”

Now I’d been in Paris two months and I was miserable! I’d found no more fulfillment on the runways than in spreadsheets. I should’ve been sipping wine at charming bistros, falling in love at the Eiffel Tower.

Instead I shuffled from one fashion show to another, missing home like crazy. Especially Granny’s cooking. I had no interest in escargots or macaroons. All I really wanted was a big ol’ helping of Granny’s chicken pot pie and a slab of chocolate layer cake.

Her Sunday suppers were the center of my universe growing up. After church, my family would flock to her house for smothered pork chops, five-flavor pound cake and pan-fried cornbread.

I didn’t care much about what went on in the kitchen–I was more into the eating! But I loved watching Granny shape her cornbread patties, leaving fingerprints on each. Like she’d imprinted them with a little bit of her soul. “If you cook with love,” she’d say, “everything just tastes better!”

I could barely heat up soup, but I couldn’t stop thinking about pot pie. So I invited my American model friends over, promising real down-home cooking. I’d seen Granny make pot pie hundreds of times. How hard could it be?

I searched the Rue Cler market for ingredients, but couldn’t find celery. All I came up with that looked even vaguely similar was a bunch of pale green stalks with roots. Whatever they were, they’d have to do.

I poured my soul into that pot pie, humming happily over my tiny apartment stove. As I stirred, I tried to picture my love flowing from me into the food, soothing my guests, some of whom were as homesick as I was.

An hour later, though, when I took the pot pie out of the oven, the crust was breaking apart, the filling was leaking out…and those green stalks? Slimy and stringy. Find my happy? I couldn’t even get a simple recipe right!

Five hungry friends descended upon my apartment. I’d promised them comfort food. So I set the defective pot pie on my wobbly kitchen table and held my breath as the girls dug in.

“Mmm,” one said. “This is gooood!”

“It tastes like…like a hug!” said another, laughing.

I took a tentative bite. Not bad! My friends hadn’t noticed the pot pie’s mistakes, just the love I’d poured into it.

I kept experimenting, picking up new ingredients (those green stalks were actually leeks), collecting cookbooks. I’d get lost in a world of saffron, tarragon and cinnamon. Sometimes I even dared to put the cookbook away and cook with my senses, like Granny.

After two years, it was time to return to the States, even if all my soul-searching hadn’t turned up my dream job. At least I could show off my new skills in the kitchen.

One of the first things I did was cater my sister’s baby shower. The next day, I packed the leftovers in a picnic basket and carried them over to a friend’s office for lunch.

“This is Carla,” my friend announced. “She has a catering business.”

“What’s it called?” her boss asked.

Before I could protest that cooking was just a hobby, I heard a voice: Find your happy! There it was, so close I could taste it. “It’s called…the…” I stammered, staring at the basket in my hand, “the Lunch Basket.”

That was the humble start to my cooking career. I did open a catering company and eventually enrolled in culinary school. Then I landed on Bravo’s Top Chef, where I impressed the judges with one very special recipe. You guessed it–chicken pot pie!

Granny was right. When I found my happy, I discovered something bigger planned for me, a life more delicious than I could ever have imagined.

Try Carla’s recipe for the Tomato-Corn Chowder!

This story originally appeared in the August 2014 issue of Guideposts magazine.

OUTREACH & PARNTERSHIPS