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I Don’t Want A Negative Opinion

Yesterday I started to form a negative opinion of a restaurant I actually like.

My opinion is based on an experience – if fact, my last experience at this chain of restaurants.

My wife, Lily, and I were traveling and needed to stop for gas and something to eat. I noticed a “Five Guys” burger place close to where we were gassing up, so when the tank was filled we made our way over.

When you have eaten in a restaurant before – maybe many times before – you kind of have an expectation of how things will go … especially in a chain restaurant where they try to create the same eating experience in every franchise they establish.

When we entered, there were several people in the order line ahead of us. It seemed like the two guys ordering at the counter either didn’t know what they wanted or were ordering for an army.

Turns out they didn’t know what to order. It’s a burger joint; they make burgers – no chicken, no fish, just burgers.

How hard is it to order a burger? I’m sure it wasn’t their first burger.

… But that wasn’t the issue. After the cashier finished with that marathon two-burger order, she disappeared.

I couldn’t remember what she looked like because she wasn’t quite as tall as the cash register so I never got a good look at her from my position fourth in line.

Close to five minutes went by before she returned to the cash and started to serve the next guest in line.

By the time we placed our order, we had been in line close to fifteen minutes.

Now if we were eating at the Keg, and waited fifteen minutes to order, I wouldn’t think anything of it. But this was a burger place … did I mention they only make burgers?

Then we waited for our food.

We had to clear our own table because obviously the paid staff weren’t doing the job. I picked the cleanest table and then wiped it down with some napkins.

When we finally got our food and started to eat, Lily and I began to reminisce about some of our other restaurant experiences.

We had a doozy a few years ago at a Burger King that has been etched in my mind forever.

That experience was almost matched at another Burger King, so now I can’t go into a Burger King without thinking something is going to go wrong.

I know Five Guys is a good restaurant and their food tastes great; I just don’t want my latest experience to taint this opinion.

They say it takes seven compliments to undue one negative one. I’m wondering if the same is true with an eating experience.

If so, I need to get back to “Five Guys” seven more times so that what happened yesterday doesn’t jade my opinion of a restaurant I actually really like.

Here’s the thing: You may have had an experience in your life where you blamed God or felt God didn’t treat you the way He should. Be careful not to let your view of that experience taint your opinion of God who is holy, good and all powerful. He’s God and He loves you and has a plan for you. Remember who He is and keep going back to Him. Don’t let one experience taint your opinion and keep you from seeking Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What experience with God in the past has given you confidence in Him? Leave your comments below.

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How To Get To The Real Truth

Doing your own research is always better than taking someone’s word for it.

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This Thursday we have a provincial election and I will be relieved when it’s over. It’s really disrupting the NHL playoffs right now.

I think the political parties and special interest groups know that right now a lot of people are watching hockey, so they are flooding the games with their campaign ads.

It would be one thing if they focussed on what they stood for and what they want to do about making our province the best it can be, but all we see and hear is what the other parties are going to do to take down the province.

In fact, each party says the other parties are going to do the opposite of what those parties are promising to do.

It’s a tough decision to make. The most memorable idea that can be forced into our minds will probably be the determining factor of who people will vote for on election day.

In my riding, it’s a little more difficult to get a sense of who would be the best candidate. There is not as much publicity for them as there is for the provincial leaders.

The other day, Lily and I were in the car, backing out of our driveway, when a woman appeared right by our car window. We rolled down the window and started to chat and it turned out she was campaigning for one of the candidates.

She asked if we had questions and I said I didn’t know much about this particular candidate. Lily joined in and said, “Yes, we don’t know if he’s married, has a family, or what he stands for.” To that the woman said, “Well, he is married and I’m his wife.”

Now at least I know what this candidate’s wife looks like … which is better than one of the other candidates who needs to trim her bangs so we can see what she looks like.

I fear she is not able to see people and things well because, when I look at her campaign posters, she seems to be squinting.

It really is a shame that politicians know that we will be swayed by the information that is presented to us in the loudest and most prevailing voice. It doesn’t even matter if it is true or half true as long as we get what they are saying.

What we really need to do is stop listening and watching the commercials, stop looking at the signs on the corners, and start trying to figure out on our own who would be best to lead our province and represent us at Queen’s Park (provincial Parliament).

If we did one hour of research for each candidate we are interested in we might find that our decision on voting day would be clearer.

Here’s the thing: We can get opinions and ideas about God and the Bible from people who make bold statements. And then without really checking further, we accept those statements as the truth. There is great danger in doing that. What we should do is take the time to research God’s statements for ourselves so that we have it from the right source.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you go about determining the truth? I’d like to hear from you; you can leave your comment below.

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Getting Out of a Bad Cycle

Have you ever noticed how one bad thing sometimes seems to be a catalyst for other bad things? Some people say bad things happen in three’s, but that’s just superstitious – “touch wood” (just kidding!).

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Seriously though, since I’ve come back from my vacation, I’ve been engulfed in this phenomenon of experiencing one bad thing after another. Enough already! And with each bad thing that’s happened, my mood has darkened a little more.

Ever felt that way? You want it all to stop, but like they say in social media circles, “it’s trending”. What adds to the discouragement is how difficult it is to change the trend. It seems like you need some kind of emotional pick-me-up to snap you out of the downward spiral.

I remember watching volleyball in college – that was a prime example of how one bad thing is a catalyst for another. I don’t want to pick on volleyball players as being more moody that other athletes (well, maybe I do), but that sport seems to exemplify it more than most.

When a team would hit a great spike for a point, its players would roar with enthusiasm and give each other high fives, even hugs. That would pump them up and they seemed to play better.

While that was happening, the other team would make more mistakes and seemed to have a hard time doing anything right. Then, at some point, they would manage to block a spike and get the serve back. Their players would get all charged up about it, congratulating each other.

Then the momentum would change, the trailing team would play better, and the first team would start making mistakes. It wasn’t because they lost their ability or skill; it was all in their minds or emotions.

When we get down or discouraged, when one bad thing happens after another, we tend to make mental errors in judgement, or emotional reactions, which lead to more bad things.

We can react to something bad rather than respond to that bad thing. When you react, you let your emotions lead the way or you make an error in judgement. But when you respond, you look at the desired outcome and follow through with that goal in mind.

I would like to say that I am really good at responding rather than reacting, but let me tell you, I’ve done my fair share of reacting over the years.

This past week there have been about six bad things that I could have easily reacted to and probably, as a result, caused several more bad things to happen.

… On second thought, I have done some reacting … but only to myself in the car by getting all upset with the drivers on the road. What I need is a great block or spike to turn things around!

Here’s the thing: To break the “bad” cycle, you can mope around until something good happens, but that might take a long time. A better choice is to turn to God, make a list of all the good things God had done and is doing in your life, and begin to praise and worship Him for it. You will find your mood brightens and you can let go of the bad and rejoice in God’s goodness. It worked for King David in the Psalms; it’ll work for you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you gotten yourself out of a “bad” cycle? Leave your comment below.