I did not feel like doing this Daily Motivation today. I must be honest. My feelings were low. It has been a busy week and a busy weekend.

I have many cares and things that I need to take care of, and the last thing I felt like doing was trying to motivate you. I'm being honest. If you are honest I think that very often you'll admit that you feel exactly the same way.

Sometimes we are forced to do things that we don't really feel like doing. It's a bad experience when you are forced to do something that you don't feel like doing. So the question that I would like to address now is,

“How do you overcome bad feelings?”

You can't just turn your feelings on and off, but how do you overcome the bad feelings? I'm going to give you some ideas here.

Find Out Why You Feel Bad

Firstly you need to find out what it is that is making you feel bad. The chances are that you have a negative picture in your mind. A negative picture in your mind causes negative emotions and bad feelings.

So if you want to change your feelings, you have to learn how to change the pictures of your mind. You have to learn to change what you are thinking about.

Now I know that you are probably saying,

“Yes, but you said last week that our thoughts don't have power.”

No I didn't say that. I said that your mind does not have the power to create, which is what these people with 'The Secret' and the 'Law of Attraction' are trying to teach.

Only your spirit has the power to create, and then it is limited in what it can create. God has only given you a piece of His power and ability to create in this earth.

Now I don't want to speak about using your thoughts to create. I want to speak about using your mind to change your feelings, because your mind has the power to change your feelings. You have to choose to think something that is more positive.

Rise Above Your Feelings

I remember seeing the story of Peter Pan years ago. It has been released in so many different forms – in cartoon form, and in the movie called 'Hook'.

There is one little thing from Peter Pan that always stuck with me. It was the idea of thinking a happy thought. According to Peter Pan, if you could think a happy thought you could fly.

It is such a beautiful picture isn't it? If you could learn to think a happy thought, you could rise above all your cares and bad feelings, and you could literally fly away like Superman.

I used to joke with my grandchildren and say to them,

“Do you know that the devil really hates it when you are happy and you're smiling?”

So whenever they were feeling down I used to say to them,

“When the devil is making you feel bad, what you must do is give a big smile. If you do that, the devil will jump right over the wall and he'll be gone. He can't stand it.”

It became a standing joke and they really picked it up. They knew that every time they were feeling down and under oppression, they would put on a big smile. They would see the devil jump over the wall and he would be gone.

What is your happy thought? If you can think a happy thought you can overcome the bad feelings. You need to let go of your cares and you need to allow yourself to dream.

Let go of all the stresses of work and all your financial worries. Let go of all the people that have irritated you and made you angry.

Let go of all the stresses you have had over the weekend; all your cares about going back to work, your financial cares about how you are going to pay the bills and all the things that you have to do this week. Put them aside and think a happy thought.

Think about someone that you love. Put that person into your mind and visualize them. Think about them and change the picture to one of happiness instead of stress.

Try Smiling

Put a smile on your face. Yes I know that I told the kids to do it, but it really works. You cannot smile and stay miserable. Try it.

If you are in a job where you speak to people on the phone, do you know what the best way is to communicate to them in an emotive way? It is to smile while you're speaking on the phone.

People may think that you're mad because here you are smiling away. You cannot help but feel something when you smile. If that doesn't work, try laughing out loud.

Say, “Ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha …”

Okay maybe you don't laugh loudly, but in the end you may start laughing just at the sound of yourself laughing. It is wonderful if you can just get one or two chuckles out there. It will start to melt away those bad feelings.

So are you feeling like I did today? Start laughing, even if you say, “Ha ha ha,” out loud.

Try it, it really works. Put a smile on your face. Find somebody to smile at. Laugh and fill yourself with joy.

Be Thankful

And then try praising and giving thanks. You have so much to be thankful about.

Instead of looking at all the cares and the things that are weighing you down, why don't you start looking at all the wonderful things in life? Look at all the beautiful things that the Lord has given you. Rejoice and praise Him and say,

“Thank you Lord.”

Make up a list of all the things you are grateful for and that you can give thanks for. Soon all those bad feelings will start to melt away. You will feel ready to face the day, and there will be a new surge and a new power.

The Bible says that the joy of the Lord is your strength. It is amazing how much energy you have when there is joy in you.

It is not just going to come and fall on you. You have to make the effort to create that feeling of joy, happiness and good emotion. You do that by changing the pictures in your mind.

So in conclusion, let me just ask you this question.

“What is your happy thought for today?”

Every day this week as you start the day off, find a happy thought. And during the day when things start to get you down and life starts to get you down, find that happy thought.

Let it fill your mind. Smile, laugh and praise. And before you know it you will have this new surge of energy rising up in you as the joy of the Lord becomes your strength.