Is it actually possible to live more positively than negatively? Or is that only reserved for some?

I spent many years asking these questions. I did therapy, attempting exercises like daily gratitude journaling, trying to will myself into a better mindset. While I’d love to tell you that shifting my story from negative to good is as easy as a choice, there was an editing process I had to go through first, one that became the foundation for what I now call Freedom Story.

I learned the hard way that trying to insert the good into a bad story was never going to turn out the way I expected. But I also learned that my story isn’t fixed, or even built on what we’d call “fact.” Our lives, stories, and beliefs are all shaped by perception. And that perception is a choice.

I know it might sound crazy at first, but it’s a wildly powerful shift.

The Bible Is Explicit About Perspective

The Bible calls our attention to how much our perception matters. At its root, the Bible is one story, encompassing many smaller ones, that interrupts the old, sinful story we live out and points us back to God’s original story. Every time God encounters someone, He doesn’t just save them; he changes their story with a perspective shift.

Numbers 13 is one clear example of this in Scripture. It’s the story where the twelve spies go into the Promised Land. They all see the same thing, but they come back with opposing reports. The fearful ones saw the giants and called themselves grasshoppers by comparison (Numbers 13:28–33). The faithful ones saw God’s promise—a land flowing with milk and honey (Numbers 13:27).

We see the same principle throughout Scripture:

• “As he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7
• “The eye is the lamp of the body… if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” Matthew 6:22–23
• “Even faith is a perspective shift: faith is the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

What I love about this is that it shows our lives aren’t as random or chaotic as we might assume. Things aren’t just happening to us. They’re happening in relation to our perspective. Some would go as far as to say they’re created by it.

This is why reframing your inner world, editing it and choosing it, is such a powerful way to influence where your story is headed. It often comes back to one simple thing: sometimes the best thing you can do is a simple reframe. It’s as easy as recognizing the little things and, in the process, realizing they aren’t so little at all. But they can completely change how you show up in the world, just by changing how you perceive it.

The Lukewarm Mug

It’s so easy to miss what God is doing because we’re too easily consumed by everything we’ve decided He isn’t doing.

Just last week I stood at my kitchen counter with a mug of tea that had gone lukewarm because I was too busy scrolling to drink it while it was hot. And somewhere in there, it hit me. I do this with more than tea. I let the good, small stuff go lukewarm because I’m waiting for the big stuff to show up first.

We do it with joy. With gratitude. With noticing. We treat the little things like a consolation prize. Something to enjoy once the “real” life we’re waiting for finally arrives. And in the meantime, we let them go cold. We wait to enjoy the steam coming off our mug until we’re doing it on our dream porch. But here’s the thing: we’re not helping ourselves get the dream porch by waiting to enjoy life. The dreams we have, and the story we’re meant to live, only come when we start living them now. In the little. In the mundane. In the average. In the not yet.

We do it with joy. With gratitude. With noticing. We treat the little things like a consolation prize. Something to enjoy once the “real” life we’re waiting for finally arrives. And in the meantime, we let them go cold. We wait to enjoy the steam coming off our mug until we’re doing it on our dream porch. But here’s the thing: we’re not helping ourselves get the dream porch by waiting to enjoy life. The dreams we have, and the story we’re meant to live, only come when we start living them now. In the little. In the mundane. In the average. In the not yet.

It’s the little things- the showing up now, in our story, and shifting that perspective, editing it – that becomes the whole point. Because your mind isn’t just observing your life. It’s shaping it.

Paul says something similar in Romans. We’re transformed, not by our circumstances changing, but by the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2). Scripture has been saying this for thousands of years. Your inner narrative isn’t a side effect of your life. It’s shaping the life you’re living.

Let this be your nudge to start enjoying the little things.

What can you declare as little things that aren’t so little?

Here’s my list:

1. Letting myself go slow, without rushing to the next thing.
2. Drinking the glass of water like it’s an act of care, not a chore.
3. Celebrating someone else’s win without making it mean anything about me.
4. Praying even when I don’t have fancy words.
5. Holding firm to my boundaries.
6. Smiling at a stranger because kindness costs nothing and changes everything.
7. Holding space for myself and others without trying to fix it.
8. Letting the morning sun hit my face before I let a screen do it.
9. Letting joy be small and frequent, not rare and extravagant.
10. Sending the text first.
11. Choosing nourishing food, not to be “good,” but to feel more alive.
12. Speaking gratitude out loud, shifting the atmosphere of the room.
13. Letting something be easy.
14. Speaking gently to myself, especially when I make a mistake.
15. Starting again at 2 p.m., because some days you just need a refresh.

Don’t neglect the small choice, the simple reframe, the quick revision. It can change everything.

Take a deep breath! It’s going to be good!