By Christy Lee

Do you ever feel like a dark cloud is looming over you?

Today was one of those days for me. From the moment I got out of bed, my mind was swamped with thoughts of scarcity and lack. I kept thinking about everything I didn’t get done yesterday and everything waiting for me today. The goals that usually light me up just felt like a long list of things I want but don’t have.

I used to stay in this place for days. It wasn’t fun, and it definitely wasn’t productive—but I didn’t know how to shift out of it. I just hoped something would magically happen to turn things around. Now, though, I know what works for me. And knowing that has made life so much easier.

First, I’ve learned that I need to move my body. I imagine stress and overwhelm like a heavy, solid block inside me—it just weighs me down. But when I exercise, it’s like that solid melts into liquid and drains away. My head clears. I can breathe again. It took years of trial and error, but I’ve discovered that movement is one of the best ways for me to release stress and reset.

The second thing that makes a huge difference for me is my morning routine: prayer, scripture study, and journaling. These shift my thoughts away from frustration and lack, and back into a place of gratitude and abundance. I’ve learned that just because I wake up in a bad mood doesn’t mean something has gone horribly wrong. Negative emotions are normal. But that doesn’t mean I want to camp out under that dark cloud. I need tools that help me move through it.

And here’s why that matters:

“The Law of Cause and Effect states that action and reaction are equal, in opposite directions. Focus on what you can give, not on what you will get.”
(Mindset Mastery, Trevan and Leslie Householder, p. 11)

When our thoughts are rooted in scarcity—when we believe nothing we do is good enough—we create more scarcity and lack. We get overwhelmed, we stall, and we stop moving toward our goals. Why? Because we don’t believe we’ll reach them anyway. But here’s the truth: our thoughts create our feelings, which fuel our actions, which ultimately shape our results. So if we’re constantly thinking we’ll fail… we probably will. The failure starts in our minds long before it shows up in our lives.

On the flip side, when we train ourselves to focus on our blessings, and intentionally express gratitude for what we already have, it shifts everything.

We can be grateful for the health we do have and all the amazing things our bodies are still capable of. We can start to notice how far we’ve come and how much support we’ve already received. Even if our goals feel far away, gratitude helps us see that we’re not alone—and that the help and inspiration we need will keep showing up if we’re open to it.

When we’re thinking from a place of gratitude, we feel supported. Loved. Worthy. And from that place, we’re much more likely to ask for guidance—and recognize it when it comes. We start to believe that our goals are possible. And that belief leads us to take more purposeful action, which naturally brings us closer to the outcomes we want.

Understanding the Law of Cause and Effect—and using it intentionally—builds our faith that as we move toward our goals, we’ll get there. By law. It becomes easier to push away doubt and fear and to plant our dream seeds with confidence.

So here’s my challenge to you:
This week, notice what helps you disperse the dark clouds. Find what lifts you, calms you, and brings you back to gratitude—so you can keep moving forward with more faith, hope, and joy.

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