But then...my fabulous friend and housemate Yolanda, and my awesome neighbor Theresa, gave me some wonderful words of wisdom and I was able to re-find my calm and get to a better mental place. Doing so allowed me to see the "very bad happening" as a terrific opportunity instead of a horrific loss. And, as always, I prayed my butt off and really felt peace from the Lord blanketing me as well.
How often, in life, do we get caught up in "poor me" situations where we get stuck focusing just on things that go wrong and miss out on the opportunity to take a different path or enter a different door? It's so easy to feel down on life. And once we do it for awhile, that "down-ness" is something we get stuck in. And that's what makes so many of us Negative Nellies - I've been guilty of that, too! How 'bout you?
Even in the most troublesome of situations, where satisfactory resolutions appear to be extremely unlikely, we can make the conscious decision to choose JOY!I'm the crossing guard at my kids' elementary school. That means I stand out there from 7:25 to 8:05 each morning, and 2:45 to 3:15 each afternoon...sun, rain, sleet, snow, whatever. Because of my recent bout of pneumonia and unGodly long hospital stay and recovery, I missed 3 weeks at the crosswalk. It was terrible!
The crosswalk is one of my places of JOY! No matter which side of the bed I wake up on, I find JOY every single morning and afternoon when nearly a hundred shiny happy kiddos stream past me on their way to and from school. I only get to interact with them briefly, but doing so always puts a huge smile on my face. Sometimes, I don't even realize that I'm grinning until there's a lull in the flow of kids and I have a moment of self-reflection.
Being a crossing guard is my favorite job - and I have quite a few jobs! And I don't even get paid to be there any longer - I had to agree to forgo pay when I accepted the nomination for the City Councilmember position, because it would have been a conflict of interest to be a paid city employee and a city official at the same time. So even though that job is no longer an income stream, it is still my absolute favorite!
This job brings me JOY twice a day, five days a week...no longer what is plaguing the rest of life. Do you have a job, or hobby, or vocation that brings you joy? If not, why not? Find a great place to volunteer. Leave a job you're miserable at for one that better aligns with your needs. Go help at your kids' school. Become involved in a church or civic groups.
But whatever you do, make sure you have ample opportunities to choose JOY!
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