One day you're up: every single thing seems to be going your way. You're happy, joyful, full of energy and ready to take on the world, single-handedly. The next you are so low you can't even see the mid-way point toward the mountain top. You feel utterly worthless, useless and there's no hope in sight. Some days you feel somewhere in between, where some things are okay, but nothing's really great. These are the days of our lives. Good, bad and indifferent. No one gets to coast along the mountain top every day, but at the same time, no one has to endure the lowest part of the valley every day, either. What most of us don't realize, though, is we do get a choice for most of our days.
It doesn't matter what your circumstances look like, you make a choice each and every morning whether you are going to be happy or sad, good mood or bad, depressed or glad. It's all in your attitude and the best way to keep things under the full, bright sun is to count your blessings. Stop looking at what you don't have and start counting all the many things you have that are not the basic needs of life. Yes, even those are blessings, but think about how much above the basics you've been given, or have achieved. God has blessed each and every one of us in some way that we should be grateful for. It may just be that you are still alive and breathing, but that is the greatest gift of all in this life. That we are still here to love and be loved. That we have another chance to make a difference in someone's life. And being able to make a difference is one of the best blessings I can think of.
Stop thinking about all the wrongs that have been done to you and start thinking about all the right you can do for others. When we give, we elevate our mood and our attitude and achieve that sense of calm, peace and joy. It's not in receiving from anyone, not even from God, that we achieve our best peace, joy and love. It's in our giving! Give of your time, your excess, even out of your need, give! It hurts my heart every time I hear an adult say their favorite part of the holidays is receiving gifts. I've never gotten as much joy in my life by receiving as I have from giving. To brighten someone's day by giving them something they've longed for or something they may not have known they wanted, but they find it fun or amusing. Giving opens my heart up and allows the love I feel to flow out. To see someone smile, even just a little, because of some little something I've done for them warms my heart and soul and gives me joy, unspeakable!
Even if all I can give someone is a smile, I want to be the person who does that. I want to be the one that people say, "I see Jesus in that man." And the only way they will ever see Jesus in me is for me to give them what He gave me: love, mercy, grace, forgiveness and blessing.
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