Choosing Cheerfulness… because I have too much to be thankful for
I need to hear this more than you do.
Every morning we wake up with the ability to be cheerful or not. No matter the circumstances, we can control how we react to difficult or unpleasant situations.
Every now and then I surprise myself by reacting pleasantly to what appears to be a negative occurrence.
- When my toddler dumps water out of the bathtub and covers the bathroom floor I thought “I needed to scrub the floor anyway.”
- When I dropped an entire plate of pancakes this morning, shattering a plate I thought “I needed to sweep anyway.”
All too common, however, my reaction is one of exasperation and frustration.
Their will be messes. Their will be behavioral problems. Their will be needy babies. Their will be piles of dishes and laundry. Their will be stacks of paperwork. Their will be setbacks and injuries. Their will be trying times and unpleasant occurrences. We will disagree with our friends, spouses, co-workers and family members. We may suffer job losses, home losses, illness, or loss of a loved one.
Somethings are out of our control.
What we can control, however, is how we react to these moments.
When that plate of pancakes shattered this morning and I chose cheerfulness I realized why. Grace. Mercy. A focus on the eternal.
That moment was a reminder of the 9 times out of ten that I don’t react with such grace.
It is those 9 times that need prayer, change.
Because I have too much to be thankful for.
What a wonderful post. Thank you so much for sharing this today. I am someone that needs to focus more on what I am thankful for. Blessings to you. 🙂
so many little sayings or verses come to mind after reading this post. But, what you said – says it best – focus on the eternal – because I too have so much to be thankful for.
This is SO something I needed to read today. Today was challenging, really challenging.
Thanks for the reminder! You’re not the only one who needed to hear this 🙂
Definitely a reminder I could use often.
Or daily.
Oh, I don’t know… I might have to disagree with you:
I think I might have needed that more than you. 🙂
I came here via Keeper of the Home. This is EXACTLY what I needed to read today. Thank you!
How true this is. It’s so easy to get caught up in the world and all that’s in it while forgetting what’s most important and the reason for even being. Thank you for reminding me to choose “HIM” no matter the circumstance.