The good, the bad, and the negative. . .

I was suddenly perplexed as I listened to myself. It was a normal day, nothing unusual or irregular about the day. My thought process has instantly changed to negativity and it bothered me. One of those blasted days when nothing goes right, everything is wrong, so-and-so 'did it again,' worry about needless things, and the smallest trespasses are taken with the biggest offense. I wondered how I had gotten here--how had my view gone from completely happy and joyful to the complete opposite. It bothered me. A lot. How quickly I could be consumed about the unfavorable characteristics in my life, rather than move past them, bothered me. I was suddenly consumed about all that went wrong in my life that I didn't take time to admire and cherish all that I had--even the bad things. A few years ago, I read an article by someone (unnamed author, I apologize, I can't remember your name just what you said) but they talked about all the different ways to accept the mountains in your life and make the best of them. I make it sound so cliche, but truly it wasn't. The author continued, remarking about a particular time in her life when she complained of washing so many dishes. Every evening after dinner she'd wash and wash and wash, quickly tiring of the repetitive chore. Finally, she realized (while, washing the dishes) that her lack of gratitude bled not only into her daily chores but into every aspect of her life. She decided that a change was in order and chose to look at every drudgery in a grateful perspective. As she washed her dishes, she thanked God for providing the food to place on the dishes, for the people that the dishes served, for the dishes themselves--soon, she found that she had a host of thank-you's and remarks of gratitude. She continued throughout the day, when a prized possession was shattered she was grateful that her salvation was not as easy to crumble like that of a feeble treasure, the list continued. Not every drudgery will be that easy to be grateful for, but somehow, in everything, glory to God must be found. He wouldn't command us to, "Rejoice always..." In 1 Thessalonians. It doesn't matter the circumstance, we're to rejoice always. I think of great missionaries and persecuted Christians, such as Corrie ten Boom, who was encouraged by her dying sister, Betsy, to follow these very words while suffering from lice, fleas, cold, starvation, neglect, malnutrition and a host of other problems all while in a Nazi concentration camp. Somehow they found gratitude for their conditions, and somehow it got them through another day. It's hard. Somehow it's easier to find negativity rather than gratefulness. But it's so refreshing to find an outlook that mirrors gratitude and thankfulness.