Just the other day my close friend, Sunshine, told me a story from back in her day. She says, after a hard days shift work was over, she was looking forward to getting home and kicking up her feet. She headed to the parking lot, car keys in hand, whistling a happy tune. To her surprise, her parking spot was empty.
“Huh?” She thought. “Maybe I didn’t drive in. Did I forget I got dropped off?”
Then she remembered she hadn’t been dropped off. She specifically remembered driving in and parking her car. So she did the obvious thing which was look behind the building at the alternate parking lot. No car!
“Strange,” she thought. This time around she called her hubby to ascertain he didn’t drop her off in the morning. He hadn’t and No, he reassured her, she wasn’t going crazy.
The car had been stolen, in broad day light, as she toiled.
At first I laughed really hard at that story. Please don’t judge me, I have very funny friends. It was her delivery that had me howling.
At first I laughed really hard at that story. Please don’t judge me, I have very funny friends. It was her delivery that had me howling.
Prior to this story we had been discussing happiness and maintaining joy.
Tragically funny as this story may be, it got me to thinking. Sunshine couldn’t help that her car was stolen. The entire event was beyond her control.
However, often I have heard people making statements such as:
“He makes me so mad!”
“She gets on my everlasting nerve.”
“He doesn’t make me happy.”
When you subject these statements to scrutiny, really, does anyone make anyone do anything? I mean, who’s holding a gun to your head telling you to get mad, get mad right this instant or else..... Nobody, that’s who. Why? Because it’s a choice we make. People don’t make us mad, we make ourselves mad.
There’s an old African proverb that goes: It’s not what you call me that matters, it’s what I answer to.
We let people steal our joy all the time. Sometimes I observe humans, as we slowly deplete ourselves of our joy. This, by “allowing” people to strip us blind of our characteristic, inherent, in-built joy and happiness.
If you’re having,(valley girl accent here), The Best Day Ever!, and some grouchy somebody walks up to you intending to muddy your day, DO NOT LET THEM. You have that power….to continue having the best day ever. No one can make you change your disposition but you.
You, You, You! It is you.
Just shake your head, wag your finger at the offender, smile and say, “I know what you’re trying to do-o-o-o. Sorry, but that doesn’t work on me.”And if you temporarily lose your joy to someone or something, you can always say, "Hey, gimme that back, it's mine. It's my joy, it belongs to me."
Let them leave with the sulky mood they came in with. It is theirs, after all…..
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| Don't Let That Be Your Joy In There!! |
Everyday when I come to work I come thru the door with joy! If someone ask "how are you?" I am fabulous. I have found by saying that I am fabulous people can only say good things when they reply. Sometimes it's hard to keep my joy. There are so many things that can take my joy...a yelling customer, a co-worker that's rude, me being late to work,even a rainy day. I know that sometimes I want to blame someone else for taking my joy, but when it boils down to it..I have the power to keep my joy. So, my thought is that if I can keep my joy all day and take it home too! What a joy that would be.
ReplyDeleteI say Amen to that Sunshine. Everywhere you are, so should your joy be. And if you temporarily give it away, you should be able to say with confidence, "Hey! Give that back, that belongs to ME!"
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