They Call Me Mr. Brightside: Finding the Positive in the Negative
Apparently, I am in danger of losing my membership in the Eternal Optimists Club due to my recent less-than-cheery communications. This is an attempt to correct my course.
I have decided to list 10 negative things and look on the bright side of each. (I know I can do this.) So here goes…
- My truck was stolen, BUT at least no one was in it at the time.
- I have not been deployed to a storm since November, BUT my own house has not been hit by one either.
- My grandson lives in Colorado, so I cannot just see him any time I want. BUT, I have a grandson and he lives in Colorado.
- I am still carrying around 30 pounds more than I want, BUT I am eating well.
- I sometimes cannot think of a word I want to use when I am writing, BUT I can usually think of a suitable synonym.
- The bright red Chevrolet Cobalt I am driving looks like a blood blister and feels like (after driving my roomy four-door Dodge Ram for five years) I have moved out of a sprawling estate into an economy apartment, BUT the heater and radio work fine, so I can keep warm and listen to the Ticket.
- The Cowboys, once again, are not in the Super Bowl, BUT Jerry Jones has decided if we cannot go to the mountain, the mountain will come to us…next year.
- My goatee is nearly 100% gray now, negatively impacting my youthful look; BUT the hair on my head seems to be hanging in there
- I am not that great at taking life’s lemons and making lemonade, BUT I don’t really like lemonade that much anyway.
- I may be losing my membership in the Eternal Optimists Club, BUT there is always The Jelly of the Month Club, and that is “the gift that keeps on giving.”
There. See? I’m Mr. Brightside.
And now, in support of my new outlook, I introduce a fellow optimist and her sweet ukulele…
Isn’t she sweet? And doesn’t it seem like she almost believes every word of that song?
Keep on the sunny side, friends.
Mr. Brightside, signing off.
Pieces of Me
The Journey Continues
Tossing about in the bed last night, chasing the elusive slumber I so desperately sought, my mind wandered back to the places I have been and people I have seen the past couple of weeks.
Weekend before last, Donya and I flew to Texarkana, Arkansas to spend a couple of days. There is only one reason on earth we would waste a plane ride on Texarkana (or Arkansas, for that matter).
Her name is Holly.
We hadn’t seen her in awhile and we missed her terribly.
The trip was short, but it was sweet. For a city girl with a Master’s degree and a personality as big as the state the Texas half of Texarkana occupies, the slow-paced, never-changing east Texas landscape is as unlikely a place for her to land as one can imagine.
But God works in mysterious ways…and sends His kids on unexpected adventures. So, there she is.
For now.
And there I am, too. A piece of me resides in that east Texas border town.
Then, this weekend past, it was off to Colorado Springs for the wife and me. Our Army Sergeant son-in-law is stationed there now. More importantly, our oldest daughter and only grandson are stationed there with him.
We knew how badly we missed them, and we knew how much. The four days spent in the Rockies reminded us why we missed them so much. How good it felt to hear our daughter’s unmistakable machine gun laughter! How incredibly incredible it was to hear that boy say “DooDah” and “Mimi” with genuine love and affection.
The beauty of the Garden of the Gods, the majesty of Pike’s Peak, the serenity and elegance of the Air Force Academy base where they live paled in comparison to the laughter of one little boy.
Ashley and Ty dropped us off at the airport. We smothered the grandboy in kisses and tormented him with one last barrage of tickles. He gripped his Mimi’s arm and begged her not to go. Then he cried as they drove away. We wiped a couple of tears ourselves, gathered the bags and boarded the plane for home.
Pieces of me were left behind, in that snow-blanketed pass, high in the Rocky Mountains.
Two hours later, the plane touched down at DFW International Airport. Standing in the drizzle, beneath the gray skies of home, I watched a silver Dodge pickup pull to the curb. Behind the wheel, another piece of me – the one we named Lacey Nicole – welcomed us home.
I am learning as I journey that so much of life is simply about change and adjusting to it and accepting it and learning how to live with it. Resisting it is natural, but mostly futile. Denying it is silly. Ignoring it is unhealthy. Embracing it is difficult. I have taken each of these approaches…sometimes in a single day.
If I could, I would find a comfortable place and stop. I would drive down a stake and take my stand, refusing to put another foot forward. The way is sometimes hard. The path has twists and turns I don’t always see coming. It would be so much easier just to freeze yourself in that one place, that one moment when you were the happiest, when all the pieces of your world fit neatly into place. They weren’t scattered by the winds of change. Just stay there, in that moment…forever.
But life is a journey, and journey we must.
So, to this moment I have come. The places I have gone and the people I have loved are precious little vials containing pieces of me. But I cannot stay.
The journey continues…
Devotional: Change!
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man,
and he will increase in learning.
Prov. 9:9 (KJV)
Few people enjoy change. We get in a comfort zone and tend to want to remain
there. Economist John Galbraith observed, “Faced with the choice between
changing one’s mind, and proving that there is no need to do so, almost
everybody gets busy on the proof.”
Mr. Galbraith was right. Great energy has been expended, impassioned
speeches delivered, and battle lines drawn all in resistance to change. I
recall once narrowly avoiding a church fight over whether to take down
paneling during the remodel of our auditorium. The chief opponent of the
idea argued that “godly men had put that paneling on the wall, some of whom
are deceased.” I thought but never said, “Yes, and godly men will take it
down.”
One humorist said, “Nobody likes change, except a baby with a wet diaper.”
Another good observation.
Certainly, some change ought to be resisted. Change for the sake of change
has no merit. Change in the wrong direction is…well, wrong. For instance,
a change from obedience to God to disobedience or from faith to doubt or
from honesty to dishonesty would be change for the worse. There are
immutable truths and principles set forth in God’s Word which must never be
violated or rendered moot in the name of change.
Conversely, to insist that one will never change on any issue no matter what
is just silly pride, stubbornness and a recipe for spiritual dwarfism. I
recall as a boy hearing preachers thunder about how they had not changed in
twenty or thirty or fifty years…always to a chorus of “Amens.” It made
good preaching…and poor theology and a terrible approach to ministry.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever because He is
perfect. He is ideal. There is no change He could make that would improve
Him in any way. The same can be said for no other human who has ever walked
the planet.
Change can be frightening and foreboding. It is often unsettling because you
don’t know what to expect. It is also essential – if you are going to grow.
Every new thing you learn, every new idea, every new piece of information
changes you in some way.
May we each keep an open mind and teachable spirit and may the things we
learn and experience this day change us…for the better.
A Prayer For Today: Father, I know that I am a work in progress. I am better
than I was before You found me, but not at all what I will be when You have
perfected Your work in me. I pray that I will remain pliable in Your hands.
Change what needs changing, Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
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The JourneyMan by D. Gene Strother is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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