Focusing on the positive (easier said than done)

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. -- Proverbs 17:22

Are you a Grumpy Gus or a Merry Mary?

In other words, is your outlook on life generally that the glass is always half empty or that it is half full?

I have to admit that, when faced with adversity, most often in my life my tendency has been to become a Grumpy Gus. This is especially true when it comes to money -- I tend to focus on the bills left unpaid and not the fact that we're still able to do a lot with the money we do have. It's at these times I need to focus on this verse:

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you." -- Hebrews 13:5

Maybe my tendency comes naturally. I grew up with a grandmother who loved to call my mom every morning and read her the obituaries and tell her all of her ailments. (Don't get me wrong. I loved my grandma, and I know she loved me. We had a lot of good times through the years. But I saw how that negativism wore on my mom in Grandma's later years. Thankfully it skipped a generation. I just hoped it would miss me too.)

But what about in other situations? How do you react, for instance, when your boss hands you a extra project, but you're already feeling overworked? What about when the raise you thought you were getting doesn't come through? Or the raise you just got is eaten up by the health insurance rate hike you didn't expect? Do you kick the dog, yell at the kids or throw things that should stay grounded?

Of course, in this economy, we should be thankful just to have a job. So why is it so difficult at times to keep that in mind and focus on the good things in life? Maybe it's because no matter how minor the difficulty we're dealing with, it's still our difficulty. We're the one who has to deal with it. No one's going to wave a magic wand and make it go away, right?

But can't we try a bit harder to focus on the needs of others and not ourselves? Can't we be thankful for what we have and not covet what our neighbor just bought? Can't we be happy with the smartphone we got a year ago instead of wishing we had the newer, faster one that hit store shelves last week? (The answer to that last one: Definitely not! ;>})

Not to go all Bobby McFerrin on everyone, but even in this dark time of Lent, it's time to try being happy for a change. It's time to start looking for the silver lining in every situation. It's time to turn off "The Apprentice" and "Survivor" and turn on "Dancing With the Stars." Yeah, it's still a goofy time-waster. But at least the competitors aren't cutthroat, and isn't that a healthier way to live?