A virus that's worth spreading around

As I turned a corner headed to the gym today, I saw another driver parked at a stoplight with her mouth wide open in a huge yawn. Which, of course, caused me to yawn.

I'd venture a guess that you just yawned yourself after reading the word here more than once (or looking at the picture to the left). I'm yawning again as I write this. That's because we are susceptible to the power of suggestion when it comes to yawning -- seeing someone do it, hearing someone talk about it or reading about it causes us to do it. It's almost like a virus.

(OK, no more about yawning, I promise -- Y-A-W-N!)

So is our mood. As I've said here before, when I'm in a bad mood, others around me can detect it. Unlike the Y-word, however, many can choose to ignore me and go about their happy day. But if I act out of anger or frustration because I'm in a bad mood, that negativity can carry over to the people I interact with.

My bad mood becomes a virus that spreads through them to those they interact with.

Thankfully, the opposite also is true. If I choose to spread joy -- through teasing someone, cracking a joke or doing a voice imitation -- that positive vibe seems to uplift everyone. It may even give them an energy boost and help them get through a rough patch in their day.

We Christians have an opportunity to spread a similar virus of faith and joy every day. As I said the other day, I'm no evangelist. But I firmly believe that we can show God's love for His people by doing all we can to support those who need a hand up -- whether that's financially or just with a smile or kind word. We also can share our faith in small ways by encouraging people with testimony about how God helped us get through a similar situation or a Bible verse that uplifts us.

When I'm too wrapped up in myself and my own issues (as I have been more than once already this week), this is incredibly difficult for me. I have to force myself out of this selfish mindset and look around at others and where they are in their life journeys. Only then can I keep spreading the kind of virus that most people won't mind catching.