And I Choose... to Be Grumpy!

Ever have one of those days when it just seems like nothing is going right? I had a great day today, but I have had those days. You know the kind... You wake up and realize that you turned your alarm off rather than hitting snooze so you now have 20 minutes to get ready and leave for work. You rush through a shower, throw on some clothes and shoes that you hope match. You hurriedly leave without makeup, breakfast, or having read your Bible. And the only prayer you have said was, "Lord help me to HURRY and by some miracle not be late!" Then you get stuck behind the one driver in the whole city who is not speeding but is instead going half the speed limit. You get to work feeling frazzled, hungry, and most of all annoyed. Then before you are even supposed to be open (the sign SAYS we open at 8:00 and it's only 7:45 people!), you have to deal with cranky customers that leave you wondering if half the population was born without half their brains and entirely without common sense.

Now if all that happened to you what do you think your attitude would be or has been? Well, it would be exactly whatever you make it. The cool (and at times annoying) thing about attitudes is that they are entirely your choice. I learned this as a teenager, although I would say it's really a lot like the motto of the game Othello - "Moments to learn and a lifetime to master."

We are all going to have "bad" days. The problem comes in when feel justified having a bad attitude and being grouchy, grumpy, snippy, crabby, or just short with people in general. We think, "Look at all that has gone wrong today. I have the RIGHT to be grouchy!"

I have found that when I find myself choosing a bad attitude over a good one, it's because I am looking at life wrong. I have a selfish mindset and am focusing on the negatives. You might be saying, "But I genuinely FEEL..." I understand. I know those feelings too. But if we can change the way we think, it will also change how we feel.

Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

If I change how I think about the morning that I described earlier, I can change how I feel about it. First off, I have to adjust my thoughts to what is true and honest. I don't know if you noticed, but there was some major exaggeration going on in my description of a horrible morning. "The ONE driver in the WHOLE city... HALF the speed limit." When I exaggerate, I paint a worse mental picture of the situation than it actually is! I should correct those thoughts and be realistic.

In this example, I can also check my thoughts for praise. For example, I could be thankful that God graciously woke me up when He did, rather than after I was already late. I could be thankful that I made it to work safely without breaking down, being pulled over, or being in an accident. I could be thankful that I can be a help to customers who definitely need help. I could also be thankful that the very customers who annoy me also provide me with job security. If I had all these thankful thoughts going through my head, how do you think I would feel? I might still feel rushed and maybe a little bit frazzled but I would also be much less frustrated and annoyed. I wouldn't feel snappy but grateful.

It might sound far too simple, but when I don't feel like letting go of my grumpies I need to start listing different things that I have to be thankful for or different blessings in my life. It helps to get my focus off of myself and back on God. After all when my focus is on myself, how could I help but end up depressed? My own selfishness, my own lack of perfection, and the disappointments of life being different than I want it to be would surely make me miserable.

When I shift the focus back on God though, what a difference! He is perfect! His plans for my life are perfect. In submitting to those plans, I can find peace and satisfaction. When I see the many countless blessings that He pours on me daily and even moment by moment, how can I feel anything less than joy, peace, and exaltation? Even now as I think about His blessings I find myself getting excited!

We truly have far too many blessings to choose to be grumpy!