Everyday Days
My friend was reflecting recently on her week. She explained she’d felt bad most of the time with a cold, went to work without feeling like it, taken all kinds of medications to suppress the symptoms, while all the while knowing, “have a cold seven days with medication or have a cold seven days without taking any,” and even had need to attend a funeral. While she hated the gathering to give last respects to the friend who had passed on, she enjoyed mingling with other friends she hadn’t seen in a very long time.
Then at some point during the week, the fatigue and sickness seemed to drive her to lose her temper, which she rarely does. This made her feel awful on top of the already physical issues. But at the end of the week, she was able to look at her world and despite all that had happened was able to feel like she was blessed.
We are all human and have those days or weeks when everything we try seems to curdle and leave a bad taste in our mouth! All we really want is to curl up in a hole and pull the dirt over us. We want nothing more than to be left alone while we nurse our miseries until that morning we wake to bright sunshine and discover everything that had been or gone wrong suddenly feels alright again!
Sometimes, when journeying through the low points in our lives, it’s incredibly difficult to view the world as wonderful and good, especially if the “season” lasts particularly long. It’s easy to bounce back after a day or two, and perhaps even a week. Since our glimpse of sunshine had only been hidden a short while, our mind and spirits have a natural way of welcoming the warmth of the sun and closeness of those around us.
During those times, however, when we are unhappy or miserable for an extended time, we tend to become cynical, bitter, and carry a negative, suspicious attitude, that connects itself to our being and transfers into everything we say and do.
I had a good friend in this place some years back, and I’m not sure she ever really recovered. She never sought help, but seemed to hide from the world the wonderful person she really was. This, of course, affected every relationship she had, from her spouse to children, relatives and friends. It didn’t seem to matter what anyone did, her perspective could never be positive.
As I think about this, it raises the question about those people who deal with a disability every single day. Are there days when rather than having mostly ‘good’ everyday days, they have occasional ‘fairly good’ everyday days? Are their days filled with struggles I can’t even imagine? Aside from the physical struggles, what about the pain that comes from discouragement attributed to strangers and even family who don’t understand their pain? Do they deal with insults and remarks as they walk down a sidewalk or through the mall?
Look at your world. Has it grown bleak and gray with negativity filled with frustration and aggravation because things aren’t going right? Consider doing something positive for someone else. This often changes our perspective. I’m not in the least suggesting it’s going to be easy. But our world is not designed to be ugly, gray, bleak and desolate.
Find help, whether it’s through a minister, good friend or other counselor. Make the decision to insist the sun shines again on your world. Choose to brush back the dirt, climb out of the hole you crawled into to hide, and make the world know you’re not staying down! It’s a new day! Welcome back to life!
Photo Credit: https://www.pexels.com/search/sunshine/