no complaints
Okay, first a note of confoundedness: I just typed "Bible verses on cheerfulness" into Google (really should break down and buy a concordance) and among the suggestions Google spat back as I typed was "Bible verses on cheerleading." Seriously? While I am sure there are many verses that speak to dedication, courage (for those aerial tricks) and hard work, I really can't say I've ever run into a book of the Bible that directly addresses cheerleading as an activity. Though it does conjure up some remarkable mental images of pom-poms and "L-E-T-S-G-O--let's go!" among the cries of "Hosanna," for example, as Jesus entered Jerusalem...
...but I digress.
What I'd actually intended to write about today was my newest resolution, stemming once again from The Happiness Project -- we just finished it in book group, so I promise I'll move onto another obsession shortly. Gretchen Rubin talks about how our happiness impacts other people's happiness, which in turn impacts our happiness... and so on, in an unending spiral. Accordingly, I am embarking upon a mission to refrain from complaining. Negativity is a very easy place for me to go, but I realize it does nobody any good. And it certainly isn't what we are called to in Christ. After all, God calls us to "let our gentleness be evident to all" (Phil. 4:5) and let the "peace of God rule in [our] hearts" (Col. 3:15). That doesn't sound particularly compatible with grousing.
I don't anticipate perfection. Neither do I plan to refrain from correction or observation when something really does require it; there's a difference between unproductive complaining and the types of discussion that are sometimes necessary for growth. I pray, though, that my cultivation of a more positive spirit will pay dividends, not only for me but for the people around me.
"A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones."--Proverbs 17:22
"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."--Proverbs 4:23
...but I digress.
What I'd actually intended to write about today was my newest resolution, stemming once again from The Happiness Project -- we just finished it in book group, so I promise I'll move onto another obsession shortly. Gretchen Rubin talks about how our happiness impacts other people's happiness, which in turn impacts our happiness... and so on, in an unending spiral. Accordingly, I am embarking upon a mission to refrain from complaining. Negativity is a very easy place for me to go, but I realize it does nobody any good. And it certainly isn't what we are called to in Christ. After all, God calls us to "let our gentleness be evident to all" (Phil. 4:5) and let the "peace of God rule in [our] hearts" (Col. 3:15). That doesn't sound particularly compatible with grousing.
I don't anticipate perfection. Neither do I plan to refrain from correction or observation when something really does require it; there's a difference between unproductive complaining and the types of discussion that are sometimes necessary for growth. I pray, though, that my cultivation of a more positive spirit will pay dividends, not only for me but for the people around me.
"A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones."--Proverbs 17:22
"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."--Proverbs 4:23
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