(I wrote this a couple of years ago. I’ve revised it and am posting it again because of some posts I’ve recently read by some of my followers. I want you to know I hear your pain and my heart is heavy for you. I wish we could have a cup of coffee together and I could just listen as you share your struggle. Seeing as I can’t, I hope this helps.
No matter how dark your past has been, no matter what has happened to you, life can get better. You have the power to change your life by changing the way you look at it, your attitudes, thoughts, actions, beliefs, habits, etc. You can do this.)
Would you agree we all have gloomy, cloud-filled days?
Sometimes a number of them in a row. We’re not clinically depressed. We don’t need medication. We don’t need therapy.
We just need a break from the unrelenting cloud-shrouded life.
It helps to remember the transient nature of clouds.
Even today as I write the sky overhead can’t seem to make up its mind. Will the clouds be given permission to part so the sun can shine through or will they stay huddled together in a solid mass?
But we always have a choice how we respond to our grey clouds.
If we’re already having a contemplative day, we might actually prefer clouds.
There’s something that appeals to us when the sky matches our mood.
It’s like friends.
When we’re in the dumps we usually want people around us who, while not getting in the pit with us, also will not be so cheerful they make us feel even worse by comparison.
Sometimes, we might need a little pep talk but not in a “rah, rah, sis cum ba” cheer leading mode.(Have no idea how it should be spelled. Just sound it out and you’ll get it.)
I try to make sure I act appropriately as well when I’m the one listening . Something I experienced a few years ago brought that home to me.
A number of years ago, I was facilitating a “helping” group at my church. Our purpose was to just be a friend to them for a while and give them a listening ear for awhile.
I mentioned during that same meeting that I felt very blessed. (I was making the point that we all have a choice with how we look at life, the Glass half-empty or glass half-full approach. I chose to look at my glass half-full, thus the “blessed” remark.)
One person (I later learned) had a hard time with what I said. I wasn’t aware that this person was struggling with some serious issues. To someone who wasn’t feeling very blessed himself, my remarks must have felt like cold water splashed in his face. I wished he could have seen the black clouds of my past; if he had, he would’ve not been so quick to judge.
It’s not easy maintaining a positive attitude when dark clouds seemed stalled over your head. God seems to have spread a gray sheet between Him and us.
But if we persevere and keep putting one foot in front of the other, the sun eventually does break through. Our moods does gets better. We see things more clearly.
All we have to do is look above us and wait for the Son to shine.
God bless and have a good day.
