In the recent post concerning mean-spirited people, I spoke of joyfulness and things that rob us of our joy, “thieves of joy” was a term I may have used.
I try not to offer advice too often; you know what they say, “Wise men don’t need it and fools won’t heed it.”
Still, there’s a point where allowing people and things to rob us of our joy isn’t about being wise or foolish; rather, it can be about sheer human decency.
A friend wants to complain about his life, and we think it’s the decent thing to listen, even if we do it at the very expense of our own psychological harmony or if giving him the time causes us to push back things we really should be attending to.
Ultimately, we are not at fault, or foolish to listen, and I don’t see how God is going to let it bite us too badly on the backside for putting another first.
Still, ultimately I don’t think that listening to him is beneficial for anyone. First of all, chronic complainers are pretty much foolish people in general, so he’s not going to listen to anything helpful you might have to say. The truth is, he just likes to complain.
What’s also true is that a complainer will complain, and he or she will find someone to whom to do so. I say let it be the 7-11 clerk or the lady in line at WalMart, people who can’t be anywhere else right then anyway. (If you’re a 7-11 clerk though, there is probably something you need to be doing, so tell them to have a nice day and get back to stocking those cartons of Luckys and making sure you have enough back-up lottery tickets on hand.)
But that’s just one small example; there are thieves of joy and thieves of your valuable time everywhere, and I urge you to just say no to them. Don’t let them rob you of life’s harmony. Don’t let them waste your precious time. Don’t let them yuck your yum.
I’m going to make it a point to be joyful today. Whatever happens, I’m going to recognize it as God’s will, and I’m going to remind myself that God teaches me more with hardship and difficult lessons than He does with just the everyday passage of time and mundane events.
What’s more, I’m going to keep in mind that what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger…
because I like being stronger.
I hope you’re well and I’m saying a small prayer that each of you has an amazingly joyful day and that you realize how joyful the simple mundane passage of time can be. Our lives are continuously full of amazing sights, experiences, and human connections, and that is magnified greatly when we recognize the majesty and grandeur of the simple living of life.
Paulelmo's Blog 