This sounds like the impossible dream, doesn't it?
I used to think so, too. Then one day what I considered an inconvenience turned out to be pure blessing.
I got stuck in a line of shoppers waiting to check out at a local warehouse store. As usual, the place teemed with shoppers, most of us scowling and fidgety and checking our phones as we remained parked in line.
Not the woman just ahead of me. She seemed to have all the time in the world and looked around with a half-smile, as if she were slightly amused.
When at last she reached the checkout stand, the tired checker asked, "Well, how are you doing? Hope you're in the middle of a good day."
She smiled, then said, "Yes, of course I'm having a good day. I always have a good day."
"Really! How do you manage that?"
"Oh, it's easy," she said. "I decided a long time ago that I was done with having bad days because they're nothing more than a huge waste of time.
"I told myself that from then on I would have only good days--and I do, I really do. It took a little practice but now, no matter what happens, I refuse to get upset."
The nice guy at the cash register looked a bit flummoxed at that, but after awhile he said, "Um, that's great. You make it sound really simple."
She smiled a wide smile and said, "Well, I look at it this way: I'm the one in one in charge of my mind, nobody else."
As she put away her billfold and prepared to walk away she said, "I'm not handing that control over to anyone else."
Just as she was walking away, she said over her shoulder, "Besides, I know who's watching over me, so I just hang loose. I figure one way or another, whatever happens He'll make everything work out okay."
By then all three of us were smiling.
The checker said, "Thanks for the reminder. I needed that today. Usually I can feel the tension rising for awhile before I make myself take a few deep breaths. Then I shrug my shoulders and let it go."
As the woman started to walk away, the checker said, "I like your way better. You decide beforehand your day will be good. I think I'll try that myself."
She flashed a parting smile and said, "You do that! Bet you'll be glad you did!"
That smiling little lady walked away with unhurried pace
She seemed like an oasis of serenity, especially because she was surrounded by crowds of people texting and talking on their phones and shushing their kids.
If her body language meant anything, she possessed what I want for myself: A calm spirit. Inner peace. Smiles instead of frowns.
Overhearing that conversation reminded me what I had believed all my life, that yes, God is still in control and yes, I do have a will and and I choose how I look at life.
I wanted what she had, a predictably calm outlook, so I promised myself to follow her example. After all, she draws her strength from the same Power Source I rely on, the One who never fails us.
From that day on, I learned all over again to regard every day as a good day--and remember that each day is a gift from God.
And she was right. I do like this way much better.
Need some backup?
Here are a few Bible verses we can hang onto as we grow.
This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 NKJV
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7 NKJV
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you! Isaiah 26:3 NLT
I'll warn you this may be a two steps forward, one step back process, but that's no reason to quit. After all, that's still one step forward.
I've found the goal is too worthwhile to let it go because my nameless friend was right. It does make all the difference to decide beforehand that our day(s) will be good because it changes us and how we relate to the people in our lives.
Then before long we can pass on this "secret" from experience, rather than theory.
And won't that be a happy day?
Lenore
