It’s a wonderful life. No, I’m not about to talk about the classic Christmas movie. What I want to drive home is that it is all about attitude. We all know people who seem to wake up on the wrong side of the bed every morning. The coffee is always cold and blueberry muffin is cold. We also know people that when they are in constant pain they don’t complain but say the pain is proof they are alive.
It was bright and sunny this Saturday morning (I tend to sleep late on Saturday’s, a habit I developed in college.). It was also very cold. I had a choice to complain about the cold or welcome the beautiful morning. It was all a matter of attitude.
I have been thinking about the isolation and the bubbles we have all been living in. In some ways, it reminds me of my time on sabbatical. It is easy to become like the canary who got sucked up into the vacuum cleaner and then drenched in a tub of water to get clean. The canary had been sucked up and soaked sopping wet. The canary for a long while was without joy or song. Whether we become sopping wet canary or not is up to us.
It’s still a wonderful life and past time to sing a joyful song.
One of my grandfather Penick’s sayings was: “It’s a great life if you don’t weaken.”
Especially apt as we go through this pandemic.
Webb, one of my daily practices includes readings from an Indian Sufi mystic, Zahurul Hassan Sharib, whose writings frequently mention that we tend to become that on which we think or focus. A reminder to stay positive and let love in. Tom