Tigger or Eeyore?
We all are familiar with the age-old cartoons of Winnie the Pooh and his friends. It's easy to laugh at the extreme polor-opposite personalities of Tigger and Eeyore. Tigger is joyful, energetic, and excited about life. Eeyore is monotonous, bored, and depressed about life.
In the last few weeks, I have noticed an irritating pattern in my conversations with various people. I have realized that only a few sentences into a conversation, and the person is complaining or negative talking about the weather, their job, their spouse, their kids, school, or just life in general. In one situation, it only took one negative person and soon two others were drawn in and I was surrounded by three people talking badly about their spouses or their jobs.
What causes our society to bounce from the Tigger extreme (Life is fine and great!) to the Eeyore extreme (Life is horrible and everything is miserable). I know life IS hard and we need to be real and vulnerable to people know we know well and trust. But, I find it extremely immature and exhausting to be around people who constantly complain!
Our attitudes are one of the most influential things we can share with people. Our joy can be contagious and lift the moods of those around us. It is also just as easy to influence others by having a negative attitude and get people sucked into a complaining cycle.
I admit, sometimes it's though the eyes of my children that my greatest life lessons are learned. This morning, a recent children's church project that my son completed, caught my eye.
In the last few weeks, I have noticed an irritating pattern in my conversations with various people. I have realized that only a few sentences into a conversation, and the person is complaining or negative talking about the weather, their job, their spouse, their kids, school, or just life in general. In one situation, it only took one negative person and soon two others were drawn in and I was surrounded by three people talking badly about their spouses or their jobs.
What causes our society to bounce from the Tigger extreme (Life is fine and great!) to the Eeyore extreme (Life is horrible and everything is miserable). I know life IS hard and we need to be real and vulnerable to people know we know well and trust. But, I find it extremely immature and exhausting to be around people who constantly complain!
Our attitudes are one of the most influential things we can share with people. Our joy can be contagious and lift the moods of those around us. It is also just as easy to influence others by having a negative attitude and get people sucked into a complaining cycle.
I admit, sometimes it's though the eyes of my children that my greatest life lessons are learned. This morning, a recent children's church project that my son completed, caught my eye.
Too easily, I think we confuse joy and happiness. We strive for things or experiences that bring us short-term happiness until we become discontent and long for something else. True joy comes from relationships and from realizing our simple blessings. Joy is an attitude of the heart. If we all filled this questionnaire out, I'm sure we would have different answers. But there is no right or wrong, just different. It warmed my heart and brought a smile to my face to see how my 7 year old views and feels joy...
Joy is the color red.
Joy sounds like the wind.
Joy tastes like pancakes.
Joy smells like coffee.
Joy looks like fireworks.
Joy makes him feel happy.
Sights, sounds, feelings, and experiences have the power to bring us joy. Reflecting on their simplistic beauty brings us joy. Ann Voskamp uses the Greek word eucharisteo to sum up the art of finding blessings and joy in the mundane of our days.
Our culture wants to rob us of joy and thankfulness. Even my children have commented that our culture seems to go straight from Halloween to Christmas, forgetting the season of Thanksgiving. As we gather around our bountiful tables with family tomorrow, may we remember to reflect on our blessings.
Let's surrender the busyness and materialism and look for joy amidst the blessings we already have. Let's commit to spreading our joy with positive and optimistic Tigger attitudes because there is enough negativity and Eeyore's in the world!
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