You've heard that saying, turn your frown upside down?
Well, I've been thinking this week of the many tragedies, heartbreak and sadness people sometimes experience in their lives. Nobody is excluded from bad things happening, however, it's how we react to those kind of things that defines our character. It's not easy nor fun getting character trained either, but...
Sometime during our grief process, we stand at a crossroad. God has given mankind free will and we can choose how we go on from there. We can choose to remain sad, angry, resentful, unforgiving, ungrateful, and depressed which eventually will poison us and our relationships with other people.
Or:
We can choose to forgive and love once more.
As I've been working on a new post this week for our genealogy blog, I ran across this video at YouTube. Patti Page and Jo Stafford sing this message so well . . .
Accentuate the Positive (1958).
Music by Harold Arlen and words by Johnny Mercer, @ 1944.
Jo: "Something I've noticed,
everyone seems so gloomy,"
Patti: "It's the weather, Jo.
You know the sun hasn't come out here
since it saw the deserted bleachers at
Ebbets field. (ie. Brooklyn, New York)"
Jo: "Well, that's the wrong attitude.
Look at it this way,
you haven't lost a ballteam,
you've gained a parking lot!
See the similarity there?"
Patti: I sure do!
Shall we pass it onto the people?
Everybody, gather round me,
while I preach some
Feel a sermon coming on
The topic will be sin
And that's what I'm again.'
If you wanna hear my story,
Then settle back and just sit tight
While I start reviewin'
The attitude of doing right.
You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between.
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium is
Liable to walk upon the scene.
"To illustrate my last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do,
Just when everything looked so dark?
"Man," they said, " we better
Accentuate the positive,
Eliminate the negative,
Latch on to the affirmative,
Don't mess with Mister In-Between."
repeat: "To illustrate my last remark,"
No, No, No, Don't mess with Mister In-Between."
Jo: "Something I've noticed,
everyone seems so gloomy,"
Patti: "It's the weather, Jo.
You know the sun hasn't come out here
since it saw the deserted bleachers at
Ebbets field. (ie. Brooklyn, New York)"
Jo: "Well, that's the wrong attitude.
Look at it this way,
you haven't lost a ballteam,
you've gained a parking lot!
See the similarity there?"
Patti: I sure do!
Shall we pass it onto the people?
Everybody, gather round me,
while I preach some
Feel a sermon coming on
The topic will be sin
And that's what I'm again.'
If you wanna hear my story,
Then settle back and just sit tight
While I start reviewin'
The attitude of doing right.
You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between.
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium is
Liable to walk upon the scene.
"To illustrate my last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do,
Just when everything looked so dark?
"Man," they said, " we better
Accentuate the positive,
Eliminate the negative,
Latch on to the affirmative,
Don't mess with Mister In-Between."
repeat: "To illustrate my last remark,"
No, No, No, Don't mess with Mister In-Between."
Wow! We've been thinking along the same lines. I just shared with someone the other night that it's not the problems we face in life that grow or harm our relationships. It's how the people act and react within those situations that affect our relationships. No matter what that relationship is.
ReplyDeleteI've been saying this a lot lately. Must be a message God wants spread right now.
Blessings, my friend!
Thank you, Elizabeth, for visiting my little blog. Isn't it cool when things happen like that?!!! =0)
Delete