Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Enjoy Your Life!

My husband called me from work yesterday and read the quote below to me over the phone. He had received an e-mail from a co-worker in another state, and this was below his signature, I suppose it is his favorite saying. The words touched me so that I asked hubby to forward the e-mail to me. These words pretty much say it all:

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Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,
so love the people who treat you right,
{pray for and then . . . } forget about the ones who don’t,
and believe that everything happens for a reason.
If you get a chance, take it.
If it changes your life, let it.
Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.
'Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.
Speak kindly. And enjoy your life.'
{Note, I added the 'pray for and then . . .' before 'forget those who don't', because I believe we should pray for them.}
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Enjoy your life. How can you enjoy your life if you aren't forgiving and hold onto hurt and anger and grudges for far too long. How can you enjoy your life if you never take a chance, never allow change to happen in you, and never try anything new.
Some people never let go of a grudge. My mother is one of those. She is still angry with a friend over something the friend did more than 40 years ago. What she did was wrong, but I'm sure she's forgotten all about it. Holding onto this isn't hurting the friend, it's only hurting my mother, but I can't make her understand that. She is stealing her own joy - and how sad is that!
I am not a grudge holder, it's just not who I am. When something keeps swirling in my head that bothers me - things like hurt, anger or regrets - I lift up a prayer and ask God to take that away from me, and replace it with peace. And do you know what??? He does! Our Father doesn't like to see us hurting or stewing over something like hurt feelings, and all we have to do is ask sincerely and He will take it from us and cast it away where it belongs - into the sea of forgetfulness. God wants us to live a joyful life, and even with trials, there are still so many things that can show us glimpses of JOY.
Today I am finding JOY in the little things. Things like the chilly rain that is making the birds work like beavers at my feeders. I've had two Downy Woodpeckers and a Carolina Wren fighting over one suet cake - so much fun! Things like finishing up my simple decorations, and maybe making a batch of ginger cookies later today. I'm also finding JOY in remembering why we celebrate this season.
So, where are you finding your JOY today??? Blessings, Becky

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

We are enjoying the increased bird activity also. We've seen such a wide variety and they each are special in their own way. Enjoy the rest of the day.

Liz Harrell said...

Beautiful post, and today I'm finding I have SO much joy. :) Thank you very much for your well wishes and prayers yesterday, may God bless you!
Hugs,
Liz

Patsy said...

I needed this today because I got my feelings hurt this morning by a early call from a family member.
Now I can get my joy back. Thank you for your post.
Patsy

K-Sue said...

I was going to say, "Oh, don't you know someone needs to read this TODAY?" And then I read the comment from bennie and patsy and realize your post has already touched someone and helped. It is timely at this time of year, when friends and family can choose to take offense or not; to pray and move on or not.

Anonymous said...

Becky, I remembered during the day today, a story that makes your post so very important. My mom grew up in an orphanage and had one very special friend, Annie. All through 76 years, Annie would occasionally "disappear" apparently with hurt feelings or whatever, and then would POP back into mama's life. That was the case in the months prior to mama's passing. By the time, Annie "popped" back, mama was no longer coherent. Annie said to me, "If I could just talk to her one more time." When you look at life that way, you realize no amount of "hurt feelings" is worth that. Just wanted to share something that your post brought to mind. Thanks and have a good night.

Whatever Is Lovely said...

Dear B, What a Beautiful post!! You are such an awesome & inspiring person!

Great Big Hugs! Love, ~ T

Unknown said...

i love that! i am also not a grudge holder, well maybe for a few minutes but that is it! i do have a friend that is and she is so bitter, oh well it's her life she is wasting! thanks for that reminder!

BECKY said...

Hi Becky! It's so nice to find you! Your blog is a treasure and I will be back! Love your card designs, too! It's one of the things I really enjoy doing also!

Love your story about your hubby from a previous post! And congrats on your 26 years!! We just celebrated our 30th and my guy is a wonderful guy, too! We are very blessed ladies, ya know??

Have a joyful Thursday, Gal!!
Becky

Paula said...

That was beautiful, Becky!