Be of good cheer is My main message for you today. Such a simple thing, it hardly seems necessary to mention. Why wouldn’t someone be of good cheer on a sunny day like this – or a rainy day like this? Grumpiness arises regardless of the weather. The weather is not responsible for your frame of mind. You are.
Grumpy days will descend uninvited. When they descend, let go of them. Instead of being grumpy, why not enjoy yourself? Even grumpiness doesn’t have to deter you from good cheer.
Look, if you slip and fall in the mud, what is there to do but laugh at yourself? Maybe you slipped in the mud so you would laugh at yourself.
Notice I said to laugh at yourself. I did not say to laugh at anyone else. A good sport does not laugh at someone else, only himself, unless, of course, the other person is laughing, and then you can join in.
What else is there to do in life but develop a sense of humor? What else in there to do in life but enjoy it?
If you want joy in life, take on the intent to enjoy it. This does not mean to be false. This means to say: “Okay, I fell down in the mud. Shall I stay down in it? Shall I spend my whole day groveling in the mud, even after I’ve climbed out of it? I will have to wash my muddied clothes as soon as I get home, yet I can clear my mind right now on the spot. I’m not going to let a little mud accumulate in my mind and spoil my day. No sirree.”
And if you don’t slip in the mud today, and you find that your boss is displeased, do you have to be displeased too? Does someone else’s surliness have to sully your mind? Perhaps you have thought it must. Perhaps you have thought that you have to copy someone else’s bad mood. Perhaps you have thought your mood has to match someone else’s.
Be of good cheer. Be serious in response to everyone. In response to yourself, move on. If your boss or your wife or anyone is displeased with you, be courteous and carry on. They will get over it by and by. As for yourself, get over it now.
The key word today is now.
You have gotten over much worse. If you’re going to get over something sooner or later, get over it sooner. There is no good reason to ruin your day. There is every good reason to have a good day.
We are talking common sense.
When you are in a slump, your mind has suggested that you must be in a slump because your mind says that B must follow A. Change your mind then. Change it now.
You are under no obligation to stay in what is called a bad mood. Moods are temporary things. Moods are going to change anyway. If your mood is dark, change it now. You are not to be at the mercy of your moods. Moods are not the master over you. You owe no loyalty to your moods. You don’t have to honor them. You don’t have to keep them. Let them go. Step out of one mood into another. Unless you favor dark moods, step out of them.
You can change your sweater. You can change anything. Maintain light moods. Abandon yucky moods. Make light of yourself. Respect others’ moods, but not your moods unless your moods are already of good cheer.
