A thought occurred to me recently. Life is what you make it. Yes it’s a cliché, and yes, life is also a lot more than that. But, the point stands.

One of my biggest flaws is that I’m a complainer. This was driven home to me  recently when I was chatting with my brother about my new job and I said “It sucks”. He looked at me with an eyebrow raised and said, “What sucks about this one?” Ouch. Yet thinking back, I have always found something to complain about. It’s true that I’ve never found a job that ticks all the boxes, but I’ve had a few really fun jobs and worked with some wonderful people. For one job, I got to hang out at the park in the middle of the day, for crying out loud!

My main complaint about my current role was I wasn’t making any friends. Yet there are a number of older women who have been so warm and friendly to me, watching out for me. But I’ve instead focussed on the lack of my peers showing me any attention, basically.

I need a head adjustment. A shaking up. A slap around the face, probably. There’s no point complaining about things, wallowing and expecting other people to do all the work. Yes, it will probably mean me stepping massively out of my comfort zone but if we never did that, we’d never get anything done.

Through wallowing in how miserable I’ve felt, I think I’ve lost my pursuit of joy. If anything, I’ve been denying myself joy by comparing where I’m at and what I have to other people. (Social media is a blessing and a curse). Comparison is indeed the thief of joy. Sometimes you need to make things work for you. And that  may require a lot of work and effort.

My Bible reading at the weekend was the following passage:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

Philippians 4:4‭-‬8

Need I say more? I believe whether you’re a Christian or not, you can take something from this passage.This is the path to joy. Gratitude. Thinking positively. Rejoicing in things, no matter how small. Celebration. If you believe in him, offering things up to God and saying “You take this”, and him saying “and you have this in return”. His peace. It’s not always easy. Some days when the sun is shining and the sky is blue, it will feel easy. Some days it will be a real effort. Some days, you will not have the mental strength. But, otherwise, try. I feel like I need these verses imprinted on the inside of my eyelids. How easy it is to forget all you have, especially when you’re peering over the fence and what your neighbour has.

But how WEALTHY we are. If you’re reading this, you’ve got some means of accessing the internet… and you can read. You probably have some idea where your next meal is coming from. You probably have a home you can rest in. You probably have a job, or you may be in school/university/college. You can probably turn the tap on and drink what it provides.

You’re in the minority.

Let’s be thankful for all we have. And let’s hold it all with open hands.