Mama said there would be days like this!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55497864@N00/3965509971

"Mama said there would be days like this, there would be days like this mama said"  Oh the wisdom of our mothers.  Now not everyone has, or had, the June Cleaver type of mom, and not every mother wanted to be June Cleaver.  But everyone of us have had those days when we wondered what happened, and pondered why those things happened to us.

As the photo in today's blog says, "There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by."  Of course the question must be asked, what constitutes a good life, and more importantly, why are they hard to come by?  The answer is quite simple really, but you may not like the answer.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe summed up life when he said this, "There are nine requisites for contended living: HEALTH enough to make work a pleasure; WEALTH enough to support your needs; STRENGTH enough to battle with difficulties and forsake them; GRACE enough to confess your sins and overcome them; PATIENCE enough to toil until some good is accomplished; CHARITY enough to see some good in your neighbor; LOVE enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others; FAITH enough to make real the things of God; HOPE enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future."  I guess that pretty much sums things up.  Of the nine requisites, which ones are present in your life each day and which ones seem to escape you?

Days don't often change.  There are always seven days a week, and within each day passes twenty-four hours.  There's not much we can do to change the physicality of the days of the week, nor the months of the year, so that pretty much leaves it up to us how we are going to handle each day.  Now you can sit back and lament like so many other people do about the unfairness of life and how you would like things to change for you, but in the absence of any effort on your part to embrace the requisites of Mr. Von Goethe, then I guess you are remanded to a life of lack, want, fear, and discouragement.  Is that what you want?

When I look at these nine requisites I see several that are mine by virtue of being alive right now, and knowing that Health, Wealth, and to a large extend Grace, are how we were intended to live.  The remaining six items are ones that we must choose to display in our life, and they are the ones that we will be forced to learn sooner or later.  Our education may come at the hands of circumstances or events that take place in our life, and these are moments to learn.

In any given day of your life can you pin point times when you have displayed patience, charity, love, faith, and hope to others?  If you were never exposed to these characteristics growing up, then they might not come easy to you.  However, each of us has within us the ability to walk in all of these, and I can assure you that a life that is filled with these traits makes for a much better life, and I can't think of anyone who would not desire that.

If you're having a real struggle of a day might I suggest that you extend joy and happiness to someone  else and that same joy and happiness will come back to you.  There is a spiritual law that says you will reap what you sow.  If all you can do is focus on those areas of life that seem to be lacking, then you are simply asking for more of the same. If on the other hand, you begin to display signs of grace, charity, patience, and love to those around you, then what do you think the result will be?  You will be the recipient of grace, charity, patience, and love, and if you're having a lousy day my guess is you could use all of these.

Good lives are only hard to come by because so many people are unwilling to invest in their own life.  They are waiting for others to do it for them, and quite frankly that is nothing more then walking around with an entitlement mentality, and that I can tell you is going to end up costing you more then you could ever imagine.  If you desire a good life then step up your game and do something that improves the life of someone else.  The gestures do not have to be grand and ornate.  A simple smile and a hello to a stranger walking down the street will bring a smile to your face.  When you sow joy and love what do you get, you get joy and love.  Whenever I talk to someone who is having a difficult time with things I always ask them what they have done for someone else.  The normal response is "nothing" because they are so focused on getting things in order in their own life.  Most people will readily admit that they spend far more time focused on them verses others around them.  Might I suggest you do just the opposite and see if things do not change in a hurry with your own life.

Having a good life is reciprocal in nature.  If you focus on the bad, more bad comes.  If you focus on the good, then good comes.  If you display grace and love to others, then when you need it, it will be there for you.  If you desire to have a life that is filled with the nine requisites that Mr. Von Goethe talks about then start displaying these traits to others.  I will tell you that the results will be amazing and you will look back and wonder why you never made these choices before now.  I want to share one final quote with you, and it is one I have used hundreds of times in the past.  John Wooden said, "You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."  This is what is meant by displaying Charity and love to others.  Stop always doing to get, start doing because doing is the right thing.  If you focus is always on what's in it for me, I can assure you that there won't be much in it for you.  If you can give freely, from the abundance of your heart, then I will promise you the returns will be more then you could ever imagine.

Mama said there would be days like this, so go out there and make it a better day for someone else.  It will turn your life around, and then you will finally be able to hear the music.

scottekauffman.com