I recently received this Do the happy people in your life make you happy? Or do the happy people in your life irritate you?
Pollyanna is a best-selling novel written in 1913 by Eleanor H. Porter. Pollyanna Whittier was a young orphan who went to live in the fictional town of Beldingsville, Vermont, with her stern, wealthy spinster Aunt Polly, who took her in only because she felt it was her duty to her late sister. Pollyanna’s philosophy of life centered around the Glad Game, an optimistic attitude she learned from her father. The game consisted of finding something to be glad about in every situation, no matter how bleak it might appear.
Combining this attitude with her sunny, sympathetic personality, Pollyanna brought so much gladness to her aunt’s dispirited town that she transformed it into a pleasant place to live. The Glad Game shielded Pollyanna from her aunt’s stern, penny-pinching mindset. When Aunt Polly put her in a stuffy attic room without carpets or pictures, she exulted at the beautiful view from the high window. When her sour, angry aunt tried to punish Pollyanna for being late to dinner by sentencing her to a meal of bread and milk in the kitchen with the servant Nancy, Pollyanna thanked her enthusiastically, telling her how much she liked bread, milk, and Nancy!
Over time, Pollyanna taught some of Beldingsville’s most troubled citizens to play the game with her. Aunt Polly, finding herself helpless before Pollyanna’s buoyant refusal to be downcast, gradually began to change, although she resisted The Glad Game longer than anyone else.
The greatest test of Pollyanna’s determination to be glad came when she was struck by a car and lost the use of her legs. At first, she laid in bed, unable to find anything to be glad about. Then the townspeople started coming to visit, eager to let Pollyanna know how much her encouragement had improved their lives, and Pollyanna decided to be glad that she at least had use of her legs until that time. Eventually, Pollyanna was sent to a hospital where she learned to walk again.
The theme of Pollyanna’s life was, “When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will.” We could reverse that and say, “When you look for the good in humankind expecting to find it, you surely will.” When we look for the good in our circumstances, we will always find something for which to be grateful as well.
Worry is simply meditation on the devil’s lie of hopelessness, and always produces anxiety, resentment and depression. Our persistent determination to be cheerful and gratefully thank God no matter what is the key to contentment and enjoying life. Far better to irritate people with cheerfulness than because of complaining and discontentment!
Thanksgiving Day has been set aside to celebrate our blessings. Complaining and worry about real or perceived lack, pain and hardship will dominate our thoughts if we don’t cultivate gladness every day of the year. That’s only possible as we meditate on the goodness of God.
Philippians 4:6-7: Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance…by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. And God’s peace shall be yours…that peace and tranquility that fears nothing from God and is content with its earthly lot—of whatever sort that is—that peace which transcends all understanding, shall mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. AMP Infinite Grace Ministries teaches freedom and abundant living by focusing on the limitless love and mercy of God.
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