Most disgruntled feelings are a result of choices

I stopped in the coffee emporium for lunch today. My close relative had a date with a bunch of women to decide the events of the world and straighten the crooked roads into county lines! She seldom leaves the house at noon, but I don’t whine if I can eat a burger and French fries. I finished it off with a slab of lemon pie and proceeded to the register to pay out.

There was a strange truck parked across the road from the emporium and there were a couple of young men eating. They paid out in front of me and, as I waited, I could overhear their conservation.

The feller wearing the biggest hat was talking and his lament was about having trouble since daylight. He said it was about the worst day of his life considering he had found a flat on his truck. That was bad enough, but there had come a shower and his rubber boots were sitting on the porch and had water in them. The mailman had delivered his check and it was just what he suspected, very small! The mail came with a notice his electricity was gonna be cut off due to lack of payment on his bill and now his head hurt.

The feller with him, the one with a regular size hat, was just listening and he had the ticket in his hand, I suspect to pay the entire tab. Sally was busy and so we were waiting a few minutes to pay out. Not much else was said and the sad one went on out the door. I had my belly full and was pretty happy until I was eavesdropping and heard all the terrible things that had clouded up that young man’s day.

I am a sensible feller most of the time, therefore I didn’t go grab that man by the collar and introduce him to a bad day! I wanted to but, since we had about 45 years and 20 pounds of muscles separating us, I decided to leave him alone. A bad day is finding eight big springing heifers dead under the same tree hit by lightning. Getting a call from your old Pappy that your family is one short makes a bad day. Discovering armyworms on your hayfield makes a bad day, and needing rain desperately makes a lot of bad days. Unable to buy groceries and a house full of hungry kids would be a pretty bad day. A baby fighting for its life in St. Jude’s and losing the battle makes a bad day.

It is my opinion, and everyone has one, the circumstances of life can cause plenty of disgruntled feelings but most, not all, are a result of our choices. You can see how a feller might get a job that demands more and pays better, pay for electricity, put his boots inside to prevent water in them, fix a flat and be thankful he had a spare. He might also be thankful his partner was picking up the bill for dinner.

Thank your Lord for what you have, pray for good days and the ability to recognize them!