By Dorothy Denne
Scorching hot weather is not conducive to happy thoughts, not for me anyway. Some mornings just the effort of getting out of bed bodes a bad day. Finding ants in the kitchen does not help. I do not feel like laughing.
I give advice freely in my talks and in my writings – look at the brighter side, accentuate the positive, find something to laugh about in the worst of times. Sometimes the task becomes a bit overwhelming. We just do not find any “Ha-Ha.”
Some weeks ago, when it was not so hot, my pastor offered some words for thought. He said, “Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening it deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent of course.
“Each of us has such a bank. Its name is ‘time.’ Every morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost whatever of this you have failed to invest to a good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each night it burns the remains of the day.
“If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the ‘tomorrow.’ You must live in the present on today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success. The clock is running. Make the most of today.”
I had to agree with him that the clock is truly running, and fast. Sometimes just the speed of that clock is enough to make us think we are having a bad day. Sometimes we just do not feel like a “Ha-Ha.” Now and then are we not entitled to a bad attitude, which translates to a bad day?
Answer a few questions. Today:
Did a family member or dear friend die?
Did the tests you took last week reveal you have cancer?
Did your child get hit by a car?
Did your husband (or wife) announce that the marriage is over?
Did you lose your job?
Did you get shot at?
Did your young son run away from home?
Did you discover that your best friend and your spouse are having an affair?
Did your daughter phone from college to say she is pregnant?
Did your business go bankrupt?
Did a tornado, earthquake, or flood hit your house?
Did you suffer a heart attack or stroke?
Did a bomb explode in your area?
Did somebody break into your home last night?
If you answered yes to one of these questions, you may have to look a little harder for a positive, but it is there. If you answered no to all, then you damn well owe the world a “Ha-Ha.”
