I used to play baseball as a kid. I was the type player that if the game was tied, I wanted in there! I would anxiously watch as our team went to bat and hope against hope that I would have an opportunity to get an at bat. I would have liked nothing more than to have an opportunity to get up to the plate in the bottom of the 9th inning with the score tied at 2-2 and the bases loaded with two outs.
Too much pressure?
Bah!
Hmmm . . . Recently I spoke with a man who was so stressed out with his job that he up and quit. His position was considered vitally important to the organization and he was an exceedingly hard worker, and consequently the company gave him tremendous responsibility and paid him well for his effort. He performed admirably and many people relied on him and appreciated what he did for the company (and them individually).
I would have thought his job would have been interesting beyond measure because it changed daily with a plethora of fascinating challenges brought on by the rapidly developing company for whom he worked; however he didn’t look at it as being a challenging opportunity, rather a big pain in the butt.
He was stressed because he was never caught up; his job changed often and he didn’t like change; he didn’t appreciate some of his duties, including working with certain people; and in the end he longed for the much simpler life that he had in his last job, and the routine of doing the same thing day in and day out with little responsibility.
So he went back to work for his old company and guess what? He’s now bored silly. The stress is gone, but so are the rewards of hard work, solving problems, and accolades for a job well done.
I counseled my friend that his problem is between his ears. It’s called “attitude”. It is looking at the cup as being half empty instead of half full of water.
I could have limped up to the plate like some scared little wimp, dreading having to be the one to be at bat with the responsibility of literally winning or losing the game in the bottom of the 9th inning with two outs, or I could have confidently strode up there, given the pitcher a go to hell look, and relished the thought of slamming that ball out of the park or down his throat and winning the game.
I know another fellow who is on the Obama perpetual unemployment gravy train. He lost his job a couple of years ago and now sits around doing nothing. He doesn’t look for, (nor want), a job and thinks he’s the smartest man in the room for getting paid to sit around enlarging his revoltingly fat paunch, and he thinks those of us who do work are suckers. Gr-r-r-r-rrrrrr . . .
Using his twisted, demented logic he reasons that he gets to stay home and watch television while all the rest of us poor slobs go to work and pay taxes to keep him supplied in beer and chips.
Sounds to me like he’s in a self-imposed prison. In the end he’s a loser; nothing more and nothing less. His life is passing him by and will be gone before he realizes that he’s lost his opportunity to have an interesting life filled with fun, accomplishments, and the joy of living life to its fullest.
Therein is the problem with so many people. It is the very reason that the number one illness in our society is anxiety. Too many folks fail to recognize an opportunity as an opportunity. Instead they opt to call their opportunities stress . . .
I told my buddy that I like having a lot to do; I enjoy my job changing and would get bored silly otherwise; I want to do important stuff that makes a difference; I realize that people are people (I don’t like everyone and everyone darn sure doesn’t like me), but I can still work with most of ‘em; and importantly I’m well pleased and fulfilled when I accomplish my goals and do a good job.
The difference between my friend and me is attitude. Zig Ziglar used to say that one’s attitude determines their altitude and that my friends is a very true statement.
We should try to view what has been served up to us as an opportunity instead of a pain. Opportunities in your spiritual life are similar, and importantly we should realize that they are provided by our loving Father as His loving gift to us.
I talked to someone just yesterday who believed that not everyone is equipped nor called to witness to others.
“Not true!” I said, “Read your Bible and you will find that ALL believers are called by Jesus Christ to spread the Gospel”. It is a privilege to do so and there are rewards for doing so and tremendous satisfaction is at the top of that list.
When a taxi stops on the street beside you on a cold blustery snowy day, we virtually leap at the opportunity to jump inside it. We realize that it might be a long cold wait before another comes along. We should look at opportunities in this life with the exact same attitude, (especially those opportunities to have a positive impact on someone’s spiritual walk and witness to them). There are nice rewards for taking advantage, but those folks with bad attitudes like that fat blood sucking leech that is on the government dole will never reap that harvest.
Selah . . .
Rev. 20:12
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.