Enjoy Spreading Joy

In David Dunn’s book entitled “Giving Yourself Away,” he writes about a lesson he once learned from a bus driver.

One day while riding a bus, Dunn noticed that the driver seemed to be exceptionally cheerful in every imaginable circumstance. There was a kind and happy word from him for everyone who stepped on the bus, and again for everyone who left.

As he was about to get off, Dunn was curious. He approached the driver and told him that he was the happiest bus driver he had ever seen. Then he asked, “Why are you so cheerful?”  “Well,” the driver said, “to be honest, I read in the paper a few months ago about a man who died and left a lot of money to a bus driver who was nice to him. So, I thought maybe I would try it myself. But I’ve enjoyed myself so much being nice to people, I don’t care whether anybody ever leaves me any money anyway.’

I love that story. It just reminds me that the one thing we have control over in our life is our attitude. We are constantly choosing how we will act or react to people and events all throughout our day. I am sure that you have noticed, a negative attitude only fosters more negativity, while a cheerful friendly spirit can be contagious.

The apostle Paul put it this way: we reap what we sow.

In the book of Proverbs we read, A cheerful heart has a continual feast!

May you and I be the kind of people who sow seeds of compassion, hope, and kindness.

Let us pray: Loving God, we thank you for people who brighten our day. Continue to adjust our attitudes and tune our spirits so that we too would be beacons of light for a world that is desperately in need. Amen.