Changing The Record In My Head

I've been doing it again. Playing the Blues Record in my head.

Man, I hate that record. So why do I play it? Why do I allow its lyrics to spin around and around my head? Lyrics like these...

"Sit there and watch the bad news on tv until you're head feels so heavy that you can't get up. Sit there just a little longer so you'll feel you can do nothing of any real value to help the people you are watching."

"Sit there and dwell on all the strife between people in our Country. Stay there until you are good and mad at everyone."

Meditate upon what is going wrong around your house, your family and your world. Dwell on those things until you become a full-time worrier."

"Think about what can go wrong in the next few months. Get those pictures painted brightly in your mind so you can see them clearly."


The hilarious thing is that I listen to that record over and over and then I find myself walking around wondering, "Why aren't I feeling as happy as I used to?" I look up and ask myself, "Why is that black cloud following me around?"

Duh.

Well, today I am changing that record in my head, trust me. I know better than to simply just wait for positive thoughts to magically seep into my head. It's up to me to think them--no one else will change that record for me--it's up to me.

I'm bringing out a whole different record album, one simply called, "Hope." It's an album which reminds me that God is still good. It recalls all the wonderful blessings I still have. It brings back all the great memories of my past and gives me hope, which gives me joy, even now while things are imperfect. And it reminds me that as long as I am giving to others as God tells me, then I am doing all He expects me to do--and that is enough.

That Hope record turns any day into a great day, at least inside my head (the place where I choose to be happy).

Excuse me while I go change that record right this minute.