Devil Discouragement

Today is the day after Christmas, and with it comes the usual (for me) seasonal blues. Christmas for me has always been an up-and-down time of year. Charlie Brown and I are two of a kind: We know we should be happy, but we're not.

In my case I'm fighting a chronic pain that takes over at a certain point, especially when I've missed taking the aspirin on schedule. Then the old reliable car turned out to not be so reliable. Mostly my own fault, though. I didn't get the regular maintenance schedule done & the battery went flat after being let set a few days while we were off to Grandma's house. So it goes.

I could go on, but then I'd be risking getting myself even more down than I am. Time once again to take the opposite tack: Christmas Eve was beautiful, with a full moon shining through the clouds and off of the snow around my brother and sister-in-laws mountain home. That is where we had the family get-together. As they say, a great time was had by all. The three-year-old is amazed all over again with all the stuff that goes on at Christmas.

And I'm amazed right along with her. I've often said that every adult needs an eight-year-old kid with them all the time, to remind them of what the world looks like. I'll amend that to 'needs a kid of any age'. One of the little girl's best friends is the moon, and has been so ever since I pointed it out to her. Once. When she was about a year-and-a-half old.

She's even helping me with my vocabulary. "Dang it!" is no longer in my list of things to say (never mind anything stronger), because if she's around, she'll repeat it with every bit the same inflection and vehemence that I used. And it doesn't even sound 'cute' coming out of her little mouth.

SO. No more cussin'. Not even the soft kind of cussin'.

And so by blessing her with goodly speech, I bless myself by speaking better in the first place. And so the blessings continue.

When the pains start, she is a joy, and helps me knock the "Devil Discouragement" in the head, just by being herself, and makes me smile in spite of myself.

That points up something important: One of the best things a body can do to lift themselves out of the doldrums is get along side of a little kid and have them show you something they've discovered, or sing you a song they've just made up, or look at (no helping, now!) a picture they're drawing or coloring. This is right up there with helping someone fix a flat tire.

I'd go on a bit more, but I need to get to my day job. But remember, whenever the Devil Discouragement tries to bite you on your heel and slow you down, do a good thing for someone else, thereby kicking him loose at the same time.

Have a great day!

Yes, you can!