“Hey John, How ya doin?”
“Oh, can’t complain.”
Well, to be honest, you can, and you just did. Is saying, “Can’t complain” about as good as it gets? Is he looking for reasons to complain? I thought this but I didn’t say it to him as he walked past me in the hallway.
I got to thinking, “Are people really as miserable as they seem to be?” Elevator conversations abound with statements like, “Yeah, I dragged myself out of bed again. Gotta get a paycheck from somewhere.” My personal favorite is, “How are ya?” with the all too frequent response, “Busy.” Doing what, I ask? Everyone’s busy. Everyone’s tired. Everyone’s stressed. Everyone’s complaining. Everyone’s negative.
Alright, now it’s time to get honest. If you’re so busy (doing whatever it is you do all the time), tired, stressed and always seem to have something to complain about, isn’t it time to put things in neutral for a minute?
Let’s review the facts. Most people generally live to an age of about 70-90 (this is not based on a statistic but a gut feel). After this, you die. And that about sums up the common elements of most people’s lives. Aside from this, you generally put into those 70-90 years what you want. The brutal reality is that if you’re tired, stressed, miserable, cheesed off at the establishment, or feeling sorry for your pathetic place in the grist mill, it’s mostly your own fault. The alternative has always been there.
A little over two thousand years ago a young man took a little time out of his life to put together a pension plan that is out of this world. Despite his unselfish behavior, his life was threatened, he was slandered, insulted, ignored, laughed at and eventually killed. Though he had more to complain about than anyone I’ve ever met walking down a hallway, he chose not to. He went about his business until the job that he had been given to do was finished. And then he laid down his life so that others could benefit from all the work that he had done. His legacy? That no one would ever again be bound to a 70-90 year span of misery, complaining, stress and meaningless existence.
I John 5:12
“He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
If you haven’t got the son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, you do not have life – just existence. That is the plain record of scripture. Maybe this is the reason for complaining, for dragging yourself out of bed to get a paycheck and die, for being stressed, negative and annoyed at a world that drains the life out of anyone who dances to its tune. Isn’t it time to change the tune?
Instead of stress, how about a peace that passes all understanding? Instead of complaining, how about a heart full of thankfulness? Instead of meaningless busy-work, how about rest to the soul? Instead of anger and frustration, how about joy and quietness? Instead of constant tiredness, how about inner strength and fortitude? Instead of daily ups and downs, how about an even-keel stride? And instead of a dark void at the end of 70, 80 or even a 100 years, how about eternal life?
“How ya doin?”
“Damn good! How about you?”
Pardon the vernacular.