I was on the lookout for a holiday thought big enough, sweet enough and yet real enough to speak to this strangely difficult time.
I’ve been bristling inside since the latest version of the coronavirus reared its microscopic little head. It seems like this bugger has a mind of its own and is bound and determined to keep us off balance for another holiday season.
For some Santa won’t be coming this year.
Is there really any light at the end of tunnel?
You get my drift: my cheery gene has deserted me.
I need help from others to restore my spirits. If Santa hopes to find my house this year I’m going to need to find a new “Santa’s helper.” Mine has been knocked out by COVID fatigue.
Wouldn’t you know it — just as I was about to give up, Kevin Scobee sends me this reflection on how he’s learned to recharge his spirits. You remember Kevin. He’s the guy training to throw a 90-mile-an-hour fastball before he turns 40.
Here’s his story:
I’ve been thinking a lot about wins lately.
In my youth I was never someone who looked at the positives in anything. If there was a person you knew who always dwelled on the negative, I would be that person. I was often upset for little reason, had a short fuse, and frequently found myself wondering why I reacted the way I did to situations after they happened.
Teenage and 20’s Scobee was a mess.
I’m assuming my tale isn’t all that different than most. It took me a while to get over myself.
There was a girl in my journalism program in college who always had a smile on. She was the type of person who would ask you all kinds of questions about your life, was interested in what you had going, and she was sincere about it. Lots of laughing, rarely quiet or upset. She could make you feel exhausted with her energy. Looking back, she’s the one who had it figured out.
The great John Lofflin, my journalism advisor and mentor, used to have a saying about her: “God Bless the Cheery People.”
At 39 years old I find myself thinking about many of Lofflin’s teachings: The sign that hung on our newsroom wall that said, “It’s About People, It’s Always About People.” He had a rule that you should find a job that would “never make you wear hard shoes.” And God Bless the Cheery People.
Those who focus on their positives, their “wins,” are the type to surround yourself with. Find them, gravitate towards them, hold onto them. Wins, no matter how small, lift the soul, and thereby others around you.
Focus on your wins.
You’ll find yourself more apt to laugh. Be positive when facing the world around you, and be cheery to others and brighten their day.
And God Bless the Cheery People.
Kevin’s story reminds me of the letter written by eight-year-old Virginia to the Editor of the New York Herald inquiring, “Is there really a Santa Claus?”
“Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.”
And God Bless the Cheery People.
The question facing me is, will I be one of them?
Just a thought…
Pat
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