You are blessed when you meet Lady Wisdom; when you make friends with Madame Insight. She is worth far more than money in the bank; her friendship is better than a big salary. Proverbs 3:13 The Message
Our parents married during World War II when the country was doing everything humanly possible to keep morale positive. During this time, our Mama sang in USO shows locally and developed a love for the music written during the 1940’s. She used countless songs written during this time to help impart some wisdom during our younger years.
One of the most effective was the song written by Johnny Mercer and sung by Bing Crosby entitled Accentuate the Positive. The first verse says: You’ve got to acent-tu-ate the postive, eli-lime-inate the negative, Latch on to the affirmative, Don’t mess with Mr. In Between. The song encouraged folks to learn from their mistakes instead of dwelling on them, leave negative thoughts behind, and charge into the future to achieve their goals.
We live in a world that seems to either be struck by one disaster after another, burdened by political unrest, or experiencing the horrors of war. It is enough to make even the most positive among us give in to negative thoughts and fears. So, how do we remind ourselves to accentuate the positive?
I love the story of the little boy who went outside with a baseball and a bat, and said to himself, “I am the best hitter in the world.” He threw the ball up, swung at it, and missed. He picked the ball up again, straightened his hat, and said again, “I am the best hitter in the world.” He threw the ball up a second time, swung, and missed. The third time He became more determined than ever as he repeated, “I am the best hitter in the world” with even more assurance. He threw the ball up a third time, swung, and missed again. He laid the bat down, smiled real big and said, “What do you know? I’m the best pitcher in the world.” If we accentuate the postive, we can change a negative situation into a positive one.
This coming week our country will be divided on how we look at the results of the Presidential election. Some will be accentuating the positive while others will be dwelling on the “woe is me” negative thoughts. It is going to require an attitude adjustment for our country to emerge from this election and try to accentuate the positive no matter the outcome. If we make a conscious decision to be positive and meditate on that during the good times, then we will be prepared.
The reality is that we, as human beings, are fallible. Even the disciples had moments of negativity and lack of trust as they followed Jesus through His ministry. In Colossians Chapter 3, we learn to Set your mind on higher things and keep it set. The question is, “How do we set our minds on the higher things? I would suggest three ways to deal with the times in life when we feel a lack of positivity. First, realize our attitude has to undergo an adjustment. The stronger we lean toward doubt and negativity, the more we have to work on it. Prayer and trust are the ways we reach our goal.
Next, look for the positive, and we will find it. Mother Teresa required two things from people who worked with her in the Calcutta slums: a desire to work for others, and a positive attitude. Finally, look for positive people of faith and spend time with them. Once you pick them out, “draft” behind them like the racers do and let them help strengthen our faith and accentuate the positive things in this life.
Remember this week to strive for a conversation with others rather than a monologue. Mean things said nicely are still mean things. Put on a fresh new attitude every morning and remember, with a positive mind set nothing can pull us into the negative. The time we take to accentuate the positive will help us all to eliminate the negative.