TIME TO WAKE UP

Lucky cats figurines - “Love is like an earthquake-unpredictable, a little scary, but when the hard part is over you realize how lucky you truly are.”

Rich Johnson quips, "My mom always claimed to feel bad when a bird would slam head-first into our living room window. If she REALLY felt bad, though, she'd have moved the bird feeder outside."

We laugh, but what a great life lesson! If we feel badly enough about something, we will change it. If we feel badly enough about a behavior or an attitude, we will adopt a better behavior or a healthier attitude. We CAN change!

You remember Charles Dickens immortal story "Christmas Carol." The miserly Scrooge grows increasingly unconcerned with others and isolated until, one night, he is invited by supernatural visitors to change. The "Ghost of Christmas Past" takes him by the hand and shows him how his life has unfolded and how his self-centered decisions have led him to his present unhappy state. The "Ghost of Christmas Present" takes the blindfolds off his narrow view of life so he can clearly see how he has insolated himself from the struggles of others. Finally, the "Ghost of Christmas Future" portrays to Scrooge what is likely to happen if he persists along his present course. It is an ugly sight.

Then...how does the story end? Scrooge wakes up. That's right -- he WAKES UP! When he awakens from his slumber he also awakens to the way things are. He wakes up and changes! We really CAN change.

The name of Scrooge should never be associated with a miserly person. That was the OLD Scrooge. But he woke up! He became generous and jovial. He realized that he could enjoy life. He discovered love -- by giving it away! Nobody "kept Christmas" like Scrooge, Dickens tells us.

And that's what change is -- waking up. Waking up to the fact the things really CAN be different! We CAN change.

I like this prayer "with a twist":

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change; The courage to change the one I can; And the wisdom to know that person is me."

From Lifesupport.