Resident Cranky Pants...

I sometimes get a little too involved in my work. By this, I mean that I feel the need to right all the wrongs in corporate America by simply complaining with my co-workers. Here's a little known fact about me- I love to gossip, and even more than gossiping, I love to complain. Yep- it's the truth. The downside of complaining though is it just makes you even more mad and annoyed and therefore leads you to be even more upset than you were before you started... oh the cycle... So I found myself just being a completely miserable person at work today. I was annoyed with my boss, I was annoyed with one of my co-workers, and I was annoyed with customers that were difficult. All of these annoyances were somewhat justified, but that doesn't really change anything, does it? As I sat behind the fabric counter (yep- I ended up back in the fabric department for part of the night due to some poor scheduling) contemplating what a horrible person I was, something hit me--this was my choice. My world will, most likely, be constantly filled with situations and people that aren't exactly what I want to deal with. And my emotions will always fluctuate and run crazy. But--at the end of it all-- it's my choice to either embrace feelings and situations and let them control who I am, or I can choose who I want to be and force the rest of me to agree. Today, I chose to be happy. I chose to just enjoy where I was. It was amazing to watch how my day changed with this decision. I almost instantly felt better. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true. I heard a guy at a Bible study the other day say something really profound. He said that throughout the Bible we see a pattern that looks like this:

1. God states reality.
2. Circumstances and situations contradict God's fact.
3. We choose.

I think that's what was happening today. God has stated that he only allows those things in my life that somehow work out for good (not necessarily my dream life- but my good). Today I had to choose between believing that my situation was for the good or believing that things were really as stinky as they seemed. I'm not saying that tomorrow I won't face this same choice, but at least today I made my choice. :)

On a random side note- I have recently been watching some daytime television since I work during prime time. This has caused me to develop a strange affection for Magnum PI. Despite its complete 80's-ness, I somehow still get drawn in every day from 12-1. Sad, but true.