As I wrote this post, I realized I would have to split it into two parts so look for Part 2 tomorrow.
I have a little flower in a pot on my desk. It is solar powered and when the sunshine hits it, the flower goes back and forth while the leaves move up and down.
It is a happy flower.
It was really moving when I had it on the windowsill in my old office. It would go back and forth, soaking the sun up. Everyone who came in commented on it. It is a neat decoration and great conversation starter.
Then I was moved to a place where there was no sunshine.
In this workstation, the sensory overload is overwhelming at times. It is far less than ideal. The circumstances surrounding it are less than ideal as well. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what is going on. But I don’t dwell on that. Suffice it to say, the atmosphere itself here is far less than ideal – and it doesn’t matter where you are sitting for that to affect you.
And there is no window for my happy flower to soak up the sunshine.
As I was unpacking my things when I moved to this new area, I considered taking my happy flower home. I reasoned that because there was no longer any sunshine for it to soak up, it wouldn’t operate as it was supposed to so there was no need to put it out (without the movement it is cute, but the real purpose of it is gone).
But for some reason I did not pack it away and take it home. Instead, I set it on one of the shelves in my cubicle. I didn’t really think about it until I glanced up at it this morning and noticed movement.
What?!
My happy flower is moving! Albeit the movement is slight, but it is moving just the same. It is using the light from the fluorescent light above my cubicle to charge it.
And to think I almost put it in a box and took it away from here.
My happy little flower is making the best of a less than ideal situation.
We could all take a lesson.
God has been teaching me this for a very long time. I guess I am not a very good pupil.
Joy is a choice. We choose to be happy, to find joy in life. The flip side of that is that victim is a choice too. We choose to become victims, allowing it to manifest as fear, stress, sadness, discouragement, brokenness and other negative emotions.
I have had a lot of experiences in my life that have made me feel victimized. I have been bullied by people most of my life (growing up didn’t change anything, the playground just moved). Over the years I have vacillated between victim and survivor. I wasn’t even aware of the third choice.
Yes, God gives us a third choice that supersedes all things of this world.
But I will have to tell you about that tomorrow… J