Contagion

Have you ever noticed that a bad mood is more contagious than a good mood?  Why is that?  What is it about us that makes it so much easier to feel bad than good?

Have you ever been in a really good mood, just happy as can be and then run into a person who is down in the dumps and no matter how hard you try to bring them up to your level of happiness you can't succeed?  It's awful.  Then sometimes, not always, but sometimes when that person is finally feeling good you are near tears?

It's crazy how this works.  It makes no sense at all.  Have you ever been the only person in group feeling up?  How did end?  Were you able to bring them up or did they bring you down?

I've been thinking about laughter a lot lately.  Laughter is so good for us.  A deep, full belly laugh can lift your spirits like nothing else.  It can be so contagious!  There nothing like catching the giggle bug.  My sister and I used to be like this.  One us would start to giggle and before we knew it we'd be rolling on the floor in a fit of giggles and full out laughter!  Often we'd even forget what we were originally laughing about but we just couldn't stop!
It was fun, it was therapeutic, it was love. It. Was. Wonderful.

The other evening I got like that.  I was giddy with laughter but it didn't seem to be contagious anymore.  Smiles used to be contagious too but they don't seem to be anymore.  Now, when you smile at someone they are suspicious!  It's sad really.

I think I've decided that some people just don't want to be happy.  They are satisfied with just being blah...  not necessarily unhappy, just not full blown I can't stop smiling, I love laughing kind of happy.  They'd rather find things to be angry about, things that are going wrong, things that don't matter but get them anyway.

I don't want to be this person and I don't want to let these people around me bring me down either.

My devotional this morning said, "There should be a lightness to your step that is observable to others.  Do not be weighed down with problems and unresolved issues for I am your burden-bearer.  In the world you have trials and distress, but don't let them get you down.  I have conquered the world and deprived it of power to harm you.  In Me you may have confident Peace."

I want to have that lightness in my step.  I want to have the confident Peace.  I guess I'll work on keeping my focus right where it needs to be and try to share it with those around me, try to let my lightness, my happiness, my JOY be a contagion but NOT let those who are unhappy be a contagion to me, weighing down on me because I do have confident Peace.