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HIDALGO COUNTY HERALD FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2015 7
Just A Thought
A Picture From The Past
How to rob yourself of joy
By RICK KRAFT
Be joyous. Be joyous today.
Be joyous and contagiously
spread your joy to others.
It all starts on the inside. It
then continues on the inside. At
some point it can end on the in-
side or it can continue
on to the outside.
What is important here
is that you control
your inside. You de-
termine who can con-
trol your inside regard-
less of what others do
on your outside.
Another way to
put this is to recognize
that life is what you
make it. Your experi-
ence in walking this
world is primarily gov-
erned by what happens between
your two ears.
What are your "pet peeves?"
I know you have them. Have you
ever stopped to think about how
much your pet peeves steal joy
from your life? While you are
bothered and busy pointing your
finger at another, your joy is be-
ing taken from you.
I heard a sermon recently by
Max Lucado, the Minister of
Preaching for Oak Hills Church
in San Antonio, Texas. The ser-
mon was called "Bear With One
Another." He talks about joy, pet
peeves, and how the Bible ad-
dresses these issues.
It is not uncommon for any
of us to be bothered by simple
things. We identify them to oth-
ers when we say things like, "Do
you see the way he chews gum
with his mouth open?," "She
wears too much make-up," "He is
too critical," "She is so edgy," "He
is so laid back," "She knows just
how to push other's buttons," "He
is really annoying," "If he would
just brush his teeth," or "If she
would not wear so much per-
fume."
Sometimes we follow up
with comments such as the above
with "I wish he would or
"if only she could " and
then we state action we would
like to see taken. We are stating
what is bringing us down and why
it bothers us.
What does a pet peeve cost?
Every pet peeve takes some of
your joy. It writes a check draw-
ing down your happiness ac-
count. It is like you begin the
day with a bowlful of ping pong
balls that represent joy in your
world. If you can end your day
wit~ all your ping pong balls, you
have lived a joyous day. Each
time you exercise a pet peeve, you
give away a ping pong ball.
Joy is such a precious com-
modity. Why do we waste it on
silly things? The one who suf-
fers from a pet peeve is not the
one who is being criticized, it is
the one who is doing the criticiz-
ing.
This concept can be broad-
ened outside of pet peeves. We
can give away ping pong balls
when we get into a critical mode
and we allow the acts of others to
rob us of joy.
Comments such as "He gets
on my nerves," "She never puts
her clothes in the hamper," "Why
did she get a tattoo?" or "Why
did he have to grow that beard?"
may not be considered a pet
peeve, but can still drag you
down.
Before the day is over, many
people run out of joy. They have
no ping pong balls left. How can
you spread joy to others if you
are running out of joy in your own
life? And who is to blame? We
would like to say we lost our joy
because of the acts of another, but
often it is how we choose to re-
spond to the acts of others.
Life is 10% what happens
and 90% how we respond. In
most instances we should blame
ourselves if we are going to blame
anyone. We choose to give up
our ping pong balls.
Pastor Lucado talks about
losing joy being a "love" issue.
He cites from the New Testament
of the Bible, I Corinthians 13:5
Rick Kraft
that tells us that love is not easily
provoked. Or, as stated in other
translations, love is not touchy,
quick tempered, irritable, quick
to take offense, easily angered, or
quick to fly off the handle.
The cure for pet peeves is
found at Ephesians
4:2, "Be completely
humble and gentle,
be patient, bearing
with one another in
love." Patient
people still see the
peculiarities of oth-
ers, they just don't
give up joy over it.
We must put up with
one another.
You can love
somebody and not
like them. You sup-
port them and are
there for them and praying for the
best for them, but you may not
enjoy spending time next to them.
In our daily lives we must learn
to put up with a lot in other
people.
To bear with someorie means
to do your best to put up with any
oddity they may have.
If you flip this concept you
realize that someone else is toler-
ating your quirks right now. Pas-
tor Lucado said tongue in cheek
that "there is only one normal
person in this world and my wife
is married to him."
It is clear that we are all dif-
ferent. If you struggle to put up
with another, ask yourself who is
struggling to put up with you?
Matthew 7:3 and Luke 6:41
quote Jesus asking the question
"why do you worry about the
speck of dust in your brother's
eye when you have a log in your
eye?" Jesus envisions a person
walking around in life with a big
piece of wood in his eye point-
ing out every flaw he can find in
another.
Examine yourself first. Jesus
said we should see if we can first
take the wood out of our own eye.
Then, if it is still necessary, we
can address the dust in another's
eye.
What is going to happen to
you this week? How will you re-
spond when someone takes up
two parking spots or cuts you off
in traffic? What if someone has
16 items in the "I0 or less item"
store checkout lane? Are you
going to give away one of your
ping pong balls? Are you look-
ing past the log in your eye to see
the dust in another's? You lose
joy and the other-person doesn't
lose a thing.
Do the best you can do is to
bear with one another.
My challenge to you is to
live a joyous life. Find joy on
the inside. Work on developing
this joy. Try to mini.mize or even
eliminate your pet peeves. The
one who is causing your pet
peeve may not even know he or
she is doing so. Pet peeves hurt
the person holding them.
Carry full your bowl of ping
pong balls. The devil loves to
take these from you as often as
you let him. Don't give them up.
Pastor Lucado closed with a
neat example. He talked about a
beautiful valley outside of San
Antonio with a river he loves to
visit. He talked about the trees
by the river. Not a one of them is
perfect; each one of them is bent.
They were all made that way. But
he appreciates the beauty each
tree has and how together they
contribute to the beauty of the
valley.
The sooner we can find the
beauty in our "bentness," the bet-
ter. May wesee other's bentness
for what they are, be patient and
understanding, and recognize the
beauty in others.
May you end each day with
your bowl still full of ping pong
balls.
Just a joyous thought
Rick Kraft is a motivational
speaker, a published author, and
an attorney. To submit comments,
contributions, or ideas, e-mail to
rkraft@ kraftandhunter.com or
write to P.O. Box 850, Roswell.
New Mexico, 88202 - 0850.
Is 11|4 11 Ceaat?
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By EDMUND SAUCEDOILordsburg
The Lordsburg High School Senior Class of 1927
Eighty-eight years ago this month, the 1927 senior class graduated from Lordsburg's first high school, now known as the Enrichment Center.
Robert Dow Dunagan Nancy Emily Chase Ira Connor Helen Elizabeth Johnson
Muryel Pence Ruth Elizabeth Wood Hazel Connor
Maurice Connor
Viola May Baldwin Rachel Mary Wood OpaITrendt Cordelia Frances Augustine
George Sholly Anita Gandara Thelma Hanner
EstelleEnideTurpin
SoledacArroyo Holland Bass Lavar Lines
c IlCb Ht
We ave
Clara Bass
someone w] o
ntlmenta
a wide variety of
ora
rangem
As us about our
layaway program
214 E. MOTEL DRIVE IN LORDSBURG
could use a
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Lordsburg!
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