Seeing the Good

Today it’s a beautiful spring morning here along the Wasatch Mountains of north-central Utah. The sky is a stunning, smile-inducing, cloudless blue. Snow-capped, majestic Mount Timpanogos, contrasts exquisitely with the green grass, jaunty daffodils, and blossoming fruit trees in my backyard. It’s supposed to warm up to about 60 degrees by this afternoon. Almost Paradise.

With such a glorious day before me, I whimsically wish I had the energy of Henry, nearly age four, so that I could run everywhere – as he wants to do – all day long. With that energy, I would be able to conquer the world: I could do the spring cleaning of the entire house before lunchtime, plant flowers in my flower beds and visit all those whom I love most in this valley before dinnertime, write interesting and encouraging letters to half a dozen loved-ones in the evening, and end the day reading inspiring and uplifting literature for an hour before falling asleep with a grateful smile on my face . . . .

Being a realist, however, I recognize my limits. So, I thank Heavenly Father for the beautiful day and for whatever energy I have, and then I set about doing what I can to ‘see the good’ and do the best I can in my present circumstances.

Just being able to see the beauties of nature outside my window and to acknowledge God as the creator is soul-healing. Everyone I know is searching for a soul-healing ‘balm of Gilead’ or a place of refuge from the stresses and storms of daily life. Sadly, many choose endless mind-numbing activities, hoping in vain that they will feel better.

I had a break-through experience in ‘seeing the good’ recently.  I had been guilty of becoming angry or irritated every time I was compelled to clean up a mess that someone else had created. But, gradually, I began to see that, while I was in the process of cleaning up these messes, many times the mess was indeed a blessing in disguise. Important things needed to be done that I would not have discovered if I had not had to stop to clean up the mess.

I hope I have had enough experience now to always look for the good, and see the good, in what otherwise looks like a frustrating and unnecessary mess. Becoming angry or irritated is soul-wounding, to say the least.

May all the “messes” in your day today turn out to be blessings in disguise, too.