debbie downer

A little bit of self discovery today. First of all though, a quick story. There is a Saturday Night Live sketch I sat through with my brother and his friends where we laughed so hard we cried. It was a sketch entitled "Debbie Downer" where this woman would always bring up the latest disease, tragedy, or any sort of bad news possible, thus becoming the downer of conversation. For example, they're at Disneyland and one of her lines was "So it's official. I can no longer have children." The funny part about it was, she was supposed to be a "downer" yet all the actors and actresses could NOT stop laughing. I've never seen a SNL sketch go so far south so fast. But it made it all the funnier. However, on a more serious note, my thoughts recently have been geared towards the "Debbie Downers" and wondering, am I one of those people? Do I constantly bring up "the bad news" or am I a person who chooses to encourage? I've been challenged regarding this because I believe I have become a Debbie Downer. I'm not sure what drove me to this point of negativity and complaining, but I'm not excited about this side of myself... I struggle though, because I don't believe I am the only Debbie. I look around me and think, "Where have all the happy people gone?" Happiness seems to have been a fad that came and went very quickly. It seems complaints come so much quicker than praises. Are we just that sad? Or have we forgotten what we really have to be thankful for? Something that should be so simple, yet has become so incredibly hard to do. My small group came up with the idea to try our hands at "not complaining" for the week. I found that the harder I tried to find the good in things, the harder things became. I find it interesting though how little "bad-ness" it takes to get us down, but how much "goodness" it takes to make us happy.

It's late and my thoughts are a bit fuzzy on this issue. I had a tough night. God and I had some words, and we're working on some things. It's good though. Growth is a good thing. It's not always easy, but definitely worthwhile. I will try to post a more coherent entry tomorrow.
Sorry for the random thoughts.